lutherans on By Jon Kohlmeier
here are more than 800 million active users on Facebook. People from all over the world, of many different religions and world views, log into the same website to communicate with others every single day. In many ways, that makes it even harder to dare to be Lutheran than it is in our daily physical lives.
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Many people use Facebook and other social media as a way to keep in touch with friends, family, people with the same interests and favorite celebrities. Others use it for self-promotion or as a place to express their opinions. Still others use social media as a virtual scrapbook of things going on in their lives or things that they find interesting. Amidst those more than 800 million Facebook users, how are we supposed to dare to be Lutheran on Facebook? We do it the same way as we dare to be Lutheran in real life—through the Small Catechism as a baptized child of God! We are baptized children of God at home, at school, at church, and wherever else we may be.
The internet and social media in particular add yet another forum where love of God and neighbor are often found in short supply. In addition, it is very easy for Facebook to become an idol. We can spend hours and hours on the website, all the while shirking our vocations as children, students, and baptized children of God. We completely disregard the 8th commandment. We gossip about what our Facebook friends are posting, we don’t defend our neighbor, we rarely speak well of them and we definitely don’t explain everything in the kindest way. We covet our neighbors’ lives. We wish we were as happy as they appear to be.“Just read their profiles, after all!” We covet their possessions and the people in their
