The day before yesterday my wife Tonya mentioned on her Facebook page that I had begun posting on my blog again. I didn’t think much about it when she told me, but I have to admit that my blog readership numbers definitely spiked some afterwards. What’s more, wordpress shows me how the readers found the blog, and that left no doubt that many of them had come by way of Facebook. Of course, I’m always grateful that anyone would take the time to read anything I’ve written, and to each one who came by way of Facebook I say a heartfelt, “Thank you.”

Well, that spike in readers got Tonya and I to talking about Facebook, and last night she took a few minutes and clicked me through how it all works. I needed such enlightenment because, even though she and our oldest son Ryan are Facebook veterans, I’ve never been remotely interested. Call me a caveman, but Facebook and texting just aren’t me. I do email quite a bit, but I’ve read that emailing is going the way of the T-Rex because kids would rather text. So, as usual, I find myself a few steps behind the bandwagon. But I’m not such a social recluse that I am unaware of just how big Facebook has become. Anything that is big enough to have a movie devoted to its origins is certainly a force to be reckoned with!

Anyway, now let me get to what I want to say. As Tonya skimmed me through a small slice of Facebook, one of the things that struck me was the amount of crude comments, vulgar language, and racy pictures that people put out there for the world to see. Even teenagers seem to feel the need to express themselves in such ways. (I had to wonder if some parents have a clue what their precious little darlings are doing on their computers!) I also had to wonder just how many of the folks, whether teenagers or adults, who express themselves in such ways profess to be born-again Christians.

Maybe more pastors need to start patrolling Facebook. Now there’s a thought that would strike terror into a lot of people! Delete buttons would probably be worn out on computers all over the world. Maybe I’ll bring it up at the next pastor’s conference. (lol) Here’s an even scarier idea: What if every pastor of a church with internet access and a video screen in the sanctuary took a few minutes during next Sunday’s services and had the Facebook site brought up on the screen and started zeroing in on the profiles of those in attendance? I suspect that the unemployment lines would be filled with pastors, resumes in hand, Monday morning.

And so, when it’s all said and done, my simple words of wisdom concerning Facebook are this: Don’t put anything on there that you wouldn’t feel comfortable letting Jesus see. I mean, after all, He IS seeing it, right? This is good advice for anybody, but it is especially true for the Christian. Like it (pun fully intended) or not, others look at you to see if Jesus really has made a difference in your life. That’s not just a difference when it comes to whether you go to church or own a Bible, but a difference in every nook and cranny of your life. I mean, really, if your salvation and walk with Christ isn’t powerful and life-changing enough to keep your Facebook page decent and, dare I say, holy, then what have you actually got that the world can’t either explain away or mimic? Here’s a good test for you, Christian: Read over your profile as if you were a lost person reading it and be honest about what impressions you are left with about you. You might be surprised.

In the end, please understand that I am not against Facebook. If that’s what you are getting out of this post, you need to reread it. Remember that my wife and oldest son have profiles. To each his own, I suppose. But, Christian, what I want you to realize is that you don’t don some invisible cloak that disguises your relationship with Christ when you sit down at that keyboard. For years, we’ve asked the question: “What would Jesus do?” Maybe now we need to change it to: “What would Jesus post?”