Last night, I was thinking about all the great pieces of advice I’ve received over the years from wise older preachers. Then I realized, there are a lot of preachers on Facebook and Twitter, with whom I am friends. I could ask them what was the best advice anyone had ever given them about preaching. Before long, I had received over 50 priceless comments (on Facebook and Twitter) from fellow preachers.

That’s when it dawned on me, most of us really are wasting a very valuable tool. Social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) is extremely powerful. Through it, we can communicate with people all over the world. But, most of us use this tool simply to vent our frustrations and voice our opinions. The Word of God says, “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion” (Proverbs 18:2).

If you use social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), why not use it to grow in your knowledge and understanding. Here are a few tips.

1. Ask questions. Instead of posting statements all the time, try posting some questions. Ask people for resources, ideas, thoughts, even Scripture. Don’t overwhelm them, but occasionally you can use the collective knowledge of your online friends to grow in your knowledge and understanding.

2. Choose your friends wisely. The quality of feedback you receive depends on how discerning you are about choosing your friends in the first place (remember 1 Corinthians 15:33).

3. Examine everything you read in light of Scripture, like the Jews in Berea (Acts 17:11).

Unfortunately, these tools can be abused and there are certainly some inherent dangers associated with them. However, if we will learn to use them wisely, I believe they can help us learn and grow. Let me leave you with one more passage from Proverbs, “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed” (Proverbs 15:22).

I love you and God loves you,

Wes McAdams

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