The Impact of Facebook on The Church

The impact of Facebook is far reaching, even surpassing the developers expectations, it has infiltrated the social media scene like a storm. When Facebook launched in 2004 it was strictly for college students to connect with each other and share information with friends.

Facebook went public, but hardly anyone knew about it and it was competing heavily with other social networks like Myspace, today many people are connecting and meeting up with friends and family. Businesses are now using Facebook as a means to increase exposure with target advertising, increase traffic to their websites and develop credibility between customers and their brands.

So how has Facebook impacted the Church? First we must clarify what “the Church” is. Most people understand the Church as a building but, the word “Church” comes from the Greek word ekklesia which is defined as “an assembly” or “called-out ones.” The root meaning of “Church” is not that of a building, but of people, basically the community of God’s people.

Facebook has impacted the Church in many positive ways, not only is it effective, but the fact that so many people are already using it, gives the Church a great opportunity to spread the Gospel. Many Church’s have caught on to the idea of making a Facebook page, this enables them to have a main contact point for their congregation to share news, photos, send invitations and be more visible.

Some Christians use Facebook as a place to spread the Word of God, by sharing Bible verses, having online Bible studies, ministry fan pages, sharing articles and getting to know other people around the world. See this interesting article by Frank Chipperino “10 Reasons Your Church Should be On Facebook”.

In a culture where our virtual and real lives overlap constantly, It’s great to have a place to connect with people and share the Gospel of Christ. In a 2007 article by Church Marketing Sucks, Kevin D. Hendricks asked the question “Where’s the Church on Facebook?“. He had the insight to encourage Christians to test out Facebook.

“With any new tech development it’s always a question of whether it’s going to live up to the hype. This may very well be another move that fizzles. But who knows? It could explode. Sometimes you just have to play with it and see what happens. – Kevin D. Hendricks

Facebook has become a major part of our communication lifeline and continues to impact the world in various ways. In 2007, 24 million people were already on Facebook, today the number is 500 million and growing. The harvest is plentiful and the Church should continue to seek opportunities to reach the masses where they are meeting. Yesterday it was Myspace but, today it is Facebook, so the Church has another place to fulfill the great commission in Matthew 28:19

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” Matthew 28:19

Facebook reflects greatly on our interest and how we interact with people online, so we should be careful how we use these types of communication tools.  It should not be a replacement for face to face interactions, but  it can be a great compliment to the task of reaching and connecting. How are you using Facebook to let others know about Christ? Share your experience with us.