Why Social Networking?

Beginning today, the Daily Verse Online is undergoing a major overhaul, a big part of which is the incorporation of social networking-- specifically, commenting and conversation on the Daily Verses, and unified integration with Facebook and Twitter.  This is is a big change in direction, and it didn't come without a lot of thought and prayer.  As Christians, everything we do should be "abounding in love, with all knowledge and discernment" (Philippians 1:9).  That means that every action we take should be rooted in deep thought and deep love.  Deep thought about the things of God, and deep love for God and others.  So here are my thoughts about social networking, and why the Daily Verse Online is moving this direction.

First, a bad reason for social networking:
1) Everyone's doing it.  This is never a good reason to do anything.  The wide road is the one that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13), and just because everyone's on the Web 2.0 social networking bandwagon does necessarily mean that Christians should jump onboard too.  There may be a place for Christian social networking, but NOT simply because the world is doing it.  If anything, the fact that social networking is so popular should make Christians pause before jumping in.  Friendship with the world is enmity with God (James 4:4).

Some cautions about social networking:
1) The tendency towards pride.  The habit of "tweeting" the details of your life and thoughts to an audience of followers as if those thoughts and details were somehow important is arrogance.  "The wise of heart will receive commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin" (Proverbs 10:8).  Christians should be striving to develop the humility of James 1:19-- quick to hear and slow to speak.  This is certainly possible with Twitter, but the very concept of Twitter works against this.  With Facebook, the temptation towards pride is different.  Reveling in your friend count, basing your worth on your accumulated contacts or number of people posting on your wall is dangerous.  "The LORD takes delight in His people" (Psalm 149:4); do not look beyond this for identity.
2) The tendency towards time-wasting.  Those who live in the world of Facebook know how true this is.  It is possible to waste hours on Facebook.  This is a tragedy.  The cross of Christ frees us from trivial pursuits to become a people for His own possession, zealous for good works (Titus 2:14).  We should take the command of Colossians 4:5 very seriously: "Make the best use of the time."  Life is a vapor, a mere breath before eternity, and with the souls of men dying around us, why would we consign ourselves to time wasted in front of TVs and computers?  God is calling us to something much greater.
3) The tendency towards triviality.  No one, not even your Twitter followers, really care what you had for breakfast this morning.  But sadly, this sort of conversation is common on Twitter.  Even those tweeting about relatively important things-- politics, social issues, etc-- are limited to 140 characters.  Neil Postman was right: the medium really is the message.  140 characters inherently limits and shapes discourse away from thoughtful reasoning and towards the sound-byte, the showy, and the shallow.

In light of all these tendencies and pitfalls, why is the Daily Verse Online embracing social networking?
1) Redeeming social networking.  All three of those potential pitfalls are not unique to social networking; they are inherent in the human condition.  And yet God, at great cost to Himself, has planned from all eternity to redeem not only a people for Himself, but all that is good and true and beautiful in human culture (Revelation 21:23-24).  As Christians, therefore, we should not shrink back from the public arena, but rather should seek to influence it for Christ.
2) Social networking belongs to Jesus.  "All things were created through Him and FOR Him" (Colossians 1:16).  Jesus Christ is supreme and sovereign over every area of creation, from supernovae to subatomic particles, from nations and history, to Twitter and Facebook.  Abraham Kuyper famously said, "In the total expanse of human life there is not a single square inch of which Christ, who alone is sovereign, does not declare,'That is mine!'"  To that end, let's use Facebook and Twitter and everything else, not as a means for our own pleasure and glory, but to make much of Jesus Christ who claims ownership over them, and us.
3) Serving you.  The Daily Verse Online's mission is to "ignite a passion for worship in all of life."  I recognize that today, many people live out a good part of their time on their smartphones, websites, and networks.  This is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as we are aware of the pitfalls above and are striving to submit our surfing to our Savior.  The DVO wants to help with that.  By expanding our ministry into these areas that touch so many parts of life, my hope and prayer is that Twitter and Facebook can become tools in your arsenal for your fight to see and savor and show Jesus Christ more fully.

For more thoughts on how Christians can tweet to the glory of God, you can read this older blog post.  John Piper at Desiring God also has very wise things to say.

The Valley of Trouble

In Joshua 7, the story of Achan is a cautionary tale about the consequences of sin.  Even though God commanded the Israelites to destroy every single thing in Jericho, Achan stole some of the silver and gold.  God punished the Israelites by giving them defeat at the hand of their enemies, and when it was found out that Achan was to blame, the consequences for him were even more severe:

"And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had.  And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor... and all Israel stoned him with stones.  They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones... Therefore to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor."

"Achor" means trouble.  They named the valley that because, as verse 25 says, Achan had brought trouble on them, and now God brought trouble back to Achan.  At first glance this seems like a very sobering story, and in many ways it is.  But God is not done with the Valley of Achor.  Hosea 2 describes God's ultimate plan for the valley of trouble:

"Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness
and speak tenderly to her.
And there I will give her her vineyards,
and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope."

Isn't it just like God, to take the place where sin brought defeat and judgment and destruction, and turn that very place into a door of hope?  God is always turning the valley of trouble into a door of hope.  He did it with Achor, bringing hope out of trouble.  And we see it most clearly at the cross, where evil was subverted and destroyed and made to serve the infinitely good purpose of bringing many sons to glory.  John Piper writes, "At the all-important pivot of human history, the worst sin ever committed served to show the greatest glory of Christ and obtain the sin-conquering gift of God's grace.  God did not just overcome evil at the cross.  He made evil serve the overcoming of evil.  He made evil commit suicide in doing its worst evil."  This is the ultimate message of the Valley of Achor.

