PRAYER PROMPT ••• A friend called me yesterday about Facebook.
She had learned about the “Top Stories” vs “Most Recent” feature and said she only saw My Grace-Full Life posts when she switched to Most Recent or went looking for it.
I understand her frustration; I’ve been managing pages since 2009 and have a love-hate relationship with Facebook. (See below for tips!)
However, social media platforms are powerful tools for the Christian faith.
I’ve encouraged people to use them often to share the Gospel.
When it comes to social media, on one hand, we are givers; on the other, we are receivers.
It’s a constant exchange of ideas, thoughts, images, etc.
Hence, “sharing.”
With that said, when give our friends a Bible verse through social media, we have to ensure we are consistent with our testimony.
It’s the due diligence and responsibility of the modern Christian.
An example – you’d hardly take someone seriously if they posted about an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting followed by sharing the latest posts from Jim Beam and Budweiser.
It is inconsistent and doesn’t make any sense.
When we talk about God’s love and then turn around and fail to demonstrate it when we leave a venomous comment on someone else’s post – how are they supposed to believe us that God is love?
Aren’t Christians supposed to model their lives after God?
Social media is both a tea party and a weapon.
It’s up to us whether we act as gracious hosts, or wield Facebook like a sword to cut down those we don’t like.
When asked about the greatest commandment, Jesus said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39).
We have the power to follow both these commandments on a daily basis – loving God through our online example of faith, and sharing Jesus through kind interactions with our social media communities.
Today, as you pray, thank God for powerful social media platforms that give you the ability to share His love with others.
Ask Him to help you live a bold and faith-filled testimony online and in real life.
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ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I could spend a week on this topic, but here’s the short version of this topic: Facebook algorithms decide what appears in your Top Stories (the default view). Unfortunately, there never seems to be any logic to what Facebook decides are “Top Stories,” but you can attempt to override the Facebook algorithms to see what you want by liking, sharing, and commenting of posts – i.e., post engagement. “Following” is another option. It’s not an exact science because Facebook is constantly changing their algorithm system and usually, they change it without notice or any explanation. If you have questions on this, just leave a comment and I’ll do my best to help.
