Mike Focht 5/31/2024
There is a significant difference between social media in general and my social media specifically. We cannot have a firm grasp of the former without having an honest grasp of the latter. For the Biblically-minded Christian, social media will always be first and foremost my social media.
Before we progress along this line of thought, I will take for granted that my readers desire to redeem every aspect of their lives to the glory of God. We are then asking ourselves: Can social media and similar technology be truly sanctified to express the truth of God like salt and light in a way that glorifies and pleases Him? Every son and daughter of God who desires their life to count for eternity needs to be able to answer that question by the light of the Scriptures and in full assurance of faith.
That said, I believe our current technology and social media can honor God as a method of witness and ministry (I am obviously blogging). The truth that needs to be made clear is this: Just because someone may feel they have proven from the Word that social media can be used for God’s glory does not mean it has been proven that they are necessarily the Christian to do so.
The fact that there are some Christians in the world of social media doing good things does not mean that we are all doing so, nor does it mean that we, as individuals, are even capable of doing so. Just because some men are capable of honoring God through the use of preaching, business, worship, teaching, writing, or art does not mean that we all have equal ability to please God through each of these avenues, nor does it mean that God has called us to do so specifically. Spiritual maturity matters when it comes to means and methods. A car is a neutral item, but it matters very much whether the driver is a mature mother of forty or an immature child, age eleven.
Most can willingly and easily recognize this fact in the various aspects of life. Still, because of the strategic lures of social media, we hate to scrutinize it with such an exacting perspective. No one enjoys admitting that others can and they cannot, especially with something as culturally pervasive as social media. Our problem is that the use of social media has much easier access, much less of a cost, and much more inherent pleasure and self-gratification than other more apparent and more direct aspects of serving our Heavenly Father.
Everyone would agree that prayer is a much more effective, God-honoring, easily accessible, Biblically-commanded, and faith-altering method of honoring God than posting on Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat. Even so, I suspect that the average Christian spends much more thought, time, emotion, and heart connected with social media than prayer. Why is that?
Social media subtly makes us feel like we are a part of something innocent and even God-ordained when, indeed, we are not. The danger is that because our blogs, pictures, and posts look innocuous or christiany, they mask the true intentions of the heart, which are immature at best and downright unholy at worst. Yes, following Jesus as a disciple was and still is a good thing, but just because Judas was physically doing so didn’t mean he had redeemed that lifestyle.
There is a second and more pointed and humbling question for each of us. What about my social media? Am I spiritually mature enough to glorify God in this digital arena? We like to think that our posts or pictures are not accurate reflections of the self-love in our hearts, but I don’t think God looks at things in such a cavalier fashion. It is out of the abundance of our hearts that our fingers post.
We should get on our knees, open our Bibles, and seek God’s guidance in all that happens with our phones or computers. We should earnestly pray, Heavenly Father, am I mature enough to follow you and glorify you in the path of technology? I see many others moving down this path, but is this the path that you have called and gifted me to walk for your glory, O Most High God? Does my use of social media help me love You and others with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength? Am I drawing people to myself or pointing them to Jesus?
It doesn’t matter what other people are doing with their social media. What about my social media? Am I following Jesus?
Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following…Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”