My Love/Loathe Relationship with Facebook

I’ve written in the past about my dislike of Facebook. I still don’t like Facebook…no I loathe Facebook. And yet this post will appear on Facebook. It will be read by people on Facebook. And I’ll still be a sucker in Mr. Zuckerberg’s world.

Here is why I haven’t left. There are a few advantages for me as a pastor/writer that cannot be found elsewhere:

1. It’s great for blogging. I get several hits per day from people reading and sharing my articles on Facebook. I’m grateful for that.
2. It helps pastors see people as they really are. People have a tendency to be a little more unfiltered on Facebook. Not that a pastor wants to be a creeper but your news feed can tell you some of the things that your members are struggling with.
3. It’s a great resource for making announcements. People pay more attention to Facebook than they do that 5 minutes at the end of service when we share announcements.
4. It can lead to decent discussion. People sometimes feel more free to ask questions and engage. Though Facebook can be a terrible place to discuss theology—for some it’s helpful to be able to think and type out your thoughts.
5. It’s great for things like the 31 Day Prayer Challenge. Pastors and writers can create groups of people all around the world for things like this. It really is a great tool for networking that can be used for Kingdom growth.
6. A great way to publicly encourage. Tons of people read through Facebook updates. How awesome would it be if we used this tool to encourage people and share their accomplishments.

Here is why I would really like to leave and continue to detest Facebook:

1. It’s a passive/aggressive Dreamworld. With one somewhat vague status update I can have a world of people come to my defense, ask me questions, give me attention, and better than anything else stick it to the person that has made me mad. 
2. Facebook venting. Same thing as above only more obvious. (See here).
3. A poor excuse for pastoring. Knowing what is going on in people’s lives through Facebook, leaving comments, writing messages etc., is not pastoring. This can make it feel like you’re doing your job—but it doesn’t replace the face to face. Or putting your hand on their shoulder as you pray for them.
4. Circumvents real relationship. Facebook is a mock community. You can’t hug on Facebook. You can’t cry on another persons shoulder. God created us for community—and not so much the online variety.
5. Three earlier reasons are still around. I posted awhile back 3 reasons why I’m seldom on Facebook. These are still true. Too many bikini’s, too many silly pictures telling me that I don’t love Jesus if I don’t forward it, and far too much time wasted.

How about you? Why do you love/loathe Facebook?

Should we continue to use it for its benefits? How can we minimize the damage? Does your church do anything to disciple people in how to display Christ on social media?

The Stooping Christ and Social Media

“…their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.” –Nehemiah 3:5

All of the returning exiles were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Everybody is wearing a tool belt and getting their hands dirty. Nobody is immune from serving…except for the nobles of the Tekoites. Not these guys. These guys are leaders. Leaders lead, they don’t stoop.

Nehemiah is already leading this gig, so the only position left along the wall is to strap on a tool belt and get to work. The nobles are obviously above doing such a menial job. They remind me of Michael Scott, from The Office.

In an early episode, a sensitivity trainer (Mr. Brown) has to come to the office because of an offensive Chris Rock joke that Michael retold. Mr. Brown very kindly puts the entire office through the training so as not to single out Michael. Towards the end of the episode we are informed that the only signature needed is that of Michael Scott, yet he refuses to sign. His reason?

“I can’t sign this because I didn’t learn anything. I could maybe sign something that says that I taught something”.

Michael Scott couldn’t stoop.

Jesus does.

One of the most astonishing claims of the Bible is that God Himself took upon human flesh. He not only “made himself nothing” by taking on human flesh, but he also “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death”. And this was no ordinary death, this was “even death on a cross”. Jesus, the King of all kings, the most noble of all nobles, would stoop to any depth to serve the Father.

Do we?

There is a common theme that I observe on Twitter that bothers me. I fear that some pastors today are following the way of the Tekoite nobles instead of the way of Jesus. They appear to be more concerned with being epic than with stooping to serve.

Everyday Twitter dutifully informs me that I have new “followers”. Almost every day I am followed by a leader-man that is obviously destined to be epic. He’s got a rockin’ ministry name. His hair is amazing. His smile could win a beauty pageant. Everything about this guy screams out that he is put together. His bio reads something like this:

Pastor. Disciple of Jesus. A leader that leads other leaders to lead others into Awesomeness. I’m a leader. I encourage others. Check out my website: awesomeleadershelpingawesomeleaders.com

I’m expected to follow Captain Awesome. When I don’t (and I seldom do) then I am quickly unfollowed. I’m not cheesed by them dropping me; I’ve learned to grow content with whatever audience the Lord gives me. But this pattern bothers me still.

For one, it bothers me because I see my own heart in these descriptions. I write so much against “being epic” because deep within me is a drive to be a difference maker. This is an idol that the Lord is uprooting from my heart. So, I’m sensitive to this.

