I would venture to say many people can relate to such a story. The window pops up, or you get a message, or a comment, and wonder, "Why is that person talking to me? We're not even that close!" You guessed it. I'm talking about Facebook.

Facebook says their mission is to "give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected." Congratulations Facebook, you have accomplished your task. The moment I become someone's virtual friend, I am connected and can share anything I choose to share. It's a great tool. Photos, stories, games, information, music, and (my personal favorite) an update of what I am doing can be continually followed through the site.

The king of social networking claims it has over 250 million active users. Of those users, an estimated 120 million log onto Facebook every day. That's big. Really big. I remember when in college, I had a Facebook account and only connected with a few college friends from across the nation. Now, after it has spread, I have hundreds of friends (564 to be exact). It's not just college students anymore, as Facebook estimates that two-thirds of their users are outside of the college realm.

Face it. Everyone is on Facebook. Mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and grandfathers grace the Facebook world with their presence. It connects us together, but does it really foster true friendship?

As a point in favor of Facebook, I am thankful for the real-life friends I can keep up with on the king of social networking sites. I have friends from high school who are straightening out their lives and finding answers from God—it's a joy to keep up with them. Other friends are in other countries, enabling me to easily track their every move (but not in a stalker sort of way). There is an element of the site that does enable me to continue friendships with some I would rarely see in person.

I do have a negative (or two) against the site. It is estimated the average user has about 120 friends. I have seen some who have well over 1,000 friends. The problem with this is that people throw the word friend around like a ragdoll. "Friends" from Facebook are really just connections, acquaintances, or in some cases, people you don't know at all. The shallow use of "friend" has become a reflection of our culture.

Here's an example. When I log onto Facebook, one of the first things I find myself doing is scrolling down the page to check everyone's status. I enjoy reading spiritual updates, humorous updates, and especially frivolous stuff. I realized recently I have many "friends" whose updates I really don't care to read (be honest, you do too). My point is not that we're all big jerks, but that if we were really friends with the people we follow, then we would care what they have to say. "Friend" is an overstatement.

I'm not advocating ridding yourself of Facebook by any means. Instead, I'm advocating that we as Christians understand that the social networking world is not a valid replacement of true friendship.

The Bible speaks clearly of friendship. "A friend loveth at all times" is found in Proverbs 17:17. Proverbs 18:24 says a man who has friends has to be friendly. Proverbs 27:10 tells us friends should be cherished and not forsaken. Outside of Proverbs are many stories about deep friendship as well, such as David and Jonathan. Not to mention the relationship Christ had with His disciples.

Christ and His disciples show us great aspects of true friendship. Many times we confine Christ's ministry to a little box, but it has to be realized Christ and His disciples had a deep and common bond. They met in person and worked together. They saw many sad sights together. They rejoiced together. They ministered together.  He constantly looked out for them spiritually. The spiritual bond they had was greater than most of us might ever experience with another human being.

Simply put, Facebook is a great tool for friendship, but some might have allowed it to replace what true friendship is. True friendship is not just typing a funny message or word of encouragement. It's much deeper than that. Nothing can ever replace face-to-face contact. Nothing can beat someone's voice lifting us up. So don't get lost in substituting the two. Facebook is great, but face-to-face is unparalleled.

Ryan Akers is a youth pastor in Indiana. He raises money for Mountain Faith Mission, a Haitian mission, by running marathons. You can support him by visiting http://run4haiti.wordpress.com/