The Internet is a weird place.
Yesterday morning I woke up early like I normally do. I spent time with God, I did a little writing and I was getting ready to go for a run.
Then I saw a tweet from Kurt Warner. Kurt Warner the Super Bowl winning quarterback of the St. Louis Rams who also led the Arizona Cardinals to the Super Bowl. Kurt Warner who has a good chance at getting elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year. Kurt Warner who is a popular broadcaster on the NFL Network with close to 500,000 Twitter followers.
That Kurt Warner shared this video from Jefferson Bethke. That video went viral three years ago. So many of my friends shared the video and were excited about its message. I don’t disagree with most of what Bethke says, but people took the video as an excuse to love Jesus and deny the Church. But we can’t say that we love Jesus and hate the Church. That’d be like you telling me that you love me but hate my wife.
Kurt Warner shared that video and asked for thoughts. Even though I was getting ready to go for a run, I took the time to respond to Mr. Warner. I continued to get ready for my run and was about to leave when my phone buzzed. I looked at my phone and Mr. Warner had responded to my tweet.
That’s crazy!!!
I remember watching Kurt Warner win the Super Bowl in 1999. I was a senior in high school and I was watching the game at my small group leader’s house. It was one of the most exciting Super Bowls I had ever seen! Not only was Kurt Warner a phenomenal football player, but he also passionately loves Jesus.
I admire athletes like Kurt Warner. So many athletes talk about God and how they’re thankful for him, but sometimes it sounds a little hollow. When Kurt Warner talks about Jesus he sounds like how my friends and I talk about Jesus. To Kurt Warner Jesus isn’t just an accessory to thank for winning a football game. Kurt Warner loves Jesus like so many authentic and faithful followers of Jesus. From seeing interviews with him and following him on Twitter, Kurt Warner loves Jesus and wants him to be at the center of everything he does.
So to me Kurt Warner isn’t just a Super Bowl winning quarterback and a future Hall of Famer, he’s someone to admire and look up to. I want to be as proud of my faith as he is. I want to be as committed a husband and father as he is.
So I couldn’t believe it when Mr. Warner responded to my tweet. He has 500,000 followers and I hadn’t even put pants on yet. Why would he respond to me? Not only did he respond to me once, but we also engaged each other throughout the day. Mr. Warner sent me four tweets!!! That’s four more than my wife has ever sent me!!!
Mr. Warner and I agreed in principle that Christians need the Church and that it needs to better reflect Jesus. Beyond that, though, we were limited by 140 characters and social media.
Social media are amazing because they let us interact with people we hardly know, including Super Bowl winning MVPs. They do have their limits, though, as I wasn’t able to fully communicate my thoughts. In spite of their limitations, though, I’ll take social media every time because they helped me interact with freaking Kurt Warner!!!
What’s the most exciting celebrity interaction you’ve had on social media?
When I was first getting on Twitter I shared a blog post that had a quote from Bob Goff in it. He read it and replied back telling me he enjoyed it. I think I danced around my house for a minute after that. Been on Twitter for nearly 5 years now and that’s still pretty much the highlight!