The Facebook Like Button
05. May, 2010 
17 Comments
You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. – James 4:4, NASB
Facebook annoys me.
I’m constantly invited to a ‘Get Wasted’, ‘Get Naked’, ‘Get Wet’, or ‘Get Wet and Naked While You’re Wasted’ party. Don’t you see that all of my profile information points to Jesus? Why would I want to go to a party that involves drunkenness and lust? With the push of the infamous ‘Facebook Like’ button, things have gotten worse. I’ve read status messages saying ‘God is so good for waking me up this morning’, followed by <insert friend’s name here> likes All You Haters Can Die. Wow. You just said that you love God and then you just ‘liked’ the group wishing death upon someone else. God have mercy on their souls.
The Facebook Like Button can really speak miles of truth about a person’s heart. Your profile information can say one thing, but what you ‘like’ on Facebook tells me about you. Anyone can click the box that says ‘Christian’ for their religious preference, but reading all the nasty status messages and pictures, filthy pages and groups, and sinful notes and links that you marked as ‘liked’ really tells me how much of a hypocrite you are. I’m appalled, so I know God is upset. He doesn’t like two-faced Believers, and your ‘like’ button usage reeks of two-facedness. I would never ‘like’ some of the things that others ‘like’.
Or would I?
What if life had a ‘Like’ button? What would my Life Like Button say?
My mouth just finished preaching the importance of operating in Grace, but when I put you in your place for ticking me off, I just ‘liked’ unjust anger. My tweets can condemn fornication, but when I undress a coworker with my eyes, I just ‘liked’ lust. I can pray that justice is served to the thieves that robbed the Mom and Pop grocery store down the street, but when I illegally download Photoshop, I just ‘liked’ robbery. Stealing is stealing, regardless of the the content: digital or tangible. Here’s where it really hurts:
It is impossible to like anything anti-Christ and love God simultaneously.
James writes to the scattered Church a gut-checking truth: friendship with the world is hostility towards God. If you desire to friend the world, you’re making yourself an enemy of God. The NKV (New Karsten Version) of that verse simply says to be a homey with the world is to be a hater of God. OUCH. When I ‘like’ lust, I’m hating purity. If I ‘like’ gossip, I hate peace. If I ‘like’ revenge, I hate Grace. If I ‘like’ satan’s offering, I hate God’s Gift.
How many times has the profile information of my life (my talk) been the complete opposite of my life’s recent activity (my walk)? Did I really just befriend the epitome of evil and hate the Personification of Perfection? Sadly, yes I did. I have hated integrity.
And each time I hated integrity, I liked hypocrisy.
I was a double minded man when I couldn’t get enough of T.I. and grew tired of His Word (James 1:7). That sickens me. Even more, hypocrisy (straddling the fence) makes God vomit (Revelation 3:16). God hates hypocritical worship (Matthew 6:2).
Perhaps the same Cross I preach to the masses is the same Cross on which my flesh should hang.
What does your Life Like Button say about you?
If you had the like button here I would hit it twice. Lol it also amazes me that God is good will get 10 likes and I’m getting tore up tonight 25 likes. You are so on point with this.
Great post, and totally makes sense. I've learned quite a bit about people when looking at their Facebook profile. Reminds me of what God must know about all of our private lives. If only I didn't have to see what He has to, but Facebook is worth it!
reminds me of my lifestyle before i was saved by grace.
thanks @2live4him!
God bless!
Mine, too, Eric. Unfortunately, it reminds me of my lifestyle after I was saved by Grace as well. I still fall short, but thank God for Romans 8!
I see this behavior all the time on twitter. Definitely something I think about daily… I've been convicted by my actions in the past but I'm still as work in progress so I make a conscious effort to do better.
Very good post.
As a Like button enthusiast, I really like this post.
Ha! As a Like button examiner, I appreciate your reading and sharing.
Great post, and totally makes sense. I've learned quite a bit about people when looking at their Facebook profile. Reminds me of what God must know about all of our private lives. If only I didn't have to see what He has to, but Facebook is worth it!
That's where you feel the conviction and appreciate the Grace, Gabe. God knows everything about us but still perfectly loves us.
That's where you feel the conviction and appreciate the Grace, Gabe. God knows everything about us but still perfectly loves us.
I see this behavior all the time on twitter. Definitely something I think about daily… I've been convicted by my actions in the past but I'm still as work in progress so I make a conscious effort to do better.
Very good post.
Romans 8:12-13 is the Scripture I must live by daily. What others do socially online, others do consciously offline.
good post.
everything we do, public or private, impacts our witness… and our witness always reflects the condition of our heart…
DEFINITELY, Matt!
One of the most thought provoking blogs yet