I know that happens. I can see the look on your face when I am beginning to get excited about my relationship with Jesus in your presence. I want to apologize, and I honestly do try to stop before I get too annoying, but it is really hard to do that.
This happens because annoying Christians constantly experience a great existential angst that is hard even for all normal, sane, extremely rational Christians to understand, let alone our non-Christian friends. Our excitement about our faith is overboard, and our tendency to scream loudly and pound you on the back rivals that of a Blue Jays' fan when Kazuma Okamoto scores another home run.
The angst comes in the space between our extreme enjoyment of Jesus and our desire that everyone in the whole world should experience that same joy, and our realization that our over-the-top exuberance is about something that you are either not interested in, or are skeptical about, or feel downright incensed by.
It's like that old Bill Cosby routine where someone plays a trick on him that scares him to death and all he can think about when it's over is who else he can play the trick on so he can laugh at their reaction.
Or like me, when I find an extremely funny short video on Instagram that I just have to re-post in our WhatsApp family group chat. I know my kids will probably roll their eyes when I do this. (We don't always find the same things funny.) But it doesn't stop me from doing it. The odd time I see them grin while they watch the video just adds fuel to the fire and keeps me going.
I know this explanation may not help you much. You will probably still have to put up with this annoyance sometimes in our relationship. But I just wanted you to understand where we're coming from when we say anything in your presence like, "The other day Jesus said to me. . ." or "I was so happy to watch my friend be baptized in church on Sunday. . ." or "I prayed about it and God did a miracle. . ." We honestly don't want to be annoying but sometimes we just can't help it.
I want to finish by saying that so many of my Facebook friends are gracious about my overly exuberant posts. I appreciate that no end. But it probably just compounds the problem. The sweeter you are to me the more I love you, and I'm sure you can see where that will ultimately lead.
But, for the record, I want to post my apology here, ahead of time, and express my deepest thanks to you for putting up with me. I love you all!
(And so does Jesus!) John 3:16
