It's Just Like Facebook, Only, You Know...Real.

Mark Schaefer, the United Methodist chaplain at my university is becoming known for his creative sermon series'. Last semester, he did a series entitled "The Seven Words You Can't Say In Church" (a la George Carlin). These words included "Evolution", "Sex", "(Christian) Intolerance", "Death", and "She". The new series for this semester is based on the advertising campaign that we've been doing around the university, in which the core sign says, "Community. It's just like Facebook. Only, you know...real." The entire series is based around certain aspects of the Facebook community and how they relate to the Christian life. Tonight's sermon was the first in the series, and I have to say that it's one of the best sermons I've heard in a long time. It was entitled, "Jesus Added You As A Friend." The sermon discusses how different our definitions of friendship have become from what the original definition was, and how people today can take a lesson from the Christian definition of friendship, which can be truly transformative in our relationships with the people around us.