Is it wrong to block people you know from church off your Facebook?

Stifler's - posted on 04/20/2012

I agree with elfrieda, christian doesn't mean you have to be a door mat and have people you don't even like on fb.

Elfrieda - posted on 04/20/2012

I think it's best to only have real-life friends as "friends" on facebook. I try to not go much over 100 people, so every couple of months I go through and edit my friend list. I find it sad to say no to acquaintances, just in case they're actually trying to be better friends with me, but I'll de-friend them later if nothing's come of it. I'll also de-friend people who don't really do facebook except to play games or just see what I'm up to.



My rule is: must accept aunties and cousins, both mine and my husband's, but it's okay to de-friend later if I've only met them once or if we have nothing in common.



Everybody else is up to my own preference. If it's somebody you barely know and they're asking to be friends, take a look at how many friends they have. If it's more than 200, you know they're just "collecting" people to make the number grow. They won't be hurt if you ignore them, they probably won't even notice. If you don't like them, or their posts make you grind your teeth, get them off your 'friends' list. It doesn't mean that you can't be friendly in real life.



As a man, your husband doesn't know as much as he might think about female friendships, so you might want to take his advice with a grain of salt (and mine, too, for that matter.)



And please stop thinking "Christian = doormat". It's better to deal with people in an honest way, it's much more loving.

Kaitlin - posted on 04/20/2012

Dude, block who you want. Some people have no filter on FB. It's not a sin. I block people all the time because I just CAN"T TAKE THEM on FB. Plus, in my mind, FB is for people you can't/don't get to see often, so they can know how you're doing, be updated on major life changes, your kids, etc. If you see them once a week, they don't need to know the exact time and date of whatever. Tell them on Sunday. Too much information can ruin certain 'friendships'.

Tracey - posted on 04/26/2012

Do we have to like every other Christian? No. Do we have to treat them as Christ treated us, with kindness, mercy, etc.? Yes. So it's not a sin to say that you don't like them--it doesn't even sound like, with the coldness and rudeness, that they are exhibiting much of the Spirit in their lives and therefore might not really be part of the family. Doesn't mean we can treat them with more of the same. But you definitely don't have to let them see what's going on on your Facebook page. Really, what's sin anyway, other than doing something God doesn't want you doing (or not doing something he wants you doing) *at that time*! What did he say when you asked him?

User - posted on 04/21/2012

Thanks! :) I felt almost forced to stay friends with them on Facebook because of my husband. He thought it would start drama with them at church if I got rid of them off of my Facebook. Then I kept seeing posts from my other friends on Facebook about, "nobody is perfect" type statements and "we should genuinely work at loving one another". I felt guilty about thinking about blocking them, like it was a sin and not loving like a christian should be. My husband couldn't understand why I couldn't just leave them on there and make things work. He explained that he had never known them to be that way, but he admitted that they were rude at times to me. But then again, he's a guy. He doesn't understand that there are girls out there that are only friendly with certain girls they choose and also friendly with every guy they meet. I agree with Elfrieda that as a guy my husband doesn't understand "girl world" and shouldn't give advice in this area. It's also better to be honest with people. That's also a good point Kaitlin that if you see someone once a week you don't have to have them as a friend on Facebook. It does seem like there is a fine line sometimes between being a christian and a doormat. That's why I needed to post this. Thanks again :)