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This is a repost from 2009 on The Armoury - http://www.thearmoury.org/2009/11/friends-from-facebook.html
A Grouchy Disclaimer Regarding Facebook: Some time ago I received an e-request to sign-up for the popular website called Facebook. This was initiated by someone that I know personally, and the purpose for the request was so that I would be able to see pictures of this individual, along with his family. Reluctantly, I signed up as one who is not much of a fan of such things. In fact, let me admit right here and now that I am the official e-curmudgeon of all such personal e-sites – a veritable Grinch, green skin and all. Yet despite my worst complaints and criticisms, I have found that it has afforded some helpful contact with various people. As the website grows, more friends from the past will be able to connect and keep in touch in time.
Yes, I’ll admit it - my heart for Facebook is growing a little.But I do have some points of minor caution regarding this new e-tool. One thing that still makes me uncomfortable is this concept of having “friends” of whom I have no personal knowledge. Like any other biblical concept, friendship is a very important one, and let us remember that it doesn’t take much to diminish the meaning and significance of words – words like friend, or righteous, or even the word awesome. For example, in our modern culture the terms righteous and awesome have become synonyms for something that is considered to be “cool.”
Such is the plight of modern society.
Let me suggest to the reader that we who are Christians have a mandate from God to preserve the meaning of language, especially as it relates to God’s Word. Particularly in

In the N.T., the Greek word philos is a word which speaks of the tender affection, love, devotion, and care that is attributable to the relationship between family members or even of close friends. Unfortunately, most English translations of the Bible will also use the word “friend” for the Greek word hetairos which actually means an associate – which can connote a very close or remote idea, depending on the context. Thus, when Judas came to betray Christ, Jesus said to him: “Friend (hetairos) do what you have come for” (Matt 26:49-50); and in the parable of the Marriage Feast (Matt 22:1-14) the man who attempted to enter the King’s presence without the prescribed wedding clothes was called hetaire (NASB - “friend”) before being bound hand and foot and being cast out “into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Now that’s some friend.
If I could have my own way on this matter, based upon the language of Scripture alone, my Facebook account would have levels of “friends” to comport with the layers of thought presented within the words - philos and hetairos:
1. Friends who are believers that I know personally and trust explicitly by observance of their life, words, and actions [philos].
2. Friends who are believers that I have known personally in the past, who I still trust implicitly [philos].
3. Friends who are e-acquaintances, whose testimonies of faith I trust implicitly [philos].
4. Acquaintances of the most general kind who, for all I know, could be a James, John, or a Judas [hetairos].
