An innumerable amount of unsuspecting adults have lost relationships, positions, and employment opportunities by what they have posted on their social media accounts. That one split moment of wanting to make a “viral” splash with an Instagram picture from a wild night on the town, make a point to that person with an opposing view on Facebook, or defend one’s political candidate on Twitter turns into a regretful nightmare.
We are so open and non-discrete that one of the best places to “interview” a candidate for a job position is to peruse the person’s social media accounts. We can find everything we’d like or not like to see in a matter of 20 minutes without any type of investigative training. A company can find the answers to its questions because we put them out there voluntarily and recklessly.
Most importantly for the Christian, our “textualized” speech is telling of our testimony, our households, and our church whether we desire it to be or not.
I am amazed at what Christian mothers and fathers allow their daughters to wear to school formals and proms. The proud parents flood social media with these pictures allowing the world to see their 14-year-old daughter in revealing attire. The church is at the club on Friday night, at the distillery on Saturday evening, and then misses Sunday evening church because of Junior’s baseball game. We know it because we are voluntarily putting it out for the world’s consumption.
What do my accounts say about my testimony for Christ? Better yet, would there be enough evidence on it to convict me of being a follower of Christ if I were so accused?
We as Christians are all too defensive discussing this matter and are hurt by those who bring the actions to our attention because they are being “judgmental.” I, myself, have been spiritually convicted of what I have posted and considered posting. However, the world is indeed judging the church today. It wants to see a different people. It needs to see a difference in our lives from the lives of the lost. Why do we dare risk our witness for our Savior for the supposed fame of 47 Facebook likes?
Photo Credit: Arpad Czapp/Unsplash
Do You Value the First Amendment over Your Witness?
Our society feels that the First Amendment provides citizens with the Constitutional right to say whatever we want, whenever we want, without any possibility of punishment or repercussion. However, the First Amendment only applies to the government and its ability to quell “protected” speech. Private businesses can make employment decisions if it doesn’t like the speech of the employee. For example, Coca-Cola has every right to terminate an employee for his or her preference of Pepsi or even the wearing of a Pepsi shirt on vacation. Thus, there are limitations to the freedom of our tongue.
Further, the government can legislate “speech” that is considered “hate” and thus, not protected. As such, we cannot use our right as an excuse to slander another individual or falsely yell “fire!” in a crowded theater. So what does this have to do with the church and social media? Just as Coca-Cola has an interest in protecting its brand and reputation, we as Christians must be careful not to bring rebuke upon our witness, testimony, or the reputation of our local church.
Are You Stuck under the Power of Social Media?
Paul wrote to the church in 1 Corinthians 6:12 that “all things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” “Expedient” refers to a contribution to the closeness of his walk with Christ. We have great liberty under the new covenant with Jesus Christ, but every exercise of this freedom is not “expedient” for our testimony.
Our social media addiction is bringing us “under the power” and “judgment” of the world. Our posts become our testimony or our witness either for or against our relationship with Christ as our desire to speak and socialize personally wanes. By asking the world via social media for approval or advice in a given circumstance or situation, we are placing ourselves at the command and opinion of an ungodly world. In 1 Corinthians 6:1, Paul asked, “dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?”
Asking social media for advice is telling the world that I would rather have your opinion than that of my church family or what is written in scripture. Why should we who are empowered by the embodiment of the Holy Spirit find it necessary to bring a spotlight to ourselves in areas that could cloud or jeopardize our witness to the people we are charged to testify of the change made by Christ in our lives?
Do You Consider This Test before Posting?
A good test to consider before posting speech or pictures on social media is whether my action glorifies Christ’s change, work, and presence in me. A good working definition of “glorify” is to honor or magnify.
Consider a magnifying glass. The tool does not actually make the object larger. A magnifying glass only makes the object appear larger to the observer. Thus, we are compelled to ask ourselves, “Is Christ being made larger to my Facebook audience?” by posting this opinion or image. In 1 Corinthians 6:20, Paul explained, we “are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
If posting said picture harms my witness or hinders another’s walk with Christ or his or her desire to have a relationship with Christ, why then do we feel compelled to “put it out there?” We are not glorifying Christ. Quite the contrary. If my post on social media triggers sins of the flesh such as malice, envy, or hate in others, we are negligently contributing to the sinning of others.
Paul warned the church in Romans 2:23-24 about being a harmful witness of Christ. He wrote, “You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For it is written, the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” It is needful for the Christian to take extra care to not deny the power of our Lord.
Consider David’s state of mind in Psalm 39 during a trial in the latter part of his life. He begins by declaring “he will take heed to [his] ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.”
