I just spent 5 minutes scrolling through Facebook. Now, I feel
as dirty as a teenage boy who looked at porn for the first time. Where’s the
shower! Seriously, even casual engagement with social media can often leave us
feeling angry, hopeless, jealous, inferior, self-righteous, desperate, and judgmental.
Social media can leave us filthy without us even realizing why. I wonder about
the impact of social media upon divorce, violence, division, and depression.
Would the world be better off without social media?
Well, I’m not ready to throw the baby out with the bath
water and here’s why. God has always found a way to inhabit our way of life. In
an ancient world that revolved around religious cultic practices and governmental
law, God established the religious sacrificial system and 10 commandments to
govern his people, the Israelites. To reach 1st century Jews, God
came to us as a first century Jew named Jesus. God has a way of employing the
tools of a particular culture to reach that culture. He forms people right
where they “live and move and have their being.” Social media is where we live.
But can God redeem it?
What if we engaged social media not in ways that make us
feel dirty but in ways that foster our formation? Maybe social media can be for
us a spiritual discipline like fasting, bible study, and worship. I’m convinced,
that while social media can certainly be
a means of oppression and depression, it has the potential to be a premier tool
God uses to deepen our faith and increase our love.
Let’s explore just a few of the many ways we can engage social
mediums like Facebook and Twitter as a spiritually formative discipline. Please
comment by sharing some ideas of your own, maybe even stuff you’re already
practicing. If more and more followers of Christ practice the ideas below, as
well as the ones you’ll present, social media won’t feel so dirty. I confess
that I’ve fallen into the trap of allowing the popular practices of social
media to deform instead of form me. But as we head into the new year soon, I’m
turning over a new tweet!
-Take a Prayer Scroll:
Scroll through your Facebook feed prayerfully. Read the post of friends and
family members trying to discern the hopes and hurts beyond their posts. Then,
pray for them as led by God’s Spirit. If you come across a shared story from a
news network about racial violence, a natural disaster, political shaming, or
some other painful reality, pray for God’s intervention. The typical knee-jerk
response, at least for me, is to post my words for the public to see instead of
voice my prayer in private for God to hear. Let’s pray before we post. Or, let’s
pray and not post. Try to start your day with a prayer scroll. Perhaps you can
commit the first 10-15 minutes of your Facebook, Twitter or Instagram diversion
to prayer.
-Celebrate Others:
Let’s be honest, so often what we post is a not-so-veiled attempt to get people
to notice our wisdom, accomplishments, cute kids, wonderful spouse, home décor
or articles (like I’m doing nowL).
Of course, this is not an entirely dirty use of social media. We should be able
to share what’s going on in our lives with family and friends. But, what if we
focused more on highlighting the wisdom and achievements of others more than
showcasing our own? It would drastically change social media. I know people
whose use of social media is entirely focused on celebrating others. You know
someone like that? Imitate that person. The next time you are on Facebook, celebrate
someone else by sharing their post or liking their picture. When you open
Twitter, retweet someone else’s profound statement, book announcement, or
thoughtful article. You get the idea. Or simply offer an original post or tweet
that celebrates another person or group. Try to celebrate others via social media
at least 5-10 times daily.
-Speak for the
Oppressed: Social media is full of rants, which is why some of us take an
occasional sabbatical from it. But the negative ranting is no reason for us not
to use social media to speak up for those who can’t, won’t or don’t speak up for
themselves. In order to get a hearing in a sea of ranting, we will need to
expose injustice in thoughtful, gracious, forthright and loving ways. “Jesus
came from the father full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Grace and truth are
good guidelines for social media engagement. Be a voice for the people for whom
Jesus was a voice. Post or tweet something that exposes the plight of the poor,
mentally ill, persecuted and socially ostracized. Expose the ugliness of human
trafficking and drug addiction, as well as political policies and economic
systems that marginalize people. Be a voice for the voiceless and invite your Facebook
friends and Twitter followers to do the same.
Jump in. Help us out. Add your ideas.
Lenny
