OPEN: On the way home from church a little girl who said, “Mom, I’ve been thinking.”
The mother said, “Oh! About what?”
The girl replied, “Well, my teacher this morning said God is bigger than we are. Is that true?”
“Yes, that’s true,” the mother replied.
“He also said that God lives within us. Is that true too?”
Again the mother replied, “Yes.”
“Well,” said the girl. “If God is bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn’t He show through?”
APPLY: A basic principle of life. Whatever is most important to you - whatever is “biggest” in your life – will shine through.
And on Facebook this especially becomes true. Who a person is will shine through. Because whatever is BIGGEST in their lives – shows.
You can tell what is important in a person’s life on Facebook by what…
· they talk about the most
· and what they say they “like “
· and what kind of photos they “share”
One of the most common aspects of Facebooking is this “Sharing” feature.
People on Facebook share photos like these:
1. Humorous (put up humorous postings on the overhead)
2. Political (political photos)
3. Affection or Love (affection related postings on Facebook)
4. Patriotic (patriotic photo)
You can tell a lot about a person is like by what they share on Facebook.
And that’s been the conclusion of a couple of studies mentioned in Forbes Magazine http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/03/05/facebook-can-tell-you-if-a-person-is-worth-hiring/
These studies were conducted by Don Kluemper, of Northern Illinois University.
In one of these studies, he asked employers to give impressions of a candidate based solely on their Facebook page. They were to visit the Facebook page of prospective employees and then assign each person a score for qualities important to a good employee,
Six months later Kluemper went back to those companies to see how well the employer’s first impressions had been. What they found was a strong correlation between the employers’ reviews of Facebook and how the employee actually behaved at that company.
Then he did another study where they examined their Facebook pages of College Students and had them take personality and IQ tests (called cognitive tests). Then, they looked at the grade points of the students.
Kluemper said “We were able to better predict a student’s academic success based on their Facebook page than on the cognitive tests”
The whole point of those studies was this:
You can tell a lot about a person by what they share on their Facebook.
Whatever is most important in their lives – will show through.
So, if you ARE on Facebook.
OR if you WERE on Facebook.
What would show through?
What kind of things would you share?
Would it mostly be about family?
Or your political beliefs?
Or music you like?
Or the movies you’ve watched or books you’ve read?
What would be the kind of thing you’d share the most?
A couple of my “Facebook friends” share Christ on their Facebook pages.
(We ran through religious photos they’d shared on their Facebook, ranging from humorous, to Bible verses, to little Bible lessons).
Then, there’s Lyla and her friends who keep up the Church Facebook page. They post pictures of activities in the church here and write about things that are important to them about our congregation.
You can tell how much they love Jesus because of what they share on their Facebook page. Jesus is important to them… so He shines through – even there.
Now, that got me to thinking…
If people love Jesus, they share their faith on Facebook.
So, how should folks share their faith on the internet?
As I studied our text for this morning I learned that – first
If He’s real to you… He’ll show through.
John wrote:
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched— this we proclaim concerning the Word of life…. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard…” I John 1:1 & 3a
Notice what John is saying:
We HEARD these things.
We SAW these things.
We HANDLED these things.
And that’s what we’re telling you about.
In other words, this isn’t a religious game he’s playing.
He’s not doing this for show.
In fact, like the other apostles, John ends up suffering for his faith. He’s the only one not martyred because of what he preaches. But the authorities do end up exiling John to the Isle of Patmos so that they can keep him from preaching and teaching others about Christ.
But even that doesn’t stop him.
John preached Jesus because he had tell about Jesus.
He was DRIVEN to do this because he loved Jesus so much.
John was sharing something he KNOWS is true.
He’d heard it, seen it, touched it.
He was sharing all of this because… it gave him joy.
“We write this to make our joy complete.” 1 John 1:4
The problem with many people is – they kinda float through their faith. They go to church, they sing some songs, they pray some prayers, they listen to lessons and sermons. Then they go home
And God’s kinda there.
He’s over in the corner somewhere.
But God is never the main focus of that home.
He’s over at the church building. And these folks won’t give him much thought until next Sunday when they go back to that building where they left Him.