We are unsure as to what exactly was going on at the time in David’s life and the cause for his desire “to speak his mind.” Whatever the circumstance or legitimacy of the trial, he understood the need to bridle his tongue in times of this intense desire for verbal revenge. Notice the usage of the word “selah” at the end of verse five. “Selah” signals the reader or singer to consciously pause and take time to reflect upon the previous verse. After the deliberate pause, we see David’s calming source to be the contemplation of the matters of eternity and a desire to connect with the eternal. His full expectation of real substance was his relationship and presence with God. This “stirring of sorry” is our precipitance to make that emotional social media post. We feel we either must be the original poster of the news or have the last word in response to some trivial temporal matter. The feel of the need to make many negligent posts can be eliminated by taking this deliberate pause. During this “cooling off” period, we give ourselves an opportunity to consider any possible ramifications or unnecessary spiritual optics which could result from the post.
Photo Credit: ©Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio
Have You Lost Face-to-Face Relationships?
The keyboard of a computer or smartphone is our generation’s tongue. A consequence of becoming less social and more technologically focused is the elimination of the desire for face-to-face relationships. We lose the ability to notice demeanor and personalities because we are hidden behind screens. Sometimes well-meant humor is taken as offensive. Pictures can be filtered and doctored wherein the person could not be recognized on the street. Additionally, tools such as Photoshop can be utilized to portray the person in an unflattering light.
The book of Proverbs is full of warnings on the dangers of our tongues without careful deliberation. Proverbs 15:2 tells us “the tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.” We can all agree that 90% of social media content is foolishness or silliness. The majority of the content does nothing to further our spiritual lives and is adversely affecting us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Proverbs 18:21 states, “death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”
Proverbs 21:23 “whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.” A recent study projected a ten-year-old will have spent 6 years and 8 months of his life based on the current projections for social media usage. If we are not mindful of our social media witness, the church will eat the fruits of its spiritual troubles by projecting a false witness to the world. The usage of social media in the broadcasting of sermons during the pandemic was invaluable. Facebook is full of great spiritual content and devotions. The pages of the majority of our church, however, still only contain the sharing of memes and political cartoons.
Is Your Tongue Dangerous to Your Witness?
The writings of James suggest he would have never opened a social media account because of its ease of danger therefrom. In James 3:5-6, he wrote “even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.”
He goes further in verse 8 by warning that, “the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” Our tongue, or in this case our fingers portraying our tongue, can start an uncontrollable fire destroying many of the areas of our life that we hold dear. We must ask ourselves, “is it worth the risk?” The hope of making ourselves larger in the world via social media is decaying the foundation of our spiritual witness.
Do You Ask for Sympathy from Social Media, or Find Comfort in God?
We must be careful about putting out our supposed bad luck asking for sympathy from the world on social media. Let’s be honest, the world has no sympathy for the spiritual man or woman of God. Notice the distress of David in Psalm 41:5-6 when speaking of his enemies, “mine enemies speak evil of me, when shall he die, and his name perish? And if he comes to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad he telleth it.” These words reflect the sheer hypocrisy of the world. David’s visitors were not hoping that David would get well at all. After they left David’s abode, we can surmise they said things like, ‘Didn’t he look awful?” or “I don’t think he’s going to make it, do you?’”
In viewing your images or distress calls, the world cares nothing about your state. Even if it did, the world does not have the access to the Heavenly Father to pray for you. Even though our supposed worldly friends may reply “praying for you” or “looking much better”, they soon thereafter text or speak of your soon demise to another. By asking for the sympathy and condolences of the world, the Christian is reflecting a spiritual weakness and a lack of faith in the ability of her or her Christian friends.
A Note for Church Leaders on Social Media
Church leaders must have a higher discernment as to how their social media postings hinder their ability to effectively carry out a position of authority within the church. Certainly, none of us like to be “judged” by anyone around us. However, as mentioned above, by putting much of our life on our social media account, we are opening it up to be judged by the world. How does the world judge a pastor who regularly posts images of his mansion, new luxury car, or any of his attained valuable possessions? Even yet, how does the world see the worship leader who is also part of a secular band regularly posting about his playing “bar gigs” on Saturday nights?
In 1 Corinthians 12:20, 26, Paul wrote that we within the physical church are many members “yet one body” and “if one member suffers, all suffer together.” Thus, if I portray myself in a negative light because of my “social media life”, I am bringing reproach to both my Savior and my local church. Again, is viral fame worth my sacrifice of my eternal witness?
Conclusion
Of course, social media was nearly two thousand years away when the last words of the Bible were written. Like our Constitution, the Word of God is a living and breathing work meaning its application is as good now as it was the day it was inspired or written. Unlike the Constitution, however, it does not contain ambiguities needing interpretation by man allowing for a change with the times, the volition of man, or the perception of society.
Man’s interpretation of legal documents is deemed ambiguous because of uncontemplated and unforeseen events or developments. The Holy Spirit is the only interpretation necessary for the indwelled child of God. Partaking in Bible studies by teaching and listening to the Word of God preached are certainly necessary to cultivate and structure our thinking, but the Holy Spirit is our interpreter for the Word of God.
The Spirit leads and guides the believer as to whether our thoughts or contemplated actions line up with magnifying our Savior. We must abide by Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 10:31, telling the believer “so, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/sam thomas