Living a Public Life

There has been a lot of press lately about people losing jobs or receiving some disciplinary action due to Facebook and/or Twitter posts. I'm sure the same could be said about their blog posts, too.

It is unavoidable that if you live your life in the public forum, you can face consequences by those who feel the information you've shared should not have been public.

That is why when I post about jobs, I only say the city, have not said the company name (although those who are close to me know it, and once or twice the company name has been posted by someone else on my Facebook page in response to a status update), and make every effort to share my joys and passions of my job while trying to keep some anonymity for others.

My wife has taken another approach. She simply does not have a Facebook or Twitter account, nor does she blog. In fact, she has asked me to never post pictures on my Facebook that include her. She's asked the same of our three sons, but they have ignored her request.

It seems technology has once again taken society into a place where things are moving so quickly, people simply do not have either the time nor the ability to contemplate consequences of their use of the technology. I recently heard an executive from Google state it will become commonplace for people to legally change their names when moving from childhood to adulthood, simply so they can escape the public persona they've created online.

In a world where Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sights have become marketing tools for companies and individuals; where people are often able to either find a job, or lose a job, because of a status update or tweet; where everything some people do is played out in a public forum; isn't it strange we are still so isolated? I have 283 friends on Facebook, follow 58 people on Twitter and have 67 Twitter followers, yet many times I feel isolated. Sure there are people out there who know what I post online, but do they know the real me? Will they pick up the phone at 3 AM when I'm in crisis because of some bad news I've just received? Do my Facebook and Twitter friends have "refrigerator rights?"

Unfortunately, the answer is no. I honestly have very few face-to-face friends who I've offered refrigerator rights. So living a public life, having Facebook and Twitter accounts, posting on a blog regularly, having published a book; none of these things provide true friendship, true camaraderie. It is only through a deep relationship with God, only through seeking His will for my life each day, only as a result of my daily time in His word and through prayer that I find truth. That time is the most valuable of my daily pursuit. Time with God, time with my lovely bride, time with our youngest (the only son still living at home); those things will determine how satisfying my life will be.

Everything else, all the public posts, the 140 character updates, the blog ramblings; those things are a part of who I am, they are not who I am.

Are you living a public life that is a lie? Are you "hiding" in public, afraid to go deep with someone God has placed in your life? Are you running from God and not spending time with Him? Find out what really matters, everything else will become more focused!