If Jesus had a facebook page how many fans would He have? If you do a quick search on facebook you will quickly find that he does or at least there is one with his name on it, Jesus Daily, has 8,267,484 fans. If Jesus had a Twitter account how many “followers” would He have on Twitter? You may recall Jesus words in Matt 4:19…“Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”” Paul said something similar in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” I know this is not talking about social media. I was very slow to warm up to the social media craze thinking that this was simply some type of fad. Clearly it is not a fad. So what do you do with it? John Piper commented on this in 2009.
I see two kinds of response to social Internet media like blogging, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and others.Piper and his leadership team opted for the second response. I have been on facebook and twitter for a few years and initially was very surprised at the comments that I would receive both on facebook and twitter and at Church…people thanking me for the “words of encouragement.” When all I was doing was simply posting scriptures!
One says: These media tend to shorten attention spans, weaken discursive reasoning, lure people away from Scripture and prayer, disembody relationships, feed the fires of narcissism, cater to the craving for attention, fill the world with drivel, shrink the soul’s capacity for greatness, and make us second-handers who comment on life when we ought to be living it. So boycott them and write books (not blogs) about the problem.
The other response says: Yes, there is truth in all of that, but instead of boycotting, try to fill these media with as much provocative, reasonable, Bible-saturated, prayerful, relational, Christ-exalting, truth-driven, serious, creative pointers to true greatness as you can.
So the power of God’s precious Word is not limited by the medium that it is transmitted through! Remember Isaiah 55:11? “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” Social media is not good or evil, anymore than radio, TV, print, or the internet, like these others it is simply a medium where people communicate.
So I use facebook praying that others may encounter the only one face that matters for eternity! Over and over in God’s book people are encouraged to seek HIS face! You see there is only one true facebook. “When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”” (Psalm 27:8) “This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face. Selah” (Psalm 24:6) “Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face evermore!” (Psalm 105:4) I will close with my favorite verse in God’s book…“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6) Gaze upon HIS glorious face captured for us in HIS precious book…HIS “facebook” is life-changing, and transforming. So if you are prompted to share HIS facebook on facebook then share!
pursuing HIM together!
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