I have had this little rant “in the vault” for several months now.

I’m a guy who really enjoys Facebook. In spite of some of the silliness of “friending/unfriending”  I have found it to be a great way to keep up with people in the midst of keeping a very hectic pace. I have over 1300 “friends” (not that I am keeping score, but I am “winning”… Sydney! haha!) I GET that much of what is shared on facebook is “image sculpting”, I GET that many of my “Facebook Friends” are people to whom I have never spoken to face to face and I also GET that I have probably passed several of my “friends” in town, never knowing we are electronically connected… you may call them “imaginary” but I am fine with still calling them friends.

FACEBOOK simply “IS WHAT IT IS”.

BUT…

Have you ever watched in frustration (and some amusement)  as “Facebook Theologians” wage an “epic written battle for the hearts and souls of their friends”  about such “life changing” subjects as Calvinism, the Reformed Church, “Missional” versus “Attractional” models of ministry, “organic/corporate” structure, giving, worship styles, etc…?   What starts as an innocuous comment, ends in a ridiculous, convulsion of anger and epithets. One posts something then the other responds then the back-and-forth starts till it gets ugly and divisive. Is Facebook really the place for those kinds of debates?

CONSIDER …

1. When you post something to Facebook, twitter etc… the world is watching and judging you by your words… and they should!  In those forums, words are all you have. They ARE your actions. You may be of the opinion that “we should not care what other people think!”  to that I reply, “then why are you try to persuade them in the first place?”
2. The Christian community already wrestles against reputation of being unloving and unable to get along with each other! Some people are looking for reasons to discredit your faith…don’t give them an easy way to do that.
3. Is it really worth hurting the cause of Christ so you can explain why “churches with big buildings are evil”, why “seeker churches never saved anybody”, why “Joel Osteen is a sham” and “President Obama is the Anti-Christ”?  (these are real examples) All the while posting verses about how much Jesus loves people…(maybe just right-wing, republican, evangelical, middle class people who agree with you…haha.)
4. So much harm comes to the “body of Christ” when Christians fiercely and publicly defend a position that has been debated by reputable scholars for hundreds of years. Did you really figure it all out after work and during weekends? More than likely you simply found something you can agree with based on your upbringing, personality and understanding. That is ok…we all do it…we just don’t all wail about it on Facebook.

I’m NOT talking about the core tenets of the Faith like the deity of Christ, salvation the through Jesus alone etc… fight hard for those… but use some discernment. There are only really about “7 biggies”.  GOD – Gen 1:1,26,27, 3:22.  JESUS – Matt.1:22-23, Rom. 1:3-4 more. HOLY SPIRIT – 2 Cor 3:17, Acts 1:8, Eph 1:13 more. SCRIPTURE – 2 Peter 1:20-21 ,Prov 30:5 more. PEOPLE – Gen 1:27, Psalm 8:3-6 more. SALVATION THROUGH JESUS ALONE – Rom 6:23, John 3:16, Rom 5:1, Ephesians 2:8-9 more. ETERNITY – Rom 6:23, Rev. 20:15 more…The rest is up for friendly, redemptive, gentle discussion

If you believe strongly in a certain point of view…GET A BLOG! Write about it. Then folks who want to know more about your opinions can read all about it. The rest of us can read about our imaginary friends who got married, need prayer, watched the Grammy Awards, hate the Yankees or got to see “little Johnny” score his first goal.