Your Facebook Page

Something like half of the adults in the United States use Facebook on a regular basis. If we're being totally honest, there is a lot of vanity involved in this. We post pictures of ourselves, talk about our opinions, what we had for dinner, the cute thing our kids just did, YouTube cat videos, and endless requests for Farmville. Endless.

But somewhere in the midst of the foolish, ego-driven desire for public approval of the mundane things of our lives, there exists a beautiful, redemptive purpose for Facebook.

God uses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. Pretty sure it says that in the Bible somewhere.

When you get down to the nitty gritty of what Facebook really is, it is a sharing of the details of your life, a profile of who you are and what you think about and what you do and who you spend time with and where you go.

It's the cliff notes version of you.

So if I were to sum you up, what would I find?

In yesterday's post I talked about my last ten Facebook posts. Is that a summary of who I am and what I care about? What does it say about me?

My hope on Facebook is the same as my hope in real life: that when people see me, they see Jesus in me. They see love. They see grace. They see hope.

There is a way to do this, and a way not to do this. Here is a list of DOs and DON'Ts.

DO share a scripture now and then from your daily Bible reading. Include a link.

DON'T blast people with an out of context scripture status update used as a weapon against someone you are upset with.

DO post pictures of the beauty of God's creation, including your family.

DON'T post photoshopped pictures of God's hands pulling apart the clouds.

DO make sure you status updates are talking about the things you would talk about. Do you like football? Talk about football. Do you like music? Talk about music.

DON'T tell everyone that if they really love Jesus they will repost your generic status that says that you love Jesus, and that sadly 99.7% of people will just ignore this and only .3 percent of people really love Jesus enough to repost it. Apparently they are the only ones who really want to go to Heaven.

DO reply to posts from others with grace.

DON'T stir controversy just so you can show everyone how right you are.

DO remember that virtual doesn't mean fake. Your words on here matter.

DON'T assume that what you say to someone online won't have very real consequences.

DO post stuff about your church and when services are. Talk about how excited you are.

DON'T only use your Facebook page to advertise your church. There's another page for that. This one is about you. People are friending you because they way to know you.

DO provide links to an interesting array of websites with non-offensive, but thought-provoking and interesting content.

DON'T neglect to respond to people who contact you on Facebook. Be timely and keep your info up to date.


What other tips do you have? Share them in the comments section below.