It occurs to me that the majority of people are on Facebook. What a revelation, huh? I, for one, thoroughly enjoy Facebook. Mostly because it helps me keep track of my college friends and their ever-growing families. It also keeps me up to date on my family since they live away from me. And, I always get my daily dose of encouragement via someone’s uplifting status or blog. There are more reasons I love Facebook, but for an economy of time, I’ll stop there.

There are reasons to dislike Facebook too, though. And, since the majority of you come to this blog via Facebook, I thought a post on knowing when to log off might be beneficial for all of us. Obviously there is a lot of good we can do, but there’s also a point when we start hurting Christ and His church. Here are just a few observations I’ve noticed in regards to logging off of Facebook (or any other means of social media).

1: When it takes up too much time. If you’re too busy to do the Lord’s work, you’re too busy. When Facebook starts interfering with daily Bible study, time in prayer, church attendance, family time, etc., you probably need to get rid of it. Our main focus is to always be on doing the will of our Father. Anything and everything, including the beloved ‘book, must be cut off when we can’t manage our time properly.

2: When you’re tempted to back bite, post vague, hurtful statuses, complain, or “like” things you shouldn’t. James tells us it’s easy to sin using our tongues. In the 21st century climate, it’s easy to sin using our fingertips. Sure, it shows the same heart problems as using actual words, but it seems we take even less thought when typing. Too often Christians portray themselves as miserable, judgmental, harsh, unloving, hypocritical people by way of their Facebook accounts. Whenever we start using our Facebooks as a place to make others feel bad or make The Lord look bad, we need to seriously consider getting rid of our account altogether. After all, it would be better to cut off your Facebook than to enter into hell with an account.

3: When you’re using it to hide an emotional affair. It is so easy to “facebook stalk”. But stalking exes or rekindling old friendships with such is a dangerous, yet all too easy game. Online relationships are easy to conceal, and in an age with such a high divorce (and infidelity) rate, maybe we should reexamine our “friends” and how much time we spend visiting their pages.

4: If you’re using it to start arguments and debates that bring out the worst in your brothers and sisters. Too often, I see people posting highly hot button and on the line statuses meant only to make an argument. The result is often a tense, ugly series of comments that makes everyone involved look/feel bad. Consider only posting things that encourage and edify, not cause controversy.

5: If you find yourself becoming covetous. Facebook is fun when you’re keeping up with other people, but if you struggle with covetousness and envy, it can be a terrible place to be. It seems at least one of your friends has gone on an amazing trip, landed a wonderful job, been given an incredible opportunity, or has had the most beautiful child the world has ever seen. If you find yourself wishing ill upon those whom God has richly blessed, step away from the Internet.

In all things, remember you are to shine as a light to this dark world (Phil. 2:15). Anything that puts your light out or even dims it should be cast as far away from you as possible. And yes, maybe that means getting rid of Facebook. *gasp!*