“Solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14). 

I remember so well the day many of us cut up our credit cards. It was a victory over bondage. We celebrated, and probably bragged on ourselves just a tad.

Today, over 30 years later, I own three credit cards and a debit card and am in bondage to none of them.  What happened?

In those days, the 1970s, many of us looked upon credit cards as an evil force enticing people into deeper debt and the accompanying bondage and oppression.  And, that was exactly what was happening to many people back then.  I knew people who found the temptation to pull out that credit card and buy something they could not afford–and would not have purchased had cash been required–irresistible.  Furthermore, the use of credit cards was not at all necessary in the society of that decade, but merely a convenience.

Times have changed.  These days, we are moving more and more to a cashless society.  And, while I have three credit cards (one is for gasoline only), I pay them off monthly. The banks make no money–not a red cent–from my cards. The debit card, of course, simply deducts money from my bank account on the spot, so there is no debt involved, and no bondage.

Yet, I recall those days of the 1970s when we read books and studied courses and attended conferences, then held ceremonies to cut up our credit cards.

I think of this when I hear someone ranting about the evils of Facebook.

Just last week, someone told me of a man who connected on FB with a high school sweetheart. Before long, he left his family, divorced his wife, and took up with the old flame.  No question about it, this is a tragedy.

But Facebook is not the problem. His wayward heart is the problem.

Facebook is what email was a few years back. And before that, I imagine, the telephone. And what before that, the U.S. mail?

I admire those pastors who lead campaigns to get their people to agree not to join Facebook.  If, and to what extent, they succeed, good, and we congratulate them. However, it feels to this country preacher as though the victories are temporary and they are trying to hold back the sunrise.

Technology happens.

There was a time when preachers railed against the radio, then movies, and then television.  Admittedly, there was much to alarm.  Many individuals and networks and programmers abused the medium.

But the solution is to teach discipline, not try to turn our people into protectors of the 19th century.

The fact is, banishing credit cards or boycotting Facebook or slamming all movies is easier than teaching discipline and discernment.

And, let’s be honest here, something inside many of us preachers does like to take the easy way, “the road well traveled.”  It allows us to satisfy the cries of those wanting us to “preach on sin.”  I suggest that in doing so, we end up tickling the ears of church members who want their guilts massaged, and thus fulfill 2 Timothy 4:3.

Teaching personal responsibility, integrity, and faithfulness is not as clear-cut or easy nor as much fun as slamming an entire industry.

But it’s more responsible.  It earns the respect of the truly mature, builds character, deepens devotion, and enables our people to harness these innovations to do good.

I’ll be posting a link to this blog on Facebook. Soon, as a result, this will be read by hundreds of people.  That’s a good thing, I think.