Christian Daily | Pastor responds to Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement on Facebook’s mission to replace church

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced last week that the social media giant was on a mission to replace the church and its role in the community, prompting a Christian pastor to respond with comments that mitigate technology’s capability to fulfill the need for companionship.

Last week, Zuckerberg delivered a speech at the very first Facebook Communities Summit and noted the decline in people’s affiliation in all sorts of groups in the last decades. The young billionaire suggested that Facebook’s community support groups could replace churches and social clubs that help people find their sense of purpose.

In response to Zuckerberg’s call to change Facebook’s mission to help people find support, Pastor Robert Jeffress appeared on “The Story” to say that God and the church will outlast the social network. The Dallas-based pastor acknowledged technology’s help in enhancing church ministries but said it will never be a substitute for churches, Fox News Insider relayed.

In addition, Jeffress said God created man with a built-in need to belong to a community. However, he said this need can only be filled by family and church.

“That need for human companionship will never be satisfied by curling up with your laptop,” Pastor Jeffress told host Martha MacCallum.

Meanwhile, Facebook recently made headlines after it rejected conservative Christians’ request to add a cross reaction emoji. The request came after the social network launched a rainbow flag emoji on June 9 in honor of the LGBT Pride Month, RT reported.

In an official announcement, Facebook said the rainbow reaction emoji was part of its celebration of love and diversity. The announcement garnered 1.3 million reactions and was shared almost 60,000 times.

Christian evangelist and gay rights critic Joshua Feuerstein shared another post, originally put up by Facebook user Hikmat Hanna, which asked that Facebook add the cross emoji. Despite the thousands of shares and reactions that Feuerstein’s post got, the social network said the requested emoji was not available and that the company was not working on it.