Current Events Monday: Click Bait Evangelism is Not Evangelism
Don’t look now, but your email inbox and social media feed is likely pinging today with more ads than usual. It’s Cyber Monday, an offshoot of Black Friday, when people are culled into spending massive amounts of money online for Christmas goodies at supposedly marked-down prices. Last year, for instance, Americans spent $10.8 billion on Cyber Monday, according to CNBC. It’s no wonder that the ads have been pouring in since midnight.
Have you noticed that some online ads contain some rather over-the-top language? These days, sensationalized advertisements and news stories are consistently called “click bait.” The meaning of click bait is fairly obvious. People attempt to bait you into clicking on their stories or links by tantalizing you with a shocking headline. The problem is that we still fall for click bait, even when we know that something is too good (or bad) to be true. Why? It seems that our brains are quite susceptible to tantalizing and trashy subjects. Just think about why the fake news magazines and the candy bars are right next to each other in the grocery store check -out line!
The Huffington Post declared in 2017 that click bait was officially on its death bed. You can see the article here (The Death Of Click Bait Is Finally Here | HuffPost Impact). Notice however the ads at the bottom of the article which give a humorous and ironic twist. No matter how much the article’s authors desired for click bait to disappear all those years ago, it’s still with us. And it’s been with us since the Garden of Eden. You can say that the serpent in the garden tricked Adam and Eve with click bait. That fruit was built up to be something it was ultimately not.
What are Christians to do with click bait? We can learn much from Jesus at this point. His earthly ministry was one of truth, not smoke and mirrors. Consider how many times the crowds around him asked for signs and wonders. They wanted Jesus to do magic tricks and be more like a circus master than the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We can be grateful that Jesus did not (and does not) lure people through sleights of hand. The Holy Spirit never coerces people. Rather, He calls.
We would do well as individual Christians and as a family of faith to remember Jesus’ way of evangelism. He didn’t need to be like the other snake-oil salesmen of his day. Neither do we. Let the people of this world attract through click bait while we call others to repentance and faith on the narrow way which ultimately leads to life.