And so, God would rarely be on their Facebook page… unless they felt guilty about not putting Him there. But then… there would be NO JOY in their sharing.
But John put Jesus on his Facebook because it gave him joy every time he talked about Him.
ILLUS: I just talked with a preacher who had a young man in his congregation who called him to see about remarrying he and his wife. They had been happily married for 10 years… but they hadn’t been Christians at the time. Now, 10 years later, they wanted to redo their vows as Christians.
It was a beautiful wedding ceremony – large crowd, bride in her gown, groom in his tux, bridesmaids, and groomsmen - and they took lots of pictures.
Then the bride put those pictures on Facebook.
She told her “friends” that she just wanted to share this wonderful experience with them. And she wrote that one of the major reasons they “remarried” was because they were now Christians and they wanted to do this as Christians. They wanted to share their wedding vows with Jesus.
She got about 50 replies from people in town (some Christians, some not) - all positive. And nobody thought she was being hypocritical about sharing her love for Jesus because she was being real about her love for Christ.
So that’s the first step in sharing your Jesus is to be honest about it.
This is vitally important, because if you’re not honest – people will know.
So how do you know if you’re being honest?
Well, you might ask yourself some of these questions:
1. “Why does Jesus matter to me?” What difference does it make that He’s my savior?
2. “What have I read in God’s word that has made me feel good about God and myself?”
3. “What have I seen God do in my life?”
4. “What have I done in my life that has made feel closer to God?”
It’s important to make sure you’re being sincere about what you say you believe.
Because, if He’s real to you, He’ll show through.
2nd – to share your faith, the people you it share with need to know you CARE about them
Too often people believe they can “argue” people into Christ.
ILLUS: There’s an old Peanuts cartoon in which Lucy says to Charlie Brown, "I would have made a great evangelist."
Charlie Brown answers, "Is that so?"
"Yes.” She says. “I convinced that boy in front of me in school that my religion is better than his."
Charlie Brown asked, "Well, how did you do that?"
And Lucy answers, "I hit him over the head with my lunch box."
But John would not have been the type to argue with people about Jesus.
John wrote: “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, SO THAT YOU ALSO MAY HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH US. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” 1 John 1:3
John wasn’t writing about theology.
He wasn’t debating about religion
He was sharing his love for Jesus with people he cared about. He did that so that others would have the same fellowship with Jesus he had.
John was driven to share his faith…because he cared about the folks he was writing to.
Someone once said “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”
So, how can you “SHOW you care?”
I don’t have a lot of time to spend on Facebook, and there usually so much that I could read, so I’m very selective on who’s postings I’ll pay attention to. And on Facebook, I’ve noticed that I’m more inclined to look at someone else’s postings and photos IF they’ve said something nice about something I’ve written or shared.
I mean it’s obvious they have really good taste.
But, isn’t that what you’d do?
Of course you would.
So a lot of times I’ll look at pictures or postings of others and -- if that posting appeals to me in any way I make it a point to click on the “like” button, or I’ll write a comment below what they’ve shared.
When I do that, Facebook immediately sends a message to them -gives my name and it tells that person that I “liked”/ or commented on what they posted. In other words – they know almost immediately that I paid attention to something they shared.
Now, if you’re not into Facebook… it’s the same principle.
We need to take time to appreciate and compliment people for things they consider important. And when we do that, they’ll be more open to listening to you when you talk about Jesus/your Church.
You’ve shown interest in what they like, and so they’ll be inclined to be interested in what you like. Jesus.
So, now that you’ve got their attention… what should you share on Facebook?
· Well, you could share my sermons/ church newsletter. I put them on my Facebook page - and if you clicked the “share button” you would then share them with everyone that is your friend. And if they liked it enough, they might click on their “share” button and share it with their friends.
· Or you could do it like (mentioned a couple of “FB friends” who were part of the church) who share Christ-centered pictures.
· You could share a poem or story that you enjoy.
· Or you could just share something about what God has done for you or an insight about God that has meant something to you.
It doesn’t matter… as long as it is something that you would like to see. Something that would encourage you or help to see Jesus in a new way.
