{"id":1070,"date":"2015-04-08T03:06:41","date_gmt":"2015-04-08T08:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/focuspressblog.com\/?p=1070"},"modified":"2015-04-08T03:06:41","modified_gmt":"2015-04-08T08:06:41","slug":"what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2015\/04\/08\/what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements\/","title":{"rendered":"What you can learn from that Facebook friend who’s always talking about health supplements"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Try this new herba-plexa vitamin supplement!” “I’ve lost 15 lbs in 2 months on my ____ \u00a0nutrition program!” “I’ve never felt better than I have since I started taking _____!”
\nChances are pretty good you have at least one or two Facebook friends who regularly post about some kind of nutritional supplement. I have a number of friends endorsing various products lately, and though I can’t speak to the effectiveness of the supplements they’re taking, I can tell you that they are excited about the positive results they’re receiving and they want their friends to\u00a0know all about it.
\nAs they post each day about these things, I keep thinking that they’re onto something. There are aspects of what they do that should inherently be part of the Christian life. Consider these three attitudes Christians should have toward the gospel that these folks have toward their health products.
\nIt’s important to us<\/b>
\nThe first thing you notice about these folks is that\u00a0they’re really excited about what their supplement has done for their lives. They talk about it a lot. They set aside money for whatever they take, even though most of these aren’t cheap. That’s not a problem, though, because it’s important to them. Sounds like how Christians should be about the Bible, right? Why, then, do we so often feel like it’s a chore? Like making time for Bible reading and prayer is something we\u00a0might<\/em> do if we get some spare time? Like we could be out at that game or concert\u00a0on a Wednesday night if we didn’t\u00a0have<\/em> to go to Bible class?
\nAs was the case with\u00a0most churches, we had a few extra people at my home congregation this past Sunday.\u00a0As I looked out from the pulpit and saw some folks I know but rarely see in the church building, I couldn’t help but think about what impression we were leaving on them. Did they go home thinking “I really need to be with those people more, they have something special” or did they think, “They didn’t seem like they wanted to be there, so why should I?” Did they wonder why they should be excited about the gospel if the preacher didn’t seem moved by it? We need to ask ourselves – do the people we interact with throughout the week see us as people who have something invaluable and that we can’t live without in our church family, or do they see us as people with standing Sunday and Wednesday appointments?
\nIt works<\/strong>
\nI have to admit, I typically scroll past the status updates about how much my friends love their supplements, but when they start talking about results, it’s hard not to notice. The most effective advertising isn’t what your Facebook friend\u00a0says<\/em> about their product, it’s the difference you can\u00a0see<\/em> when you’re around them. If, for example, your friend who has struggled with weight is suddenly shedding pounds and they attribute it to their new nutrition supplement, it’s hard to argue with them over results.
\nWhen people know we’re Christians, can they look at the Bible’s effect on our lives and acknowledge that the results are pretty clear? It’s easy for people to see a difference in the former drunk or the couple who had been cohabiting but separated because of the Bible, but what about when our sins might not have been as public? How do people see the difference? Since true Christianity should lead one to be loving beyond all worldly standards, encouraging to a fault, and to have an attitude that isn’t brought down by worldly cares because of our higher calling, the mark of a true Christian should be obvious. Loving people regardless of when they deserve it, checking our anger, using our words to build others up, and deferring to others will go a long way to show people that “it works.”
\nWe want others to know about it<\/strong>
\nThe people taking these supplements don’t talk about them simply to brag. They want everyone to feel as fit\/healthy\/energized as they do. When you find something good, you want to share it, but who has found something better than Christians? Consider how the early church felt about the good news of Christ.\u00a0Peter and John’s words in Acts 4:20 come to mind – “We cannot but speak the things which\u00a0we have seen and heard.”\u00a0Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:15-22 shows us how excited he was for his readers to grasp just how great a God we have and what an incredible, indescribable\u00a0hope Jesus has given us.
\n“Yeah, but they’re getting paid to talk about that stuff,” you might object. Sure, to be fair some of them are. But what does it say about us if people are more motivated to excitedly tell their friends about a physical health product\u00a0with a few extra bucks on the line than we are\u00a0to tell people about the greatest thing that’s ever happened to us with heaven and hell at stake? If the world can generate more excitement over fitness or money, we need to do ask God to fill us once again with\u00a0the simple joy and excitement of the gospel message. The entire model of New Testament evangelism is nothing more than disciples telling other people that Jesus has saved them from the slavery and death of sin and He’ll do the same for anyone who comes to Him (Romans 6).
\nAnyone who posts Facebook status updates or tweets does so with a focus on what is important to them, whether it’s family, politics, sports,\u00a0nutrition,\u00a0or whatever else they’re interested in. I challenge you to plan to regularly post about things God is doing in your life. I don’t simply mean you should post\u00a0a Scripture (though that’s a good idea) or share Christian articles (even though you already share every FPBlog article, of course), but make it a point to tell people what God is doing in YOUR life from time to time, both on social media and in your interactions with others. People need to see Christians who are excited about their faith, who want others to share in the blessings, and who can honestly say “it works” when discussing the gospel’s effect on our lives.
