Facebook and Fellowship

I confess to being baffled. I don’t understand quite what is happening when I feel a sense of loss because a “friend” whom I have never met, but only exchanged written words with, leaves Facebook. I am even more perplexed when I consider how I would feel if I didn’t have access to Facebook at all. I suddenly realise I have become dependent on Facebook and blogging for a great part of my Christian fellowship.

Facebook for me started out as a way to get in touch with old school friends. It developed into something completely different when I “friended” someone I heard interviewed on a Christian radio show. I’d never done that before, for it’s very un-British to barge in on someone without waiting to be introduced! And then suddenly I was exposed to a whole new circle of friends, who were open about sharing their love for Jesus with others. Some of those friends also had blogs which I started reading. And now, almost a year later, I realise that these “friends” have become a big part of my life, I love them dearly, I am edified and encouraged by them so much in my walk with Christ Jesus, and the thought of not having this fellowship is very unsettling.

Is on-line communication “real”? Well, that’s an interesting one. I wonder if it’s the kindest form of communication – you get to see my heart, without the irritations of how my heart works things out in practice. You get to see the good intentions, but not the failures as I struggle to daily work out loving God and loving neighbour as myself. Do you have an accurate picture of who I really am? I don't know - I think so, for I pour out my heart and soul into what I write. But if we were to meet in person - well, one friendship with an online blogging friend has transcended from virtual reality to real life and we remain good friends, so that gives me hope that you are not getting a completely unrealistic view of me!

Is it possible to "love one another" through the written word? Well, let me just testify to you how I have been "loved" through the written word.

I am loved when I am encouraged and exhorted to remember Christ and who He is, what He has done, what He will yet do. Reading blogs and comments on Facebook, I have been challenged as to whether I am living each day in the sacred, abiding constantly in Him; whether I am living each moment ready for the return of Jesus; reading beautiful words from Octavius Winslow has fed my love for Christ; I have read a testimony from the heart of a Christian, full of grace and truth, which has challenged me not to water down the truth for the sake of misguided sympathy; I have been challenged in my mothering of my own son as I read of how a friend nurtures her boys in the giftings and talents their Heavenly Father has bestowed upon them; I have been encouraged in my praying for the church through a beautiful prayer which a fellow sister has shared, and exhorted in my praying for the persecuted church. And all that is just this last week!!

I have also been loved in other ways through the written word. When I meander around theologically as I try to grapple with the Truth, people who have never met me are so concerned about what I believe that they take the time to write to me, to guide me along the path to Truth, to pray for me! When I once shared personal information about a home situation, I was stunned by the loving response I received, and God alone knows the difference that has had on my prayers for this situation.

I hope I am also able to love others through the written word. I am becoming increasingly conscious that the temptation to jump into a discussion on some theological issue or other to share my views may not always be the wisest course of action, and that with the written word as well as with the spoken word there is "a time to be silent and a time to speak" (Ecc 3:7). It is my prayer that every comment I make through my keyboard may be "full of grace, seasoned with salt" (Col 4:6). I also realise that through Facebook I have been able to share my faith with my non-Christian friends in a way that would never have been possible before, surely the heart of love. Opportunities to speak of the Lord are few and far between in person, yet through this medium I find I am able to express my true heart before them.

There is, however, the ever-present issue of spending way too much time in front of the computer - it seems to take a lot longer now for me to complete my accountancy work than it used to, as I break off to read another reminder of God's goodness. However, on one of those breaks from my work last week, I read this article by Teresa, over at Music from Broken Chords, where she quotes a passage by Octavius Winslow on the lonely walk of the Christian. That touched some buttons. Then I was reminded by Elizabeth of Tozer’s “The Saint Must Walk Alone”. He says: “The pain of loneliness arises from the constitution of our nature. God made us for each other. The desire for human companionship is completely natural and right. The loneliness of the Christian results from his walk with God in an ungodly world, a walk that must often take him away from the fellowship of good Christians as well as from that of the unregenerate world. His Godgiven instincts cry out for companionship with others of his kind, others who can understand his longings, his aspirations, his absorption in the love of Christ; and because within his circle of friends there are so few who share his inner experiences he is forced to walk alone... He finds few who care to talk about that which is the supreme object of his interest, so he is often silent and preoccupied in the midst of noisy religious shoptalk.”

And I now realise why it is that Facebook and blogging have become such an important part of my Christian walk of faith. This lonely pilgrim has suddenly found a group of likeminded believers whose hearts are utterly captivated by their Lord and Saviour, who are likewise eager to speak of Him and His beauty.

We may not be meeting in person, but I do believe that “virtual, on-line” meeting is accomplishing the exhortation in these following verses!

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)