And I know that in my life, God frequently makes the valley the place of greatest fruitfulness.  Often, I think, He brings us into the valley of trouble for the express purpose of demonstrating that He is the One who brings hope from trouble and mercy from sin.

Taste and See

This week's Taste and See article from Desiring God is terrific.  Moving, glorious, insightful, and profound are other adjectives I could use.

It's called "The President, the Passengers, and the Patience of God."  Read it here.

John Piper on the Economy

Over at the Desiring God blog, they posted a 7 minute video of John Piper responding to the difficulties of the recession and how believers should react to economic hardship.  It was such a comfort and encouragement and exhortation to me, since as a senior in college about to be married, the job market weighs heavily (a bit too heavily, I'm afraid) on my mind.  The Holy Spirit used this video to give me a welcome infusion of faith, and I'm grateful.

Watch the video here.

Thoughts on the Election

I have been enormously helped towards thinking biblically about today's election by John Piper's and Justin Taylor's blogs on this subject.

In his interview, Piper reminds us that we need "a healthy dose of the sovereignty of God" when thinking about the election.  He says:

"God governs this election, and He's gonna get elected the one He wants elected, and if it's the person we think will be hurtful, then we need to be hurt.  Sometimes people say, 'God's gonna judge us if do abortion or if we have gay marriage, or if we elect a pro-choice president or something.  Well, He's not going to judge us because of that; that IS the judgment!  Abortion IS the judgment.  The spread of radical gay activism IS the judgment."

What Piper is saying is Romans 1-- God's judgment against humanity is, three times from verses 24-28, that He "gave them up" to impurity, to dishonorable passions, to a debased mind.  God is sovereign over sin; the extent of evil in the world is God's judgment against that evil.  In other words, God says, "You want abortion?  Very well, reap the consequences of your slaughter.  You want gay marriage?  Very well, reap the consequences of your perversion."  Abortion is the judgment.  Gay marriage is the judgment.

So today, on this historic election, as we go to the polls to exercise our right to vote and to exercise our duty to pursue God's prescriptive will for leaders, we need a big dose of the sovereignty of God.  God is in charge of this election, and He will govern the result-- whether towards restraint of evil or judgment on evil-- to the praise of His glory.

Eternal Power, Strong To Save

Here's another poem, one that I wrote a couple weeks ago in the midst of listening to John Piper's sermon series, "Spectacular Sins and their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ" (which, by the way, I highly recommend for a worldview-reorienting study)

Eternal power, strong to save

Which once raised Christ up from the grave

Justifying godless men

And cleansing sinners from their sin

Oh the power of the Gospel!

Quickens deadened hearts to life

All the glory to the Giver

Of our sight, to see His light

Brilliant wisdom from the first

Saw and ordered evil's birth

To bring the cross, first Adam fell

Yet God still has done all things well

Oh the wisdom in the Gospel!

Plans above the minds of men

Bringing wickedness and trouble

To naught and glory in the end

Christ the wisdom and the might

Using darkness, bringing light

Great the strength He now displays

When hardened rebels full He saves

Oh the glory of our Savior!

Who took our place our praise to win

To buy us back so we could know

And love the God who cancels sin

reading "Future Grace"

I'm in the process of reading "Future Grace" by John Piper, and it is blowing away my worldview.  I'm only about a third of the way through (it's a sizeable 397 pages) but I've already been staggered by the biblical truths he's been laying out.  I've also been surprised by how easy it has been to read; often reading Piper can be slow and heavy going, but this book is very accessible and readable.  

The message of the book can be summarized thus: we've gotten the motivation for our Christian life backwards.  We say we are saved by faith alone (rightly) and that our good works are works of gratitude.  But you will look in vain for any Biblical texts that explicitly tie gratitude to obedience.  Rather than trying to empower obedience by gratitude for past grace, we should look to faith in future grace for that power.  In other words, we need to bank on the promises of God.

For example: anxiety.  How are we supposed to defeat the sin of anxiety in our hearts?  The popular Christian response is that we should look back on all the times God has been faithful to us, and therefore not worry.  Now, that seems like great advice.  Of course, looking back on God's faithfulness and especially back to the cross is helpful and necessary, but only so far as it strengthens our faith for looking forward.  And more importantly, it's not how the Bible talks about dealing with anxiety.  The Bible says things like, "Don't be anxious...for my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:19)"  "Don't be anxious... because all these things will be added to you as well. (Matt 6:33)"  "Don't be anxious... for no eye has seen a God beside you, who works for those who wait for Him. (Isaiah 64:4)"  "Don't be anxious... for all things work together for good for those who love God. (Rom 8:28)"  Take hold of the promises-- that's where the power to fight sin is found.

The back cover of the book puts it well: "No one sins out of duty.  We sin because we want to.  Sin promises happiness, and we buy the lie.  So how can the root of sin be severed in our lives?  The penalty of sin must be paid by the righteous blood of Christ.  And the power of sin must be broken by banking on the promises of God."

Good stuff.  I've always struggled (and I suspect I'm not alone here) in figuring out how the "good works" of the Christian life tie into the truth that we are saved "by faith alone."  Luther's thing on gratitude seemed to make sense in my head, but not in Scripture.  This book is helping me put them together, and it's revolutionizing everything in the process.  I highly recommend it.