I know there are some of you who believe no one as holy as the apostle Paul would ever stoop so low as to be on Facebook.
Okay. I’ll buy that. Sort of.
Others believe he would only use it to share the gospel.
Yeah, I see that. Sort of.
Some say Paul would have a Facebook account, but Jesus and John the Baptist wouldn’t.
Huh?
Check out something Paul wrote to the Colossians:
“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Colossians 3:17 NKJV)
He basically said, “Whatever you do or say, make certain you do it as Jesus would, IF He’d do it.”
If Jesus wouldn’t be on Facebook, what are we doing on it?
Did Jesus ride a donkey? Did He ride in a boat? Did He go to social gatherings? Yes, yes, yes!
He used whatever He could to somehow make His message known.
And it’s what the Apostle Paul did, as well.
But I think he would have posted a little differently than some of God’s modern day saints.
His posts would be encouraging, yet challenging. If sin needed to be exposed, and it applied to a whole group, he’d speak the truth in love while showing the group how to make things right with God.
He wouldn’t just blast away at someone because they disagreed with him.
I can’t imagine Paul calling anyone an idiot!
In fact, Paul told us, God’s modern day saints, just how to communicate with our world through the means of Facebook.
“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” (2 Timothy 2:24-26 ESV)
Isn’t that awesome?
Not quarrelsome with anyone. Kind to everyone. The gay, the leftist, the abortionist (they’re part of the ‘everyone’ group), the President, the preacher, the bug man, the tax man, and the one who calls you a jerk. Kind. Just like God is kind to you and I, even though at times we act like jerks.
Well, sometimes I do.
Able to teach. Modern day saints; are your posts filled with profanity? Do they lash out at someone who’s disappointed you? If so, what are you trying to get across? Is that what you want your “friends and followers” to learn from you?
Why?
Patiently enduring evil. How does one do that? By looking to Jesus, Who alone is your strength and shield. “Patiently” means keeping the door of communication open. Encouraging dialogue, even though there is disagreement.
“But I can’t stand what they’re doing!”
We’re talking about Facebook here, remember? Patiently endure.
P a t i e n t l y e n d u r e…
Correcting opponents with gentleness. Some people haven’t the slightest clue what “gentleness” means.
Allow me to help you.
“Mildness of manners or disposition.”
You and I have a better chance of helping others escape from the devil’s traps by using good manners instead of beating them to death with harsh words.
The Apostle Paul would probably have had a Facebook account and, as long as he could get a signal on his smart phone, would have posted regularly.
Would he have said, “Thus saith the Lord”, in every post? I doubt it. He would sometimes, but mostly he’d be building relationships with his friends. He’d be earning the right to speak into someone else’s life by allowing them to post their view without getting blown out of the Facebook waters.
I like Facebook. I don’t like the drama some people seem to thrive on. But I’ll bide my time; reading and listening, while trying to see if God won’t possibly give me a little nugget of truth and love to share with someone.
After all, it’s what Jesus and Paul would do, with or without this thing we call Facebook.
By the way, a new Facebook page “Apostle Paul and Today’s World” has just been created.
Please check it out and “Like”.
Jan Grace 