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Biblical Principles To Follow When
Facebooking
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According to statistics reported by Facebook.com, there are more than
400 million active users. What is facebook? Facebook is an
internet website. According to Wikipedia, the free online
encyclopedia, “Facebook is a social networking website launched
in February 2004 and operated and privately owned by Facebook,
Inc. Users can add people as friends and send them messages, and
update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves.
Additionally, users can join networks organized by workplace, school,
or college. The website's name stems from the colloquial name of books
given to students at the start of the academic year by university
administrations in the US with the intention of helping students to get
to know each other better. Anyone age 13 or older can become a Facebook
user.”
I am an active user of facebook and I am often alarmed by the
information I see being passed on to the public by others, including
Christians. The purpose of this article is to provide some
scriptural guidelines for Facebook users making public comments on
Facebook or other such means of communication. Use the following
guidelines when making comments on Facebook.
Speak Evil Of No One.
Many Facebook users often “vent” their frustrations in
their public comments and speak evil of others. Paul reminds us
to “to speak evil of no one” (Titus 3:2). Be very
careful what you say about others! Before you make a post ask
yourself “Is this speaking evil of
someone?”
Remember You Are A Christian.
Christ “gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every
lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for
good works” (Titus 2:14). Many Christians are active users
of Facebook, but you would not know they’re Christians by their
public comments on Facebook. Before you make any post on any
forum, remember, you are a Christian. May your conduct, speech or
“postings” reflect such!
Use Sound Speech.
There are indeed countless posts on Facebook or other social networking
sites which are appalling. Many refuse to use sound speech.
God has exhorted us to use “sound speech that cannot be
condemned” (Titus 2:8). Sometimes folks use profanity, foul
language, euphemisms and unsound speech in their public post on social
networking sites, such as Facebook. God’s people should
never be found making such poor decisions. A reading of James
1:26 reveals, “If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and
does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's
religion is useless.” Folks must be encouraged to make sure
their Facebook comments or posts are not misconstrued. Sometimes
the only person who can understand a comment on Facebook is the person
who made it and that may even be questionable. Make sure your
post or comments are made with care and caution.
TMI. For folks who
use Facebook, Twitter or send text messages, TMI stands for “Too
Much Information.” Social networking sites, such as
Facebook, MySpace or Twitter, have become forums for people to make
post regarding just about anything. We don’t need to know
what you are doing every second of everyday. Some things are just
personal and need to stay that way! Some make such personal
comments that I refuse to reference any of them specifically, sighting
them to be inappropriate. When you are about to post something on
Facebook, really consider if it is something that you should be
posting!
There are many who are against websites like Facebook or MySpace.
I personally do not have a problem with many of these sites if they are
used correctly and appropriately. It is just like many things,
they are not necessarily wrong within and of themselves, but folks use
them wrongly. To make it clear, I do not condone any form of
ungodliness on Facebook or anywhere else for that matter. Some
Facebook users seem to be blinded by being able to sit in a private
place on a computer, where no one is directly watching over
them. So remember, just when you think no one is watching
you, you hit the enter key and suddenly hundreds or thousands or just
maybe millions of people are watching you. Who is reading your
post: Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister, Friend, Elder of the church, Brother
or Sister in Christ, The Preacher or a complete stranger?
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