It has been my general philosophy to accept friend requests from people I know, even if I have no intention in keeping in touch with them. My hope is that I can be a silent but active witness to people who may come across my use of 'Facebook'.
While I may never know the full impact my 'Facebook' has on anyone until I reach heaven, allowing people to read my updates or look at comments from friends could be one trigger for someone to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. With even a slight possibility of this being true I have accepted a majority of 'friend' requests.
My educated guess is that my ''Facebook' friend who wrote the update about his partner's health emergency is not Christian. His status however in my view was a desperate cry for help, from anyone and from God.
This man expressed his love for his partner and specifically called on God to help.
For me this was an immediate call to action. I responded, on this man's page, by declaring who God is and that He can heal people. My statement was short and simple but full of truth and faith.
Now I am praying God will move physically to heal and spiritually to bring salvation to this man, his family and friends.
Statistics suggest we have many opportunities each day to witness to others through our use of social media. During a conference in the United States, in February this year, a representative from 'Facebook' shared their data results which say there are 6.6 million Australians who log into 'Facebook' daily and overall 10 million Australians who have an active account.
www.lifehacker.com.au/2011/02/just-how-many-australians-use-'Facebook'
Our use of this website and others could therefore become a simple and effective opportunity to reach people for Christ daily. If you are part of the one in every three Australians who checks 'Facebook' every day then I would encourage you to use your time on this site for an eternal purpose.
Some practical steps to productively use 'Facebook' for the benefit of God's kingdom are:
- Mention God in your status updates. Publicly sharing about God on your own home page should not be offensive to others because it's your personal space and they don't need to look at your page if they don't want to read about God. A short comment about what God has done or your latest revelation is not intrusive on others.
- 'Like' articles or comments by others. When you do this your little click of agreement could be posted on 'friend's' news feed. This may inspire them to check out what you have looked at and further expose them to God.
- Encourage people you don't often keep in touch with. The bible tells us we are to "encourage one another daily" (Hebrews 3:13) and 'Facebook' can be a great tool to do this. A simple comment on 'Facebook' is cheap, especially for people long distance, it doesn't have to take very long and you can do it in your own time.
- Be open to accept friend requests of people you aren't too close because you can be a witness to them through your 'Facebook' usage. I do not recommend accepting friend requests from people you don't know. There are legitimate reasons for not accepting people you do know but if there are people who request you as a friend and you feel comfortable with them looking at your 'Facebook' page take it as an opportunity to share with them.
Whenever you log into your social networking account in the future please consider the opportunity you have to share with people about God. Just a quick comment on 'Facebook' or Twitter could lead to a life being transformed and even if there is only a slight possibility to impact someone in this way there is little to lose. May God be with you as seek to encourage, challenge and inspire those in your internet network.
Tim Wilson is married with two children serving with YWAM in Brisbane.