Social Networking: Blessing or Burdensome?

Photo from http://seonewsblog.net/

For me, proclaiming the Gospel is my greatest desire and what gives me great joy. I can spend hours discussing the Bible and theology with whoever will listen. My passion to share the message of God to others began heavily once my father passed away in March 2011. Throughout any given week I would post between 15+ status updates and/or links, encouraging the Body of Christ with quotes, scripture, and my reflection on the things of God. Through the constant posting, I would receive comments that were very encouraging. Moreover, folks would share many of my status updates to encourage others on their friends list.

There were many times when I would receive inbox messages thanking me for my encouragement, giving me encouragement, asking me legitimate questions in regards to the Bible, giving prayer requests, and folks who struggled with addictions such as homosexuality and drugs. It was an abundant blessing to receive such messages. I knew the LORD was using me as a vessel on something so simple such as Facebook.

Social networking seems to be the way of communication in our modern culture. I can remember as a child when Yahoo Messenger was the dominating social site, then it went to MSN Messenger in my teenage years, then into early adulthood came MySpace and, the greatest to date, Facebook. However, the question is, are these sorts of social networking sites a blessing or a burden to the believer’s soul?

The Blessings for the Body of Christ

The following are blessings that can found within the social network as a believer:

·      Proclaiming the Gospel: Whether someone comments, or sends you an inbox, multiple sets of eyes are seeing the truth you are posting. You are reaching the lost each time you post.

·      Edification: Giving and receiving edification will occur with each biblical/godly post that is given (ex: Godly YouTube videos; Scriptures; sermon links, etc.)

·      Intercessory Prayer: Just as the Bible is the LORD’s communication to man, so prayer is man’s communication to the LORD. When in need of prayer, you can quickly send out a group inbox message or update a status, asking for the Body of Christ to lift you before the Throne of Grace.

·      Staying up with Family and Friends: Family and High school reunions are no longer what they used to be. Keeping up with folks is as simple as searching a name and clicking a button. You are able to follow a person’s progress in their life, whether it be an education, a new marriage, or a pregnancy. You are in the loop as much as they post on their social site. 

The Burdens for Me

Although there are tremendous blessings for believers within social networking, , there are sometimes more burdens than blessings. These burdens range from pride, strife, and envy to anger, laziness, lust, and wastefulness. Whether one wants to admit it or not, we have all fallen into one of these categories at one time or another. More than likely, while believers are browsing for hours on Facebook throughout the day, they won’t realize when they do something that is burdening them, thus grieving the Holy Spirit.

Multiple times I have seen believers arguing with other believers about a certain doctrine. An example is the popular Calvinism/Arminian argument. A lady who was attacking Calvinism on her status began to argue with another lady who supported it. In a nutshell, the one who opposed Calvinism made the claim that the lady who supported it wasn’t saved and “needed” Jesus. Moreover, a supporter of Calvinism would post almost daily rants against Non-Calvinists, asserting that anyone outside of Calvinism was not truly Christians. What’s the problem with these two folks? They were condemning one another because they did not believe in a particular doctrine. Unfortunately, these two doctrines will be debatable until King Jesus comes back.

So, what are some of the problems and burdens for believers on social networking? They are as followed:

·       Pride: Admit it, at one time or another you’ve wonder how many likes your post could receive on Facebook. Whether we admit it or not, when we watch our status to see how many likes or comments it receives, we are falling into the sin of pride. There are times when one can fall victim to this and not realize it. It is easy to become puffed up because of achieving approval from multiple friends via social networking. Let’s be reminded that God doesn’t want a prideful child: “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him” (Proverbs 26:12).

