I think of social media as a tsunami. And I’m a guy in a beach chair writing postcards.

For many years I’ve used the web pages of the churches and seminaries I served to communicate our ministry. I text often and have three different integrated e-mail accounts. I own a desktop, laptop, iPad and iPhone that are connected through a mysterious cloud—as if that doesn’t beg for a sermon. But I could never bring myself to join Facebook.

For a while I used all of the typical excuses: “I’m too busy to monitor another stream of communications.” “After Facebook I’d have to sign on to Twitter, LinkedIn and whatever is inevitably next.” “Would Jesus have a Facebook page?” But I’ve always known these are just worn-out clichés.