Be a Christian on Facebook

I've been on Facebook for just over a month, and I find it fantastic. I've been in touch with people that I haven't heard from in ages, been invited to events solely through Facebook, and had some great laughs. I could write a whole post on how great it is, but the last couple of days I've been thinking more about how important it is to think Christianly about Facebook. Here are two things that I think Christians would do well to keep in mind while using Facebook.

1. Recognise the construct and worldview that Facebook is built upon. Because Facebook was created to help college students network with each other, it naturally places supreme emphasis on things like education, social status and connections. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with this, but it can be tempting to buy into that worldview without thinking about it. A Christian's status is found in Christ, from being united to him by his grace, not because of how many friends we have, how educated we are, or who (in the world) we are connected to.
Inherent to Facebook also is outward appearance. Everyone has a photo of themselves up there. No-one ever puts up their ugly photos, and I’m not encouraging that, but surely the temptation can be to make ourselves look better than we really are. For women, this generally means a photo taken at an event where they were very dressed up (often from behind them, looking back over a bare shoulder with a sultry expression), or for men, a photo taken with a number of attractive girls around them, to show how popular they are. There is nothing wrong with looking your best, but we must remember a Christian’s attractiveness does not come from outward appearance. We need to recognise these underlying constructs for what they are, and setup our profiles in a way which shows that we belong to Christ, not the world.
Facebook is all about relationships, but not necessarily Christian ones. Don’t let Facebook prescribe what kind of relationships you have. Christians are not looking for ‘Random Play’ or ‘Open Relationship’. Christians don’t ‘hook up’ (at least in the sense that Facebook is implying). Our relationships are defined by the Father, Son and Spirit – and we should reflect that in our relationships on Facebook.

2. All your friends can see pretty much everything that you do on Facebook. This is great for keeping in contact, but means we need to think about our actions while online. When you join a group – everyone is notified. When you leave a group – again, everyone knows about it. So choose carefully which groups you decide to join – think through what it says about you and your priorities. This week my ‘news feed’ informed me that people joined groups with words in their title that I can’t repeat here.
It seems like simple advice, but watch your words – especially swear words. Some of my friends have started a group which has swearing from ostensibly Christian people written on the wall. Christians are to rid filthy language from their lips (and keyboards).

Enjoy Facebook, and the internet – but think as a Christian while you’re on there.