When I was in high school, flip phones and slide-up phones were in. We would call, text, and play games, but there was no social media on phones, just on computers. In college, the iPhone came out and the world was changed. Now, instead of going to seek out social media on a computer, we all could have full 24 hours access on our phones. This meant that people in the world and different marketing brands were then able to speak freely into our lives without even asking permission. Where a salesman used to have to make a phone call or knock on a door to be invited in, now the volume of sales pitches and opinions are endlessly coming at us. Today, we are going to address that in a sense, we all have strangers in our houses because of the power of social media today.
I want to start off by saying that I do not believe social media itself is bad. It can be helpful to feel connected with loved ones, to remember birthdays, to be a witness of the gospel, or to teach others something important. However, anything can be used by the enemy for evil. When we think about the hundreds and thousands of people and products that pop up on our phones unannounced and uninvited, it can seem harmless and “normal” today, but this is far from the case. When we think about it, we do not just leave our front doors open for anyone to come hang out in our homes with us. We have doors, we have locks, and we even have alarm systems. But for our phones, we seem to be in a predicament of strangers who we do not know posting or marketing to us without our permission. They might be under the category of a follower or a friend but do we really know them? Do we truly desire to have their input on our personal lives, to see their latest products, and to hear their opinions about the world?
My concern with this is especially for the young people of today. Yes, there are settings and boundaries parents can put into place to help protect children, but far too many homes have susceptible children to pornographic images, unhealthy cultural opinions, ungodly influencers, and online bullying. In a day and time when worldly culture is infiltrating us and more importantly the next generation, what do we do with this? God tells us in 1 Peter 3:8, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” We must be on our guard, we must be alert, and we must not allow the enemy to find a way into our homes to destroy us.
One powerful way that we do this is by putting on the full armor of God. Ephesians 6:11 says, “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.” When we and our families are immersed in God’s Word and are living by the Spirit and putting on the full armor of God, we can stand against the attacks from the enemy. This means that we will seek to set ourselves up for success, not temptation. This means that sometimes we will be the “bad guy” to our kids because we set up safeguards to protect them. This means that we too actively think about what and who we are allowing into our hearts and minds. If popular strangers just came in and hung out in our homes, we would be on edge, we would watch them carefully, we would monitor what they said, we wouldn’t leave our kids alone with them. So why do we freely welcome strangers into our social media accounts? Why do we allow them to say and do what they want in front of us? Why do we let young people have so much access to the outside world?
This is a difficult question and concept, but we need to be pondering a Christ-centered view in all of it. Social media is not going away. In fact, most young people are made fun of if they do not have it. So if we are going to allow young people to have access and even ourselves, what are some securities that we can put into place?
1. Have Accountability: Make sure that others are aware of what you look at and that you are aware of what your kids look at. If your children at any point get into a negative situation, you should be able to read and see everything that they do before they are 18. Set up a program for you to know what your child is saying and what is being said to your child. This is a great link for some specific programs to us in accountability.
2. Set Time Restrictions: You can now set restrictions on phones that will not allow you to use certain apps once they reach a time you have set. Create boundaries so that addiction doesn’t sneak in.
3. Create Specific Boundaries: Maybe you would like for your child or loved ones to only use social media in open places. You might have a rule like no internet in the bedroom or only internet when someone else is present in the room. Creating boundaries that are specific help set each other up for success.
4. Give Grace: We are all figuring out how to live in this day and time. Give grace to yourself and grace to others when it comes to learning how to navigate the world talking to us in our homes.
No matter what, pray and think through your boundaries with social media, and know that the Lord will lead you. Ask Him to show you how to protect your loved ones and yourself, but do not live in fear. We are not alone in the spiritual battle, and we can celebrate because we already have the victory in Christ.
Photo credit: Sara Kurfess/Unsplash.com
Emma Danzey’s mission in life stems from Ephesians 3:20-21, to embrace the extraordinary. One of her greatest joys is to journey with the Lord in His Scriptures. She is wife to Drew and mom to Graham. Emma serves alongside her husband in ministry, she focuses most of her time in the home, but loves to provide articles on the Bible, life questions, and Christian lifestyle. Her article on Interracial Marriage was the number 1 on Crosswalk in 2021. Most recently, Emma released Treasures for Tots, (Scripture memory songs) and multiple books and devotionals for young children. During her ministry career, Emma has released Wildflower: Blooming Through Singleness, two worship EP albums, founded and led Polished Conference Ministries, and ran the Refined Magazine. You can view her articles on her blog at emmadanzey.wordpress.com