Does Social Media Create Authentic Christian Fellowship?
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I coach my daughter's Upward cheerleading squad (Upward is a Christian-based sports program). At each practice we have a devotion, recite Scripture memory verses, and pray.
This season's theme has been light. I'm sure you can guess what we've discussed: God is light, live in the light, walk in the light, moving from darkness to light, and so on.
This week's devotion was centered around Christian fellowship. Our memory verse this week was
If we live in the light, we share fellowship with each other (1 John 1:7b).
The verse in its entirety and from the ESV is this:
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7).
I thought our week's memory verse was a perfect tie-in to this week's Faithful Bloggers' discussion on the use of social media to grow our blogs.
Obviously, Facebook and Twitter are social media—meaning they are designed to function best when people are engaging others and giving of themselves.
But I got to wondering: How do these interactions contribute to authentic Christian fellowship? Or should it even matter?
I'll answer the second one first: Yes. I think it does matter.
Created for Community
We know that God created us for community. According to the verse above, walking in the light with others who are walking in the light brings fellowship. We need each other for encouragement, especially in the Blogosphere.
I have actually seen my activity on Facebook and Twitter contribute to authentic Christian fellowship. I wrote about the opportunities for prayer and worship as I engaged in a few communities on Facebook.
And who would have thought that only 140 characters (typed in the form of a meaningful Bible verse or quotation) would be just the word I needed for encouragement on a difficult day?
Finding Courtney and Kelly here at Faithful Bloggers has been the beginning of wonderful Christian fellowship that only God could have orchestrated.
So I would say, YES! Authentic Christian fellowship is not only possible through social media; it's inevitable when you approach your participation with that as your goal.
Use these and other social media platforms to invite your followers to walk with you in the light. When you do, you'll find authentic Christian fellowship.