But if you’re going to share Jesus I would strongly suggest you keep away from posting political cartoons or insults to a politician you don’t like. I’ve seen various political cartoons or comments that I totally agree with. They say something that makes me respond: “ALL RIGHT!”
But I rarely ever share a political comment or cartoon. I’m not on Facebook to share my politics. I’m there to share my Jesus. And I don’t want people to be turned away from Christ because I’ve shared a political statement along side my witness about Christ.
Now the beauty of sharing things on Facebook is that it gives you experience in witnessing.
Many of us are shy when it comes to speaking about Jesus. It’s not that they don’t love Jesus, it’s just that they are afraid of rejection.
Facebook can give these people a sense of security in talking about Christ because they’re not really talking face to face with a real person.
And let’s face it - if someone didn’t like what I’ve posted, on Facebook… I don’t care. They can ignore me… and even block me… I’ll never know it. And so I don’t have this fear of being rejected. I can post anything I want to about Jesus. And maybe someone will even like what I’ve posted and encourage me with a comment or a ‘like’ of their own.
So Facebook can become a non-threatening atmosphere where you can share your love for Jesus with others, and the more you share online the more natural it will be for you to talk about Jesus in the “real world” with real people.
ILLUS: Before I became a preacher I thought I’d try my hand at auctioneering. I spent a week at an auctioneer school over on the east side of Indiana. It was a lot of fun… but I soon discovered it was also a unique atmosphere. I realized nobody at that class would ever see me again after we graduated. So… I witnessed to them. I got really bold about it.
I mean – if they didn’t like what I said, who cared?
We hadn’t formed any lasting friendships and I wasn’t going to lose much if they rejected me.
I’ve been bold about how I’ve talked about Jesus ever since.
And Facebook can do that for you too. It can give you a safe atmosphere to experiment with witnessing. And like I said – once you get used to sharing Jesus on Facebook… it will be easier to share Him with people face to face.
Now lastly - as great a tool as Facebook can be for sharing your faith it is not nearly as good as talking to people in real life. Facebook can be a great training ground to break you in talking about Jesus… but all it can REALLY do is give folks a small taste for what you love.
For real serious witnessing… to really make a difference in people’s lives you’ve got to go out in the real world and talk to real people.
ILLUS: Stan and his wife (members here) have begun a ministry up in the inner city of large metropolitan city near us. He shared this morning that it seems that everybody they minister to has ear piercings, nose piercings, tongue piercings, multiple tattoos and purple hair.
There are about 120 people involved in this inner city mission. Why? Because the folks they are ministering to wouldn’t respond to a letter, a pamphlet or a book. The only thing that is going to make a difference in their lives is real people talking about a real faith.
The Apostle John wrote a lot of things about Jesus (you might say he POSTED a lot of things)
He wrote the Gospel of John, the book of Revelation…and 3 letters to churches.
But he didn’t just write about Jesus.
He preached and he taught and he talked about Him with people – all the time.
John realized that letters and books are good… they’re important. But following Jesus starts with following someone else TO Jesus.
ILLUS: When you and I became a Christian… you followed someone. Didn’t you? Maybe it was a teacher or a preacher, or your mom, or dad or grandparents. Someone influenced you for Christ.
Who influenced you to become a Christian? (pause)
It was a REAL person wasn’t it?
It was someone you watched and admired.
It was someone you believed really heard about Jesus.
Someone you believed really saw God work in their lives… someone you believed really touched.
You followed someone to Jesus.
Now – it’s your turn to have someone follow you.
CLOSE: In the Bible we read that when Andrew met Jesus, he went and got his brother Peter and led him to Christ. Peter FOLLOWED Andrew to Jesus.
That same Gospel tells us that Philip (another disciple) went to his friend Nathaniel – told him about Jesus - and said ‘come and see”. And Nathaniel FOLLOWED Philip to Jesus.
When the woman at the well met Jesus, she went back to her town and said “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did” and the entire town FOLLOWED her to meet Jesus.
Over and over again in Scripture, real people led their friends and relatives to Jesus.
Sharing on Facebook is a good FIRST step to tell people: come and see.
But ultimately there’s nothing like a REAL person to invite others to Christ.
Will you be that real person?
Will you be the one that others will follow to meet Jesus?