Secondly, it makes me throw up in my mouth a little because it is so opposite the way of Jesus. Doing things like following a ton of people so as to get re-followed might be winning the social media game, but I’m convinced that it’s a wrong-hearted focus that looks more like a Tekoite noble than our humble Messiah. 

It is my prayer that we might use social media to help us become more like Christ and not less. I pray that pastors, ministers, and disciples of every ilk increasingly become more like Christ and less like nobles that refuse to stoop.

How to Rock Twitter Like a Pharisee

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 6:1 ESV)

I wonder what it would look like if the Pharisees had a Twitter account. It would probably look a little like this:

Maybe it isn’t so hard to imagine…

There is a fine line between facebragging and giving God-honoring information. I’ve been working through taking the log out of my own eye before attempting to take the specs out of my brothers and sisters.

I started out by making a list of a few rules for determining if it’s God-honoring or facebragging. Then I realized that sounds too much like what a Pharisee would do. In reality it all comes down to my heart. Am I posting stuff in the hopes you’ll wake up to my awesomeness or to somehow praise the Lord and point to Him?

Here is the central question: Do I want to be seen by men or do I want to be a window by which people see the beauty of Jesus?

That is a question that I want to ask myself before I tweet things that tip-toe towards facebragging.

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By the way that “My new ride” link works.

I should also mention that Twister is a crazy fun way of creating fake tweets like the ones above.

Grabbing Twitter by the Ears

Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.

I’m convinced that Twitter has left many people smarting from wicked dog bites. Most of its ever flowing content is nothing more than a passing dog. Many, myself included, have tugged on this old passing dogs ears and gotten bit in response.

That’s the thing with grabbing a dogs ears.

You can really give yourself the impression that you’ve got this pit-bull mastered. You might even have a pretty sweet ride for a moment. But eventually he’s going to wiggle those ears free and he’s going to be ticked off enough to bite you.

With Twitter all it takes is holding down the Shift button and a strike of the @ button to convince yourself that you are significant.

But beware when you enter into a quarrel that’s not your own. You might ride it with joy for awhile but eventually your soul is going to get bitten. It might breed in your heart factionalism. Perhaps pride. Or if we’re lucky, God in His grace, will expose us for the posers that we are.

Of course this isn’t to say that there aren’t rabid dogs that ought to be grabbed by the ears and wrestled to the ground. But let’s be honest with ourselves, a good chunk of what we spend our time arguing about is nothing more significant than a passing dog. It only becomes a big deal because we were dumb enough to grab it by the ears to have a little fun or make a name for ourselves.

Next time you enter into a quarrel—even a little spat on Twitter—ask yourself whether or not it’s really a dog worth fighting*.

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*That’s not a shout-out to @MichaelVick.

Rend Your Hearts Not Your Facebook Status

“Yet even now,” declares the LORD,
        “return to me with all your heart,
    with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
        and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
    Return to the LORD your God,
        for he is gracious and merciful,
    slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
        and he relents over disaster.

In Joel’s day (and even still today) a sign of great mourning and grief was to tear your garments.  It wasn’t that they’d bust out into Hulk Hogan’s “I’m a Real American Hero” and rip up their camel-haired cloaks to shreds.  It was usually a slit from bottom to top that indicated deep grief. 

Over the years, however, the practice itself became more cathartic than symbolic.  In other words whenever they would begin feeling guilt or grief they wouldn’t actually experience deep heart anguish.  Instead they’d very quickly go to their garments and start tearing.  They had developed what Michael Horton rightly calls a therapeutic worldview, where:

there is no sin and guilt to be forgiven by God but only burdens and feelings of guilt for failing to live up to the expectations of oneself or other human being.  (Horton, Christless Christianity, 43)

I often wonder if things like Facebook and blogging aren’t similar to rending our garments instead of our hearts.  How often do we see Facebook statuses that are merely a means to “get something off my chest”?  It’s the modern day rending of the garment. 

And just as it was in the day of the Joel rending a garment is a way to communicate to others that junk is going on in your life.  Usually a good number of people will leave comments and condolences.  And if you aren’t susceptible of your own heart you can become a pity junkie.  You can find solace and camaraderie around elements of the Fall instead of finding hope and joy in light of our ever increasing Redemption. 

If there is real sin and guilt in your life then you need to deal with by taking it to the Cross and not to your Facebook or Twitter account.  No matter if it’s real or false guilt you need to know that a pity party and encouragement from all of your Facebook peeps isn’t going to help you in the end.  The shame you feel is too deep of a wound to be healed by a “like” button, a pithy statement, or a couple of shares.  You need real redemption from a real God that is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and saves you from a very real hell. 

Therefore, rend your hearts and not your Facebook status.  The temporary catharsis of getting something of your chest won’t cut it.  The Lord is actively engaged in rescuing your entire heart and not just those little follies and foibles that you are comfortable enough to make public.  Jesus intends to conquer every sin that He died for.  Now, that is something worth blogging and tweeting about.