Facebook Fasting

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines fast (verb) as “to abstain from food; to eat sparingly or abstain from some foods.”  We know from the New Testament that Jesus fasted for forty days in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-9) and Jesus taught on fasting in his “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 6:16-18).  The early church fasted often such as the case at Antioch when they were preparing to send Barnabas and Paul on a mission trip (Acts 13:1-3).  The churches in Galatia fasted during the task of appointing elders (Acts 14:21-23).  It seems as if today’s church has lost the discipline of fasting.  Perhaps due to nutrition concerns, but probably because we enjoy eating so much!  Recently, I decided to try fasting, but not from food.  I decided that if I really wanted to be serious about replacing something I enjoy doing with serious prayer time, I needed to give up my favorite pastime –Facebook.  On the morning of Wednesday, September 9, 2015, I shut her down –albeit temporarily.  Almost instantaneously, my phone started dinging with texts –“Are you mad me?”  “Did I do something to you?”  “What the heck is going on with your page?”  Then it hit me –I had become a Facebook addict and was enabling people to do the same.  With over 2000 “friends” it’s hard not to be a Facebook junkie.  Each time I would refresh my newsfeed, there was some new drama, gossip, or the latest argument over current events.  I was in tune with the world!  Don’t get me wrong –I tried to be a minority on Facebook by making a valiant effort to keep my posts positive and humorous with a dash of political upheaval just to stir the masses.  It was fun, it was my hobby, and it had become my life.  People were watching my children grow up on Facebook.  They knew my every move.  They knew what we had for supper last night and what happened at work that day.  Wow.  Too weird once you think about it.  As I temporarily deactivated my Facebook account and activated my prayer life with God, I began to notice things.  I had three children who loved to play outside.  When they weren’t playing outside, they were indoors playing board games or watching movies.  My eyes were opened to God’s creation and to who and what Jesus has blessed me.  My prayer life took a crazy turn north and my wife and I found ourselves lying in the floor for hours talking and praying instead of zoning out on our smart phones.  As my journey continued, I noticed how many folks are “souled out” to social media.  I sat in restaurants and observed couples on dates never looking at each other except to show the other a post or text he/she had discovered.  I sat in the mall and watched shoppers run into each other without even an “excuse me” –because their eyes were glued to a five inch screen.  Sure, I wasn’t the first to know everything that happened –but why do we have to be the first to know?  My “fast” purposefully lasted 28 days.  I was humbled by the emails and texts I received telling me how my posts were missed.  I was disciplined by some long-distance family members who missed seeing their nieces and nephew so often.  I even received a personal visit from my father who come through my front door shouting “What’s wrong?! Your Aunt Mary Ann is worried sick!”  I guess people thought I had fallen off the face of the earth and I was getting used to the solitude.  After much prayer and counsel, I reluctantly logged back in, streamlined my profile, and made a resolution to not be on the network as much.  Our home now has boundaries that we log off at night and do not log back in until the next morning.  We don’t bring our phones to the dinner table and we are leaving them out of the bedroom at night.  I encourage you to do the same.  Take a 28 day Facebook fast.  Resolve to spend as much time as you can with the Lord, family, and friends during the 28 days.  Visit someone.  Share a phone call.  Become a prayer warrior.  Read your Bible.  Get involved in ministry.  It will change your life forever.