FB and the DTR

Me and social media. We have this love/hate thing going on. It's given me amazing ideas. Made me laugh. Reconnected me with old friends. Helped me stay in touch with family. And showed me photos of babies who belong to people I knew as babies. It's given me a valuable mode of communication with ministry and my church family.

But it also serves up a lot of useless information and ugliness. Sometimes so vile, that it makes me sick to my stomach. It has distracted me from important things and wasted hours and hours of time I can't get back. I have been incredibly guilty of choosing it over my family and that ticks me off because that's my own fault.

I determined a long time ago that I when I was online, I would do my best to be a source of good. That I would be intentional with my words. That I would look for opportunities to build somebody up and point them to Hope. I don't think that means that every post has to be a sermon but what I attach my name to should represent Christ well. 

Now, I'm all about the funny. I mean, who doesn't like to seeing a monkey hug a dog or a baby squirt milk out of his nose when he laughs? But if as believers all we share are selfies, football rants and pictures of what we ate for dinner, aren't we missing it? If we never share from the overflow of our heart; what God is doing in our lives right now, aren't we just adding to the endless babble? 

Shouldn't we WANT to share the goodness of God in our lives? 

Shouldn't we see this as a platform to be light in a world that's so dark?

Words have power. What we post has power. And once it's out there, it's out there FOREVER. We should choose wisely what we share. We don't have to over-analyze every silly picture, but just like we should think before we speak, we need to ask ourselves a few questions before we post:

T - Is it true?

H - Is it helpful?

I - Does it inspire?

N - Is it necessary?

K - Is it kind?

We need to be reminded daily that this online, social media, internet-ing, virtual reality thing may rule the world but it doesn't rule our hearts. And it should be handled with care and used for good. And, we need to remember that we have the power to shut it off. Something that should be done OFTEN.

You know the DTR, right? That awkward, dreaded conversation that often comes out of a guy/girl friendship where one or both involved parties in said friendship feel the need to share their feelings and "Define the Relationship"? Well, I had another one of those with Facebook this morning (I don't tweet and I don't Instagram, thank goodness). Just to make sure "he" knows where I stand ...

"I like you, FB. I really do. You are my friend and I enjoy spending time with you. You make me laugh and you help me a lot. But just to be clear, I don't love you and you aren't the center of my universe. I don't want to hurt your feelings but there are other people, other things in my life that are more important than you and I will shut you down on a regular basis, especially when you start to manipulate my time and my attention." 

Whew. I feel better.

So fellow Jesus followers, I challenge you to use social media for good. Enjoy and laugh and share your stuff but think before you do it. Make sure all you do (all you post) is for the glory of God and the good of others. And remember three little words and do them on a daily basis - TURN. IT. OFF.  I promise it will do your heart good and help you keep your life all in balance. 


Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. - Philippians 4:8, NLT