\nBy Jack Wilkie<\/strong>
\nJack Wilkie is the author of \u201cFailure: What Christian Parents Need to Know About American Education\u201d<\/a> and is the speaker for Focus Press\u2019s \u201cThe Lost Generation\u201d seminar. To schedule a seminar at your church or for more info, contact jack@tampaseo.expert.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Try this new herba-plexa vitamin supplement!” “I’ve lost 15 lbs in 2 months on my ____ \u00a0nutrition program!” “I’ve never felt better than I have since I started taking _____!” Chances are pretty good you have at least one or two Facebook friends who regularly post about some kind of nutritional supplement. I have a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,59,32],"tags":[269,160,23,531,532],"class_list":["post-1070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all","category-christian-living","category-church","tag-evangelism","tag-god","tag-jack","tag-nutrition","tag-supplements","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat you can learn from that Facebook friend who's always talking about health supplements - Focus Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2015\/04\/08\/what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What you can learn from that Facebook friend who's always talking about health supplements - Focus Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"“Try this new herba-plexa vitamin supplement!” “I’ve lost 15 lbs in 2 months on my ____ \u00a0nutrition program!” “I’ve never felt better than I have since I started taking _____!” Chances are pretty good you have at least one or two Facebook friends who regularly post about some kind of nutritional supplement. I have a […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2015\/04\/08\/what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Focus Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-08T08:06:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"focus\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"focus\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/08\\\/what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/08\\\/what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"focus\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/410e95ca4492328087bb414318cdbf13\"},\"headline\":\"What you can learn from that Facebook friend who’s always talking about health supplements\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-08T08:06:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/08\\\/what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1103,\"keywords\":[\"Evangelism\",\"God\",\"Jack\",\"Nutrition\",\"Supplements\"],\"articleSection\":[\"All\",\"Christian Living\",\"Church\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/08\\\/what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/08\\\/what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements\\\/\",\"name\":\"What you can learn from that Facebook friend who's always talking about health supplements - Focus Press\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-08T08:06:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/410e95ca4492328087bb414318cdbf13\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/08\\\/what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/08\\\/what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/08\\\/what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What you can learn from that Facebook friend who’s always talking about health supplements\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/\",\"name\":\"Focus Press\",\"description\":\"Renew Your Mind\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/410e95ca4492328087bb414318cdbf13\",\"name\":\"focus\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4e5532d3006379364a1bcb0a0f8e1b7d691f4349940d94d5b41a4267b04ead18?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4e5532d3006379364a1bcb0a0f8e1b7d691f4349940d94d5b41a4267b04ead18?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4e5532d3006379364a1bcb0a0f8e1b7d691f4349940d94d5b41a4267b04ead18?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"focus\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/author\\\/focus\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What you can learn from that Facebook friend who's always talking about health supplements - Focus Press","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2015\/04\/08\/what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What you can learn from that Facebook friend who's always talking about health supplements - Focus Press","og_description":"“Try this new herba-plexa vitamin supplement!” “I’ve lost 15 lbs in 2 months on my ____ \u00a0nutrition program!” “I’ve never felt better than I have since I started taking _____!” Chances are pretty good you have at least one or two Facebook friends who regularly post about some kind of nutritional supplement. I have a […]","og_url":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2015\/04\/08\/what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements\/","og_site_name":"Focus Press","article_published_time":"2015-04-08T08:06:41+00:00","author":"focus","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"focus","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2015\/04\/08\/what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2015\/04\/08\/what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements\/"},"author":{"name":"focus","@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/#\/schema\/person\/410e95ca4492328087bb414318cdbf13"},"headline":"What you can learn from that Facebook friend who’s always talking about health supplements","datePublished":"2015-04-08T08:06:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2015\/04\/08\/what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements\/"},"wordCount":1103,"keywords":["Evangelism","God","Jack","Nutrition","Supplements"],"articleSection":["All","Christian Living","Church"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2015\/04\/08\/what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements\/","url":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2015\/04\/08\/what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements\/","name":"What you can learn from that Facebook friend who's always talking about health supplements - Focus Press","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-04-08T08:06:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/#\/schema\/person\/410e95ca4492328087bb414318cdbf13"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2015\/04\/08\/what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2015\/04\/08\/what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2015\/04\/08\/what-you-can-learn-from-that-facebook-friend-whos-always-talking-about-health-supplements\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What you can learn from that Facebook friend who’s always talking about health supplements"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/","name":"Focus Press","description":"Renew Your Mind","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/#\/schema\/person\/410e95ca4492328087bb414318cdbf13","name":"focus","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e5532d3006379364a1bcb0a0f8e1b7d691f4349940d94d5b41a4267b04ead18?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e5532d3006379364a1bcb0a0f8e1b7d691f4349940d94d5b41a4267b04ead18?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e5532d3006379364a1bcb0a0f8e1b7d691f4349940d94d5b41a4267b04ead18?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"focus"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus"],"url":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/author\/focus\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1070\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}