FACEBOOK EVANGELISM

FACEBOOK EVANGELISM

When those who are not saved look at us do they see Christ in us or do they see someone claiming to be a Christian but living just like they do? Is our testimony above reproach? 2Cor. 6:17-18 "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." And look too at Paul’s statement in Eph 4:29  “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”

Most often facebook is a good example of “corrupt communication”. If you were to take a few minutes and read my page closely you might begin to think that I am very hungry since people are posting food links here almost daily. However, you will also note that most of what I post (not all, but most) is somehow related to Christianity and our need to be true followers of Christ. That is true also of many of my friends. Go to their pages and you will find they focus primarily on the things of God. The importance of this is not in what we do but in what is important to us. Jesus said in Matt 15:18 “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. (v.19) For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies….” 

The fact is Facebook reveals the heart. I know others can post on our sites. But I am concerned with the materials we willingly post personally. What could people tell about you if they looked carefully at your page?  Would you be embarrassed to have your preacher read your page closely? Would others walk away confused? Would they wonder how you can possibly post the articles you post, or make the comments you make while still trying to tell them that you are a Christian? Many years ago I heard someone say that if you want to know how to live as a Christian simply ask an unsaved person, they know how you and I are supposed to act. Does your homepage reflect the true you? Jesus said it certainly reflects your heart. What would Jesus say if he read you homepage today? Christ does not need to read it he knows the heart of the one who owns the page. 

We are to be witnesses for Christ every day and with every opportunity God gives us. Can we reach people for Christ if they read our ungodly content one day and then we preach to them the next day? How embarrassing it would be if someone we tried to witness to were to remind us of an ungodly post he saw on our homepage that same day. Would he continue to listen to our testimony? Would our life convict him of sin and direct his heart toward God? Remember that everything we do is to be done to glorify God. Colossians 3:23 says, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men,” even your Facebook postings.

We are quickly running out of time to reach our lost friends. If you love them reach out to them now. Use Facebook as a tool for evangelism. Not only can we use the homepage but we can also use private messaging. In a private message a person may be more open. I have had several opportunities in this area. Do what you must but maintain a godly testimony even here. People you never imagined may be watching (or reading).

My real concern is the heart. Maybe your page really does reflect the truth. Maybe, the problem is that your page reveals the truth of your heart. Are you truly saved? Have you honestly been born again? Not just converted into a church “attender” but into a child of God. Listen to what Jesus told the religious leaders of His day in Matt. 23:27, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. (v.28) Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” Jesus was very hard on those who only pretended to give their heart to God. Paul wrote in II Cor. 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." If we are truly born again, if we truly have asked the Holy Spirit of God to come in to our heart and make us into the image of Christ then there will be evidence in every area of life…even Facebook.

Is it possible then that the ungodly displays on our Facebook homepages are revealing the fact that we have never truly been changed...that we have not been saved? Ask yourself, "am I the person others see on my Facebook, or am I the person they see in church?" It is a question that must be answered and answered very soon. The person in church should be the same one people see on Facebook. Be sure that your postings reflect your relationship with God and that even the comments you make can be used to open the door of witness to this lost world.

Don’t send an unclear signal to a world lost in sin.