I don't like Twitter. I just don't. I never have and thought that I never would. I don't want to know or need to know the every move of the estimated 6 million people using Twitter. I have the same problem with Facebook status updates. I don't want to know that you're feeding your cat, eating cereal for breakfast, or watching Lost. Maybe you're like me and you've read a ridiculous status update that you wish you hadn't. Maybe you've cringed at some of the theologically deprived Christian quotes that are posted daily like I have. The truth is that I've just never really liked it. However today I was challenged, maybe convicted, to start using Twitter and other online social media networks and to stop being so critical of some Twitter users.
Think about this. There are hundreds of different free online media sites where anyone can go and begin posting their every though and action for the entire world to see. It has the potential to be incredibly annoying...but in a meeting for the Post today with Aaron Marshall I began to recognize the incredible potential and power that these online media hosts and social networking sites have.
Follow this thought with me. I have 800 friends on Facebook. I know most of them but definitely not all of them. I know that a majority of them would consider themselves "followers of Christ" but I also know that there are a large number of them who wouldn't. How influential would it be if I began using my status as a means of sharing the Gospel? Obviously I don't want to become that crazed Christian spammer who plasters quotes up without even thinking about it, but what if I used the characters in my status as a means of challenging my "friends" to think about their lives and their faith?
I realized that I am most definitely not being a steward of these online media and social networking sources. I rarely post anything on my Facebook wall. I have a Twitter account, but I only joined to try and win a free computer. I've had a few blogs, but only used them because I had to for classes. It is absolutely amazing to me to think about all the people that I could be influencing through these different online avenues. I'm kind of ashamed now that I didn't think of this four years ago when I started using Facebook.
Today's thoughts reminded me of the Post's theme verse from the paraphrase The Message:
“I choose the true road to Somewhere, I post your road signs at every curve and corner. I grasp and cling to whatever you tell me; God, don't let me down! I'll run the course you lay out for me if you'll just show me how. God, teach me lessons for living so I can stay the course. Give me insight so I can do what you tell me - my whole life one long, obedient response.” Psalm 119:30-34
The psalmist says "I will post your road signs at every curve and corner." I would imagine that there are curves on the information super highway, right? Sorry...that was cheesy. What I'm saying is if there is a place where I can display the glory of Christ, I'm going to do it, and I'm going to do it in the most Christ honoring way that I can. I think this should be a challenge for anyone who would claim to be a follower of Christ. Use every means available to impact your world for Christ, but I beg you, please do it in a way that will honor Christ and that will respect the reaches of the internet. Remember that you are an ambassador for Him and what you post is available for anyone to see.
So today I restarted a blog, found my forgotten password for my unused Twitter account, and updated my Facebook status, all while praying that God will show me how to use them. I'm excited to see what happens and I am praying expectantly that doors will be opened for me to have some conversations with people who need to know Christ.
Think about it and imagine what God can do with 140 characters.
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