Again, let me point out: they are a private organization and they have every right to set their own policies. I just am frustrated by their decision not to post their adoption policies on their web site (or to have their volunteers not tell you the policies when you call).  Their decision not to be 100% transparent left me feeling deceived, frustrated, and biased against their agency.

So what does this have to do with internet ministry you ask? Going back to the post a couple weeks ago on Facebook fakery, I think that many Christians feel that they have to hide who they are and not be 100% transparent with those they are trying to save. In today’s culture, it is very important to be authentic. The best way to win someone to Christ is by building a relationship with that person, letting them see who you are (not just an “avatar” of you, but the real transparent you). Not doing so will eventually lead to the same reaction I had to the cat rescue agency: a feeling of being deceived, a lack of trust, and possibly a bias against all Christians.

So what are we going to do about getting kittens? We are still looking. We did go down to the Orange County animal shelter, where they’ll give animals to anyone who will pay the fees, but we didn’t find any appropriate felines. We may wait until “kitten season” starting in April when the shelter is overflowing and get some then.  Note: the picture at the top of this post is of our cat Jasper, who died a couple of years ago.

I am part of an online message board that discusses using the Internet for evangelism.  A recent message there highlighted a blog post that highlighted the use of online social networking as a tool for evangelism. Specifically, the post shows how Facebook could be an excellent way to interact with Muslims in other countries and to answer their questions about the Christian faith. The post is quite interesting, and he makes several good points. In fact, I do believe that Facebook can be a GREAT tool for reaching others for Christ.  But as I said in a previous post, we must be as open and authentic as we can when doing this. And this is where the ethical questions comes up.

The author of the blog (he goes by “Blogger”) puts a list of instructions on how to get on Facebook and interact with a Muslim, and includes the following:

You can sign up for a free account by following the steps at http://www.facebok.com/. (Please add a “o” to make “book”.) You may consider not spelling your name exactly as it would appear on your passport. When you are asked which “network” you would like to join, type in the country that the Lord has placed on your heart.

So, in order to share the gospel of Christ, we should change our name and act as if we live in a different country? According to Facebook, if you join a regional network, it should be associated with a place that you live (from the help):

To join a regional network, you simply have to let us know where you live on the “Networks” tab of the Account page. Just enter your city, and we’ll show you the regional networks closest to you. You cannot change regional networks frequently, so please be sure to pick the right one to join.

In fact, Facebook makes is quite clear in their “terms of use” that they expect all users to be providing accurate information about themselves:

In consideration of your use of the Site, you agree to (a) provide accurate, current and complete information about you as may be prompted by any registration forms on the Site (“Registration Data”); (b) maintain the security of your password and identification; (c) maintain and promptly update the Registration Data, and any other information you provide to Company, to keep it accurate, current and complete; and (d) be fully responsible for all use of your account and for any actions that take place using your account.

I know that many missionaries go into “closed” countries under false identities and share the gospel covertly, so is this any different? Besides possibly getting banned from Facebook, the problem I have is that if I have built up a relationship with someone in, say, Saudi Arabia, who believes I may be living there and then they find out that I am an American but just chose the SA Facebook network so that I could better reach them, would they feel betrayed or misled?

One of the principles of Facebook’s design from day one was that people will be willing to share more information about themselves with those in their own networks. In fact, it is the default setup in Facebook to keep your information more open to those in your networks and more hidden from those not in your networks. Some may say that by falsifying your network setting, you are in fact allowed to see more information that was intended.

So am I way off base here? Is it a problem to share Christ this way? Should missions organizations encourage their missionaries to do this? What should our responsibility be when we create online identities about ourselves?