'tis so Tweet to trust in Jesus?

My Dad brought up a good thought Wendesday night during my baby-boomer-crash-course-on-Twitter when he said something along the lines of “what do you think God wants us to do with social media?” I’m willing to guess that many Christians are forgetting to include God on this part of their lives. Personally, I only recently started pursuing how to use all the new mediums available out there effectively and for God’s glory.

And the result is that my eyes have been opened to the advantages of social media for spiritual growth. I am now subscribed to the blogs of John Piper, Donald Miller, and Josh Harris to receive their thoughts on relevant issues (and for some good clean entertainment). I also receive weekly prayer/news e-mail updates from TearFund, 24-7 Prayer, and World Vision. On my Facebook profile, I am a “fan” of several Christian musicians; BlueTree, Chris Tomlin, Shane & Shane, Jeff Johnson, and Jared Wood. The newest addition, Twitter, is providing me with real-time updates (both ministry-related and random) on Kiva, World Vision, Shane Claiborne, Derek Webb, Rob Bell, The Mentoring Project, Matt Chandler, and more.

So what can I do with this? Well, in just a week, I have found four new book referrals that I didn’t see before, I got to feel as though I was there for parts of The Leadership Summit 2009 (#tls09), I’ve learned about new organizations and, perhaps, potential opportunities for future support/involvement. In addition, I feel as though there is now one more way for me to speak the name of Christ and share what God is teaching me (authentically, of course) with the world.

Now, there can be some controversy to tweeting during a church service. For instance, here are the reactions I received on Facebook in four hours (some serious, some sarcastic):

Josh Harris blogged about it, then John Piper jumped onboard… did I mention TIME Magazine too? I’ve come to the conclusion that, yes, God can use anything for His glory – even Twitter. And yes, it might be a distraction if you see your neighbor send a quick tweet in the middle of a sermon, but isn’t our world already full of the distractions of car alarms, sound equipment squeaking, vibrating cell phones, crying children, and old men who sniff too loudly? Not long from now, Twitter will be “old news” and some other media source will be all the rage. So, not to be too harsh, I think we need to suck it up and take a nice splash of reality on the topic. This is how our country (and the world) is communicating now. Shouldn’t we join in and use it to speak of the Lord? I certainly hope that I will and that most of my tweets will focus on God and not mindless updates on indigestion, dirty diapers, or the scores of the game. :-)

“But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.” Philippians 1:18, NIV