Social Networking

No doubt, you've heard plenty about Facebook and Twitter. You're probably sick of hearing about social networking sites. But what if you decided to stay locked inside your house, completely disconnected with the outside world? That would make you non-social and non-networking, wouldn't it? You'd be called a recluse or a hermit.

Do you realize that a church can live a hermit existence? Are you aware that it is possible for God's people to become reclusive?

Social networking is nothing new. When Andrew found out about Jesus, he "posted a message" to his brother Peter: "We have found the Messiah!" When Philip started to follow Jesus, he immediately "tweeted" Nathanael and told him the scoop about the One the Scriptures foretold. After the demon possessed man was healed in Luke 8, he made sure the whole town knew how much Jesus had done for him. The woman at the well did the same thing in John 4. After Matthew started to follow Jesus, he got his friends list out and invited all of them to a party with the Savior. It's social networking. It's all about relationships. It's reaching new people who don't know and who aren't included, so they can know and be included. There's no limit to a friends list. No one refuses to allow more Twitter followers. The more, the merrier. If more people are connected, more people hear the news.

Sometimes followers of Jesus forget that they are still on earth in order to be all about social networking. Sometimes the local church forgets that fact, too. Instead of sharing the news with as many people as possible, followers of Christ get comfortable with a finite list of friends. They meet and sit with the people they know, never thinking about who might still need to hear the Good News of Jesus. Instead of actively pursuing open doors of service in the community, a church busies itself with in-house activities and programs, not realizing that new relationships may create opportunities for a great harvest of souls.

Followers of Jesus are called to be--and happy to be--social networkers. With every new encounter, in every new relationship, during every chance meeting, a follower of Jesus thinks, "What might God have planned? How might this lead to an expansion of His Kingdom?" As churches get involved in the community, serve in schools, volunteer at nursing homes, visit hospitals, participate in the chamber of commerce, host community events, and get mixed into the community in a thorough and effective way, they need to be on the watch for new believers, new leaders, and new possibilities for the advance of the Kingdom.

The Church was not created to be a hermit or recluse. It is to be the ultimate social networker. The cascade of relationships resulting from the efforts of God's people will bear the fruit of lives saved for eternity. This is God's will and desire.

How are you and your church social networkers? How are you bringing Jesus outside the walls of the church?

Check out some ideas in the excellent article from Christianity Today.