Anonymous Facebooking Series

OPEN: For people who haven’t been here for the past couple of weeks I’ve been talking about an internet social network called Facebook. It’s THE most popular social network on the internet with 400 million and people gather there to exchange pictures, ideas and dreams.

But not everybody on Facebook contributes. There are people on Facebook who just hang around. They read what people have written on their pages. They look at the pictures.

They just kind of hang around and do nothing. They don’t write anything/ they don’t share anything. They just sit there and look around.

I call them “Anonymous Facebookers.”

Now Facebook – has also noticed this trend… and they regard it as a “problem”

Why? Because Facebook needs advertising revenue to survive. And since advertisers look at the activity that occurs on the site, and since how much these advertisers pay is based upon how much activity they see there. WELL - these anonymous people are just dead weight.

These anonymous facebookers just don’t register on their statistics and so, they’re not good for the bottom line.

Just recently, Facebook has come up with a solution.

They have a new set of features intended to guilt these folks into getting involved.

Seriously. It’s supposed subtly shame people into being more interactive on the site.

(http://www.technolog.msnbc.msn.com/technology/technolog#/technology/technolog/facebook-guilt-you-posting-recent-activity-notifiers-838532) by Devin Coldewey

Now, it’s not important for us to know HOW these new features do that (I’m not sure I know myself) but the point is… that’s their objective. These features were created to shame Anonymous Facebookers into being less… anonymous.

Now, the church has had much the same problem over the years.

ILLUS: A man told of a friend of his who was walking out of church ahead of him after worship. The preacher was standing at the door shaking hands and he grabbed the friend by the hand and pulled him aside. The preacher looked him intently in the eye said to him, "You need to join the Lord’s Army, son!"

The friend replied, "I’m already in the Army of the Lord, Preacher."

The preacher questioned, "How come I don’t see you except for Christmas and Easter?"

He whispered back, "I’m in the secret service."

There are people who don’t get involved with church.

They just show up… some of the time.

And when they show up… they don’t do anything.

They sit, they read, they watch, they sing, they listen to the sermon… and then they go home.

That’s all they do.

They don’t invest themselves in God’s family.

They’re anonymous in their faith.

They’re kind of in… the secret service.

Now, Hebrews tells us that’s NOT the way God set it up.

First, it says we weren’t called to be anonymous in our faith.

Oh no, we’re called to confidence and boldness.

Hebrews 10:19 says “we have CONFIDENCE to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus”

King James translates this: we have BOLDNESS to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,

And we’ve got assurance and hope.

In verse 22 it says we should “…draw near to God with a sincere heart IN FULL ASSURANCE of faith...”

And verse 23 tells us to “…hold UNSWERVINGLY to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”

We have Confidence,

Boldness.

Full assurance.

God has given us the ability to be unswerving in our Hope.

That’s not anonymous living.

That’s a bold --- powerful way of faith.

In another passage, Paul puts it this way:

“I AM NOT ASHAMED of the gospel of Christ: for it is the POWER of God unto salvation for every one that believes; to the Jew first, then for the Gentile.” Romans 1:16

We have hold of the power of God.

We have NOTHING to be ashamed of.

We have something to offer the world that no one else, and nothing else, can offer.

Why on God’s green earth would we want to be shy about it?

Why would we want to be “anonymous”?

Now, for the most part – I’m preaching to the choir here.

Most of you are involved in some form of ministry for Christ.

Most of you couldn’t be anonymous in your faith if you put on a false beard and mustache.

I’ve heard people in other churches talk about the fact that 90% of the work is done by 10% of people, but that’s not true here.

Well over 50% of you do some form of ministry.

And maybe 70% contribute in other ways.

But there are a few - even here - that just sit and watch.

Some of you here frankly don’t do… anything.

If you’re sitting here this morning and all you do is show up on Sundays you gotta ask yourself the question: WHY is that all you’re doing? If you’re not doing anything for Jesus… why?