What do these phrases have in common?
Follow me…..like my page…..friend me……add me to your circle.
I see two connections. First, they are all from social media. We follow people on Twitter. We like pages and add friends on Facebook. We get placed in each other’s circles on a Google+.
The second thing which stands out to me is the desire to connect with others they imply. It stuck me this week as I sent another friend request, that it sounds a little pathetic. “Please, Oh please, let me be your friend. I can’t wait to see all the games, pages, and memes with which you plan to bombard me!”
Why use these phrases? Why is social media so popular? It think it has to do with that very desire to connect. We want real friends don’t we? We want to think of ourselves as belonging in someone’s circle. We may even dream of leading others who would trust us enough to follow us. The social networks which have become a part of so many lives, soothe those desires to connect. But are they real connections? Perhaps the text-speech of “irl” and “ftf” reveal that they may not be.
People need to really touch each other’s lives. We were created as social beings. We live in a fast paced world and many have tried to replace real world connections with these digital ghosts. We need to really connect with our friends families, and neighbors face to face.
I have been blessed to always found deep and meaningful connections through the church. Looking back on life, some of my closest friends were met at church including my wife. God has blessed me by putting me in churches that love each other. The world is looking for meaningful relationships. We need to reach out and draw them into our “circle” at church We need to open our arms and love them as Jesus’ did. Even when we have to have the difficult conversations where we call each other to live more like Christ, we speak the truth in love. It has often been said that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
Do our neighbors know we care? Do our communities know that we are loving? Is that our calling card? I close with the words of Jesus, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” NKJV John 13:34 & 35
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Ramblings by James 