Coffee Talk: Social Blunders

Dear Friends, I plan to have Coffee Talk on Thursdays, but since tomorrow is the first of the month, we will dedicate those special days to Jesus.  Therefore, we get to have Thursday’s Coffee Talk on Wednesday this week.

A few weeks ago I was talking to one of my new friends at church, and she expressed conviction over the content that was displayed on her Facebook page.  She had connected with several people from her past (old high school classmates, etc) through this social networking site, and was troubled that they would not know she was a Christian by the content that was displayed on her page.  I have heard the growing concerns associated with social networking.  How should we as Christians respond to this cyberspace phenomenon?  I encouraged her in the following manner:

1. Do not feel compelled to accept or “connect” with everyone who wants to be your friend.  Just because you were associates or even friends in grade school, does not mean that they are entitled to the day-to-day happening of your current life, and are free to check out pictures of your special moments with your loved ones.  The “Ignore” button is an option, and that feature is your friend.
2. Before accepting someone as a friend, check out their page first (if access is allowed).  You can generally tell if you want to reconnect with someone by the content, language, and pictures that are on their wall.
3. If for some reason you connect with someone, and your gut begins to remind you that you made a HUGE mistake, there is a proper course of action, “Remove Connection.”  This is another excellent feature.
4. Finally, the internet is a wonderful tool.  It is a quick way to conduct research, get the news, check the weather, visit places where you have never physically gone, and connect with friends.  However, it is also a quick way to give in to temptation and find oneself stuck in sin.  We have the ability to use even this tool to bring God glory, and we should.

 I am sure that the other social networking sites offer similar solutions.  Therefore, my dear friends, the encouragement for today is: “Just like cleaning up your email inbox or the voice messages on your phone, the solution to this problem is only a click away.” Are you clicking?