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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.
