The point of this post is that I am Guilty of sending “chain letters“.
This is reinforced in
2 Peter 1:20:
Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.
Nevertheless, Peter was not communicating about how we should read or translate God’s Word; he was lettering about how God gave us His Word in the first place. To inspire his readers to pay attention to the gospel, Peter insisted that his messages were God’s promises—just as much as the Old Testament divination were.
A chain letter is a form of words in which the receiver is asked to forward the letter to some others on the hope of award or disappointment for breaking the chain. Chain letters have been around for nearly a hundred years. The earliest known example comes from 1935—the “Prosperity Club” or “Send-a-Dime” letters. The receivers were to tape a dime to a dozen letters, including the sender of the first letter, and mail them. They would then believably receive a blessing of dimes in the mail as others followed suit.
With stamped mail quickly becoming out-of-date, chain letters through the postal system are not as widespread as they once were. But, they are displayed on the internet through email and social media. Chain letters may arrive in private messages, Facebook posts, tweets, or group emails. Various of them have a Christian pitch, and followers may question, how should Christians answer these chain messages?
One threat in this type of Christian chain message is that it considerably underestimate the power and greatness of the Lord and makes Christians appear weak-minded and childish and chain letters and chain messages rarely communicate truth.
Several kinds of chain letters receive different responses example: Hoax or Dare. Jesus urged His disciples to be as
“wise as serpents and as gentle as doves” (Matthew 10:16).
A fitting response to any chain letter that seems too good to be true is to do some checking before playing. If we ask ourselves a few questions first;
1. Is it true?
2. Is it harassment?
3. Is it superstition?
4. Is it a replacement for real spiritual devotion?
We can make wiser judgments before “post,” “share,” or “send” that chain letter by Discerning the messages that cannot pass the tests above.
When we send a message because it signifies truth and encouragement to our hearts, we are sharing our faith.