I’ll admit it…when I first signed up for facebook and made a few connections with old friends, I was hooked too. I was telling anyone that wasn’t on it how much they should really consider signing up. Then, over time, it became like going to a reunion. After the excitement of seeing an old friend wore off, you remembered why it had been so long since you last talked anyway. I don’t mean that in a bad way, I just mean that time and change happens to us all.

So with all of the noise around privacy combined with the childish farmville and game requests, I will admit that pulling the plug on the facebook has certainly crossed my mind a time or two. But this is where I get stuck. Each time I reach for the plug, something very cool seems to happen. Examples:

1. I have made some connections with old friends like Darren Carter that have really blossomed over the past year or so.

2. Several of the connections from facebook allowed us to make connections in real life as we crossed the country running half marathons.

3. Just last week I had the honor of welcoming a new family to our house church from facebook.

4. I have been able to make an instant connection with incredible authors and tell them I appreciate their book.

These are just a few of the reasons that I keep the account active. I don’t login a whole lot. I don’t get all caught up in much of drama and hourly updates. But I do believe there is a place in this world for something like facebook. I was reminded of something Rob Bell wrote in the book Velvet Elvis.

A church is a community of people who are learning how to be certain kinds of people wherever they find themselves, so they can do whatever it is they do “in the name of the Lord Jesus”. The goal isn’t to bring everyone’s work into the church; the goal is for the church to be these unique kinds of people who are transforming the places they live and work and play because they understand the whole earth is filled with the kavod of God. God isn’t in one building only. Doing things for God happens all the time, everywhere;

-Rob Bell (emphasis mine.)

I’m taking some liberties with that quote, but when I consider the role that facebook can play in our society, I consider the impact that you and I can have utilizing it wisely. As with most things, there is a balance. God loves community. I’m not sure about farmville (sorry), but He does love when people connect and share the journey. For those reasons, I am not unplugging from facebook…..yet.

If we’re not already….we can be friends on facebook (HERE)

How about you? Have you decided?

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