No Secrets: Facebook, Google, and God

When I give talks to clients about social networking, I remind them that Google is the new resume – when someone wants to know about you, by and large, the new default setting is to “Google” you.

Google finds, and rarely forgets.

And, if you’re connected on Facebook or don’t have your privacy settings restricted, there’s a wealth of information there as well.

Is privacy dead? Well, in the digital space, not really – there’s a TON of stuff that never gets revealed. You can put up some pictures here and there, tweet some ideas, compose your status throughout the day – but the vast majority of your thoughts, desires, motives, actions, and “status updates” remain unseen and unknown, even by you at times. We clearly see only a fraction of each others’ lives, and even of our own.

But then there’s this, from Psalm 139:

¹ You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

Our timeline, our status (past, present, and future), our snapshots, our thoughts, our words – all of them, every one, is seen by our Creator. Privacy settings? -there are none. Opt out? -sorry.

We all keep many secrets from each other, and rightly so. Unless you are totally out of touch with reality, you know there is darkness in every human soul, and the most horrifying possible occurrence would be for everyone to truly know what you’re thinking at any given moment. Can you imagine walking into a social setting and having people be able to see, like a scrolling Facebook status, every thought or desire that passes through your mind?

But, it’s already true. Right now. Denying God is like trying to shut a door that is free-standing in a wide open field. No secrets. No privacy. No hiding. Full exposure. 24/7.

“The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching over the evil and the good.” Proverbs 15:3

This is a terrifying thought for some. But for those who are living in growing transparency in the fear of God – those who confess their rampant sinfulness, and receive grace from an all-knowing yet all-loving Father – it is a comfort.

You know me. All the dirt, all the warts. And receive me anyway.

Such knowledge is too wonder-full for me.

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