Facebook Frustrations

Facebook is a marvelous tool to connect with people and minister to them. It’s also a source of occasional frustration and conflict. Aside from increased censorship by social media platforms, you risk offending others no matter how you speak the truth in love. One time a woman unfriended me after I advised her not to sow discord amongst my other friends (Proverbs 6:19) regarding another minister we had differing opinions.

I’ve also had preachers promote their ministries and make fundraising appeals on my Facebook pages despite asking them to stop. That prompted me to change my account settings. Friends can only write comments in response to my articles and praise reports. Still, people will post stuff irrelevant to my writings. Usually, I remove these posts but have unfriended individuals who won’t respect my boundaries. In recent years, I’ve blocked (but not unfriended) many people on Messenger. With close to 5,000 friends from all over the world, I don’t have time to chat with everyone.

Another thing that has irritated me is Facebook Groups. Until a couple of years ago, friends were able to add me to these groups without my permission. A few of them took offense when I asked them to stop. One minister from India I met at a conference in South Carolina added me to two groups despite my sending two previous emails asking him not to do that. This time I emailed him two reminders: first privately but then posted a comment directly on the group page since he wasn’t checking his inbox. This minister unfriended me.

A few days before that, a Canadian pastor who friended me (but I never met in person) added me to a Facebook group promoting him and his wife. After immediately leaving that group, I sent an email asking him not to add me to any groups. This minister responded by blocking me. That’s a bit extreme. All I did was make a simple request.

I pray all my brothers and sisters in Christ grow up and pursue His purposes instead of their agenda. We are all called to reach the world but not necessarily associate and work with everybody who calls themselves a Christian. As Mike Murdock says, “Your Assignment is not to everybody, but to somebody.”

"For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." - 1 Corinthians 2:2