I’ve been watching the madness on social media in recent days. Okay, yes, that could apply to a broad range of topics. But this is no mere topic, it is a man, in his suffering, being vulnerable about his life, death, and eternal soul.
I’m a dork so I’ve always loved the Dilbert comic strip. I’m pretty sure I had one up in an early NR office.
As you may know by now, its creator, Scott Adams, has an incurable form of cancer. Adams believes this may be his last month on earth.
Every day, Adams goes live to talk, even in pain. He has been remarkably honest about the last few months — including about the day last year when he had planned to kill himself, and not only how he changed his mind as his pain meds got better, but how he’s since learned more about assisted suicide, and how it’s not the simple solution it would seem.
This weekend, Adams announced that he’s going to become Christian. He previously described himself as agnostic — atheism was for people more certain than he was on the eternal things. He put his new decision in wager terms — he may not be completely convinced, but it’s no loss if he’s wrong. Of course, here is where the social media madness comes in.
The poor man, faced with a deluge of opinions from Christians on how he should go about his conversion! Much if not most of it is well intentioned, but let the Savior be the Savior.
Adams has been incredibly gracious. He obviously reads as much feedback as he can. But he also has said that he now needs people to stop inundating him with their theological mandates. He says this is between him and Jesus.
He’s also been remarkably grateful that people want to share their faith. If it’s worth anything, you share it, he’s said.
We need to learn from his example. Gratitude. Humility. Honesty.
And we need to pray for him.
Write your essays, issue your podcasts and open letters, fine. It will be done. But pray for him. It’s the most important thing we can do. And clearly not only is God at work in Scott Adams, but Adams is being as open as he can be in his suffering. God only knows how many people he is helping along the way with his public vulnerability.
God bless Scott Adams.