Mark Zuckerberg is now worth billions for "inventing" the social network Facebook. But long before Mark, or even the brothers that claimed he stole the idea from them, or his ex-coworker that claims the idea was his, or even Myspace, God had started Facebook.
I mean, really... what is the point, what is the big attraction of Facebook? Is it not to basically write a resume of our life, to show ourselves off to anyone who might take interest in our lives? To sell ourselves to others? To try to convince others (and perhaps ourselves) that our lives do have some value or something worthy of the respect of others? I think that's why it's so popular - in essence, we can be whoever we want to whomever we want. We post our best pictures, write our most creative thoughts... pretty much publishing things that keep us looking good in the eyes of our Facebook friends - many times people we haven't even met. I don't think you'll find too many Facebook accounts where people will make themselves vulnerable - you know, posting their struggles, confessing their doubts and fears, and talking about their failed relationships. If everyone's real life lined up with their Facebook lives, this world would be a much better place, and nobody would be suffering from boredom because we would certainly be living much fuller and more fulfilling lives than a bunch of people who sit around typing into their laptops everyday (I'm removing the plank right now).
The truth is, in our American society and society in general, our relationships have gotten so superficial, so self-centered that we have trouble sustaining them, because they've all been initiated and maintained on some false image we've attempted to create for ourselves due to our desire to validate ourselves through our relationships. The problem is the closer we become to these "friends", the harder it is to keep up the charade of the amazing person we've tried to convince them that we are. I think that's why so many relationships fail - we work so hard at maintaining the image we've created for our self, and when people get close enough to us to realize the falseness of it, they often feel betrayed in the friendship and disassociate with us. So we love things like Facebook, blogs, and twitter - we can reveal to our "friends" only what we want them to know, show them only the best of who we are or how we look, make our lives look fulfilling and interesting, and edit all our communications so that we say exactly what we want without stumbling over words. This eliminates the threat of having to deal with people face to face, where they might be able to see all our weaknesses, vulnerabilities, fears, emotional garbage or anything else that might make us appear less than a perfect person to them. We enjoy this security buffer since we fear people might not like the real "us", since we all, deep down inside, know that there's something currently wrong, something not quite right with ourselves in our current sinful state, separated from God.
You see, God really did start Facebook. Since the beginning of time, He's had an account, which He updates regularly. He lets you know who He is. He let's you know His likes and dislikes, and His interests as well. He gives status updates regularly, for anyone that's paying attention. He publishes pictures of things He's created, things He thinks are beautiful, things He thinks are good to eat. He sends out constant friend requests, some of which are accepted, some of which are ignored, and many of which are denied. Does He "unfriend"? Well... I might blog my thoughts on that in the future, but for now, I'll leave that for all the biblical expositionists and theologians to debate, who are much smarter than me. He usually lets you know who his friends are, and suggests that you should friend them too. His profile lets you know He's interested in all men and women, and desires a friendship and a relationship with everyone. He "likes" (and also dislikes) constantly on His friends accounts, to show he cares about their well-being. He "pokes" people and sends them messages to get their attention when He feels they need to wake up and live a better life, or jump into something He's involved in so they can have a greater story to tell. He let's you know where He's been at work and is currently working, so you can join Him there. He blogs (Bible) and tweets as well, so you can know His thoughts and what He's up to on a daily basis. Have you signed up as a follower?
Entertain me a moment, and let's visit God's profile page, starting from the top: He has worked and works.... constantly, in an infinite amount of places. He's studied.... nowhere, because He already knows everything. He lives...eternally. He's from... the beginning. He's never been born ... and will never die. He knows every language ever spoken... but His favorite one is love. He has no need to edit His profile ...because He never changes. As far as arts and entertainment, he likes any music, books, movie, shows, or games that honor His name, draw people closer to Himself, and cause them to love others more. His activities and interests include creating things out of nothing, and then pouring out His love and showing His glory to the things He's created. His basic info just says "I AM". His contact info reads "through my Son, Jesus Christ". His side columns are seemingly endless, listing all His friends, easily identified by their love for one another and by lives that bear fruit for His kingdom. Are you easily recognized, or do people have to run an extensive search to see if you're on His list of friends? How often do you visit His profile page to see what He's been up to? How often do the two of you chat? I would suggest you "friend" Him right now if you haven't already. You might as well, because He ALWAYS has access to your account, even if you've tried to "block" Him before. He is quite capable of hiding His status from you, but if you send Him a sincere request, I'm pretty sure you'll get a response. He's always on-line.
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