Facebook Pastors

Is your pastor on Facebook? Or MySpace? How about LinkedIn? Do you follow your pastor on Twitter? Are you getting his (or her) Facebook updates or Tweets throughout the day?

This past year I've made quite an intentional effort to engage the social networks. Mostly I wanted to see if they were really as relevant as everyone seems to think. In the process, I've "friended" or followed several different pastors from several different churches. They include senior pastors, executive pastors, administrative pastors, youth pastors and even worship pastors.

In a nutshell, I think I've got the ground covered on pastors and their Facebooking or Tweeting. And I've got a pretty good representative sample across a range of churches - from big, mega-churches to smaller community churches. Don't get me wrong. I actually know all of these people. It would also be fair to categorize some of them as true friends of mine.

But the collage of all these relationships assembled on-line is an interesting one. It's represented in each of the social networks - but Facebook and Twitter are the ones I find most intriguing. Let's look at the pastors I'm connected with on Facebook, for example.

I'm not sure what's up with the pastors on Facebook. I suspect they all have different trains of thought behind their posts. That appears pretty obvious in their updates.

Overall, there seem to be a couple of different categories of pastors on Facebook. Just like all other people "on Facebook," some pastors simply establish a profile ... and hardly ever log in or post any updates. Then there are the pastors who are on Facebook ... literally. They log in and post throughout the day, or at least with daily or near daily frequency. Like I said, this is quite similar to people from other walks of life who are allegedly on these social networks.

Now of those pastors who are actually active on a frequent basis on Facebook, the things they're posting seem to fall into two or three categories:

1. Updates that are personal in nature and let you know what's going on in the life of that individual. "Having coffee on the porch with my daughter, enjoying the sunset."

2. Updates that are fluffy and don't really say anything. (Posting Bible verses and interesting quotes - that belong to other people.)

3. Updates that look like billboard advertisements or cheers for the football time. "Going to be an awesome service tomorrow! You can't afford to miss it!"

Of course, there are those pastors that play Farmville, Mafia Wars or other Facebook games. (And as I said earlier, the pastors who just have a profile and don't post at all.)

So what is best?

If God called you to be a pastor, what do you suppose God expects of you in terms of Facebook? Does He even want you on Facebook in the first place? If so, how does He want you on Facebook? Are your Facebook posts Spirit-led? Should they be? Or is Facebook a place where a man (or woman) of God should just let their hair down and be real? Can you set your role as a pastor aside in some walks of life, such as on the golf course, at parties or on social networks?

I know this will come as a surprise to those who read me regularly, but I actually don't have a position to take on this one. I haven't come to a conclusion one way or the other. As you can tell though, I'm studying it. And I'm learning from my pastor friends and their Facebook posts.

While I'm thinking this through, I'm remembering the fact that pastors are called to be shepherds and care for the sheep. I'm wondering if any of them see Facebook as a tool to help them in that role. So far none of them seems to. Frankly, I think that's a bit odd.

Businesses, for example, are finding that social networks are great tools to better serve their customers - which has many of the same dynamics as caring for sheep. Could it be that Facebook would improve the effectiveness of a shepherd, called and anointed by God Himself, to feed and care for the sheep?

I'm going to keep studying this. But I can tell you now, I suspect there's a revelation in here somewhere! (And I'll let you know when I find it.)

Obama Discipled?

Okay, I just had a revelation. I've been trying to figure out who Barack Obama is. His walk doesn't seem to match his talk. I couldn't figure out why. The man has said he is a follower of Christ. I know what that means. I just didn't see it in Obama's behavior. I was looking for the fruits of the Spirit - and not seeming to find them.

I've prayed about this issue. Specifically, I've asked God to show me what He sees in Barack Obama. I was stunned by the revelation He gave me. The poor man may have made a decision for Christ - but he has not been taught what it means to follow Christ. It's called discipling. It seems to me now that Mr. Obama has never been properly discipled, or taught the ways of Christ.

Barack's family background is dicey. His mother went through two marriages. He moved around a lot. Between his mother, father and step-father, we have Muslim, atheist, agnostic - or just indifferent at best. Certainly no one there was teaching Barack who Christ is and what His followers really look like.
(http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2007/dec/20/chain-email-gets-obama-religion-wrong/)

Given the fact that Obama's encounter with Christ and profession of belief in Christ as the Messiah didn't occur until adulthood, he would have to look at his adulthood for that teaching.

Jeremiah Wright, Jr., the long-time pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago was the man that Obama credits for his conversion to Christianity. After that conversion, Obama sat and listened to Rev. Wright and his teachings. This would be discipleship. At least one would hope that to be the case.

Now not everyone is really discipled by the pastor of their church. Some find spiritual mentors and teachers whom they can spend more quality time with. Some won't listen to their pastors. Some of the pastors in churches today see themselves as the "senior preachers" instead of senior pastors ... and do no discipling themselves.

But everyone born into God's family, as followers of Christ, must learn the ways of Christ. They must acquire the mind of Christ. If they don't, then they aren't. They may be "saved," as the evangelicals call it. But they remain ignorant of Christ's ways and don't produce what the Bible calls fruits of the Spirit.

So I'm looking at Mr. Obama's life. He's tried to be as open as possible about his personal life. (That's a good thing.) But the only spiritual father I see in his life is Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. And I'm afraid he doesn't look too good. Why? Look at his teachings. Hatred. Racism. Divisiveness. Blame. Judgement.

This man even claims that the U.S. government "invented AIDS" to wipe out the black race! So we can add flawed, deluded thinking to his list of character defects. It may be that Mr. Wright is a charismatic speaker and has a lot of people attending his church. But it is clear from his teaching that the man doesn't really know who God is. It is even more clear that he is not someone who could effectively disciple a Christian leader.

Barack Obama has not been taught the importance of tithing. He has not been shown the close relationship between humility and leadership. He has not been taught how to live a life above reproach. It may be clear that Obama has become a Christian and that he lives his life to his best understanding of what that means. It is becoming increasingly clear that his knowledge of what it means to follow Christ (or his willingness to obey Christ) are lacking.

So if we elect Barack Obama as our next U.S. president, how are we going to get this man discipled?