I’ve always been fascinated by social-media (Facebook, twitter, Instagram) and a part of me wanted to make it part of my relationship with prayer supporters.
There’s just one problem with that…
I’m a Facebook stalker
That makes me sound terrible, but basically a Facebook stalker is someone who reads the posts of others, but never interacts with them [1], or shares anything of their own.
One problem with being a Facebook stalker is there are people who honestly wanted to learn what’s going on in my ministry using social media. Because of this a goal this year is to share ministry updates of a more personal nature [2] online. Step one was to actually ask, “Why haven’t I done something like this before?
The answer’s quite simple…I was waiting to share something awesome
We have all had those “God experiences” when the Lord just worked things out in a way that could only be done by Him. I would share those experiences or other special updates [3] but little else.
Sometimes I found myself sitting at a laptop thinking of an awesome story to share online [4] which points out the true problem of being a Facebook stalker
By only sharing the awesome stuff I portrayed Missions as one awesome experience after another with no pain whatsoever. This false reality could seriously damage individuals who expect the Christian life to be this way [5].
The answer to Facebook stalking isn’t to just share bad news all of the time…instead it’s about looking for sharable moments that God brings into our lives.
Last Saturday I went grocery shoppig the day before the Super Bowl. When I went to check out the cashier started ringing up my groceries but didn’t put them in the cart, instead she started organizing them into stacks [6]. After a stack was organized she would neatly pack them together in the cart.
I asked her if they taught them how to do that but she laughed and said “no I’m just a neat freak.”
Impressed with her job I uploaded a picture of the cart on Facebook.
It got twenty-three likes, and five comments.
You know what that teaches me? Something doesn’t have to be earth-shattering to share it online…it can simply be a cashier who took the time to do things the right way.
- by liking , commenting on a post, or sharing it with others ↩
- not having to do with Immigration, but steps I am taking towards Australia, or what God is teaching me ↩
- prayer request, praise, ministry newsletter ↩
- When you tell them the only sound that can be heard over the weeping is checks being ripped out of a checkbook 🙂 ↩
- Of course it’s also possible to use social media as a tool for constantly complaining, or venting frustration about struggles in your life which doesn’t do any good either. ↩
- meats, vegetables, cans ↩
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