How to Share Your Faith Using Myspace
It seems that just about every teenager has an account on myspace.com. In fact, if you have one, you probably checked for new messages, comments, or friend requests before you came here. Myspace web addresses are quickly replacing phone numbers and email addresses as we find ourselves more immersed in an internet community beyond our day-to-day relationships. With over 50 million members, myspace is undeniably a widespread part of teenage culture today.
So...what has made myspace such an uber-success? Well for one thing, it separates itself from other community sites by emphasizing interaction with the member, rather than the content they create. The clearest distinctive is its infamous Friend Request feature. No one can comment on another person's myspace unless they have both agreed to be friends. Want to talk with that old buddy from elementary school? No problem. Just put in a friend request and once they accept you, you'll be on your way to a blooming relationship in no time. But how do you find that long-lost friend in a crowd of 50 million people? Myspace has it covered. All you have to do is type in their full name on the search engine and it will produce a list that you can sift through. If they're a member, you'll find them.
With so many people bearing so many differences, having one website as the thread of commonality that binds them all together, it's a great opportunity to share the Gospel. In our evangelism efforts, we often look to how Jesus interacted with people in His community for an example. But as myspace, xanga, livejournal, and their cousins take over our culture, we're left at a loss. Jesus didn't operate in a virtual community. We often do. So what kind of conversation starters can bring the truth of the Gospel into a community like Myspace?
- Ask your friends if they have built a relationship with someone on myspace after losing touch with them for a long time. Explain how mankind went through the same process using the GOSPEL Journey.
- See if they've ever found a long-lost friend by searching for them on myspace. Explain how Christ found you and what happened afterward.
- Ask them about the friend requests they've gotten lately. Mention some of yours, then segue into the time you found a friend in Jesus Christ.
- Discuss the differences between knowing people on myspace and knowing people personally. Use that as a doorway to expand upon the difference between knowing about Jesus religiously (as a non-personal rule-maker and terminator) and knowing Jesus relationally (as a personal savior.)
- Discuss scenarios with questions like, " What if Jesus had a myspace account? What would be on it? Would you comment? What would you say?"
Remember to keep your witnessing radar fully engaged, and your conversations filled with love. When you're sharing the Gospel in love, you never know what your friends might say when you ask, "Would you like to add Jesus as a friend?"