·      Strife: Argumentation can easily result from certain posts on a social networking site. Oftentimes it is not even one who is proclaiming the glorious gospel and someone outside of Christ who begin to argue, but, rather, two Christians. King James only advocates and the ones who favor modern translations scold one another. Those who have different views on election/predestination do the same. The list could go on and on with angry argumentations. Whether it is over something within the Scriptures, or a popular controversy that is going on within the country (ex: Gun Laws), Christians can easily fall into the sin of strife. We must continue to seek the LORD, humble our hearts, and to listen to His voice. Instead of arguing or always wanting to be right, it is sometimes better to keep our mouths closed. As the Scripture says, “Even a fool, when he keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is considered prudent” (Proverbs 17:28). We need to be careful about how we present issues because it can cause a great deal of unneeded strife. 

·      Gossip: The infamous backbiting! There are so many times folks will vent over their social networking profile(s) about a friend, family member, or even someone they don’t even know. Famous music artists are known for trash talking another artist in their newest single and we call it out as absolutely wrong. However, individuals are often guilty of doing the same thing by broadcasting issues about an individual over their social networking site. For the Body of Christ, there is nothing wrong with pointing out a wolf in sheep’s clothing that is seeking to rip apart the church. However, it is another thing altogether to broadcast over social networking an issue that you have with another person.  Even liking it, or leaving a comment that references gossip, makes one just as guilty as the one who posted it. Stop talking about people and pray for them.

·      Lust: Pornography is running rampant on the Internet. I remember being exposed to online pornography at the age of 10. It’s a very serious thing, especially for men (although many women have issues with it as well). A person can stumble across pornographic profiles and pages on Facebook with ease. However, pornography isn’t the only issue. A greater issue that many would think would be harmless is simply checking out someone’s profile. So many times I’ve stumbled across women’s profiles where they have uploaded pictures that are very provocative. Naturally, men and women are attractive to opposite sex. However, in the world of social networking, we can find ourselves “checking out” the opposite sex in a sexual, impure way.

Social networking can be a way of hooking up with an old boyfriend/girlfriend or someone you may not even know. Currently, I know an individual who is fighting for his marriage because his significant other likes to have the opposite sex around them. The person that his spouse was seeing was someone they had on their Facebook friends list. Even if it is not your motive, others may seem to fall for you because their marriage may be failing and you happen to be the one who listens and encourages them on a consistent basis. Be careful! Marriages are being ripped a part because of what is meant to be a “friendly” social networking to reconnect with friends and family.

 Some passages we should keep in mind about sexual impurity:

“But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mt. 5:28)

“Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body” (1 Cor. 6:18)

“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Pet. 2:11).

·      Time waster: How true this is for so many folks! You get online to update a status and decide to scroll through your homepage for a few minutes. A few minutes turn into 45 minutes, and 45 minutes into an hour. I am guilty of such activity! As a Bible student, I have lost precious time of studying for exams and writing research papers because I was looking through updates and others’ profiles. There are so many hours we will not get back from our lives that we could have been in the Word, praying, washing dishes, straightening up the house, or outside the house sharing the Gospel with our neighbor. Social networking can be a great time consumer if one does not limit and balance their time. In many cases, it becomes an addiction

In regards to wasting time, the Apostle Paul reminds us the following, “Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15-16). The former four sins demonstrate what happens when we are not making the most of our time on social networking. Our time should be balanced accordingly. If not, we can potentially cause serious damage to ourselves and to our family.

  

·      Idolatry: Spending more time worrying about how many likes and comments you receive than you spend in the Word is a reality of idolatry in your life. If your objective is to check new posts before being in the Word, that is indicative that Facebook, or whatever social networking site you enjoy, has become your god. Anything that is given more attention than God is an idol. When social networking becomes a priority in your life, you have certainly built yourself an idol that must be taken down. 

Conclusion

As shown, there are both pros and cons of social networking. Personally, I believe social networking can be a very fruitful tool for the Body of Christ, and for God’s Kingdom. However, I fell victim to the various sins listed. Taking a brief break from social networking proved to me the real issues that lie behind Internet activity. Be aware of such dangers and examine your heart to make certain you have not fallen victim to these. Be a light in the midst of darkness while posting online. God is glorified through any means of communicating His message.