The Faces of Facebook "Christian Leadership to Change the World"
by Maddie Jomolca (BPRW)
If your church disappeared tomorrow, would your local community even notice? Would it be missed? What vital, world-redeeming tasks would be left undone?
You might ask yourself the same haunting question: If you were to exit the drama of life, stage right this very evening, what difference would it make? Think about this for a moment while I briefly describe the forward-thinking actions of one man who did make a difference because he changed the course of history.
For millions of Christians who have gone before us, activism (futuristic campaigner, protestor, and/or advocate pressing on to bring about necessary changes) was considered fruit of the faith. Not only was the civil rights movement led by evangelical Christians like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., so too were campaigns for abolition by Christians and women’s suffrage heavily influenced by Christians expressing their faith.
True Christian activism always begins with the truth. That means that the true activist is a witness, with a pioneering spirit anxious to pass on truth to others. This is how the abolition movement began in the United States. About thirty years before the civil war, the truth that slavery was a sin began to break through the consciousness of more and more Americans.
Soon all activists, however, learn that not everyone can handle the truth. That is why a second thing that any Christian should know about engaging the world with a Christian worldview is to expect resistance. When truth collides with the status quo, Christian activists had better know where their ultimate hope lies.
But above all, like Dr. King, the activist must possess courage and unyielding faith in the God of justice within our ever-changing progression.
We as obedient Christians must also have a strategy for shaking the system: from prayer to dialogues, from political involvement to pressure tactics such boycotts and strikes.
So back to you and your church: Are you simply minding your own business or just caring for the needs within the four walls of the church building? Or does your Christianity have legs and arms, as well as heart and mind? “Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19)
Over the course of the years, I, too, have pondered this very question, and asserted that aside from my immediate family grieving over their loss, I can, in all probability, personally avow to having impacted a few individual’s lives along the way.
“But is this enough?” I ask myself.
To follow Christ’s teachings means to bring those teachings to life. It means that you and I need to be change-agents… disciples. All of us would do well to take these words to heart: not just to meditate on Christianity, but to live it out in the world--- and to truly attempt to change the world in the process.
In September of 2003, I put my feet to my faith, and relinquished the overly-extended turbulence I referred to as “my life” over to Christ; a decision which paved the way to more rigorous reasoning, whilst invoking explorative and spiritual action within me.
I almost immediately became infused with purpose, the desire to make this purpose known, and more importantly, available to everyone I came in contact with. Soon thereafter, I turned yet another cornerstone when I, in keeping with my unwavering thirst for knowledge, made a firm decision to return to school after several “hit or miss,” futile attempts throughout the years!
We as Christ-followers are assured that as the Lord continues to discipline us for the journey ahead via “life-lessons,” it is our contribution(s) and/or activism that which will further fortify the Lord’s plan in our lives. These contributions will edify, encourage and further motivate us to, as Dr. King and other great advocates and leaders before and after him, press on for the Kingdom of Heaven!
On or about a year ago, my youngest of three daughters, Nastazia, pleaded with me into allowing her to have a MySpace and FaceBook page, and mistakenly attempted to use her twenty-four and nineteen-year-old sisters as models to further lessen her odds… Nastazia, (Stazy) was then eight years-young.
After a long discussion, a few short-tantrums, and pouting sessions later; I finally caved-in after she (and her sisters!) assured me that her profile would remain “private’ and that I would have full access to passwords, emails, etc. It wasn’t long before I, too, completed my own profile and page on Facebook shortly thereafter in an effort to monitor the girls and their friends. Although done so cynically, nothing could prepare me for the supreme level of opportunistic communication(s) that loomed ahead.
If you are not familiar with the Facebook protocol, it, much like Myspace, allows you to set up a profile page using your personal information. You then acquire new friends (or include existing ones) by either requesting someone add you as a friend, or you may in turn accept someone whom has requested you as theirs. Once you establish friendships, you may then exchange emails, photos, and other commentaries and postings with these individuals.
Following the many months of logging on, viewing, exchanging, deleting and so on, I soon reduced and realized that if utilized as an unobjectionable (initially) networking medium, there are no bounds to the way in which one can convey thought-provoking messages to others. In fact, I would go as far as to encourage ALL Christians to observe the Lord’s tenets, and take full advantage of this and similar forums as an undertaking with which they can further spread the gospel, or simply weigh-in on their Christian-like values and convictions. It is what we are called and ordered to do… it is, in fact, one of the fundamentals of Christianity!
You will not only gain a few friends, and perhaps some unsolicited “frenemies,” but will more importantly assert yourself as a bona fide vessel of our most High and Almighty God!
“Be not conformed…” yet, “go therefore and make disciples of all nations...”
