Social media has become ubiquitous in our modern society. But is it safe for Christians to use? Read on, and decide for yourself.
1. Your social media profile is an altar at which you worship *yourself*.
Think about it.
What goes into a social media profile? A bunch of images showing how great our life is? Some words designed to convince people to be jealous of your wonderful life? Your wisest thoughts, devised to convince others of your wisdom and insight?
Why did you create your profile in the first place, can you remember? What motivated you? Was it the desire to share God’s message? Or was it the desire to show the world how awesome *you* are? To accumulate followers (aka worshipers)? To share your own ideas? To spread your own message? To build your own business?
Were *any* of your motives Godly?
Or is your profile an altar at which you worship an idealized version of yourself, which you have spent time carefully constructing? This is idolatry.
(I am sorry that this article will convict some of you. My purpose here is not to make you feel bad about yourself, it is to wake up you up to the sins you have not realized you are committing.)
2. Selfies are a display of vanity and pride. They are also a lie.
Selfies, which literally have self in the name, are a form of self-worship. Think about it. What is your *true*, deep down motivation when taking a selfie?
Something like:
- “Look at me!”
- “Look how attractive I am!”
- “Aren’t I cute?”
- “I look so good, aren’t you jealous?”
- “Look at my awesome life and be jealous!”
All of these are examples of vanity, pride, self-exaltation: self-worship. Worship is reserved for God alone. Self worship brings curses down on yourself.
Search your soul for your true motives behind taking those selfies. Then check those motives and see if they are Godly.
Selfies are also a lie you are telling yourself. When you stand that close to a wide angle camera (the lens on the front of your phone is a wide angle), the shape of the lens causes a lot of distortion in the resulting image. On some level you know this, and have been using that distortion to your advantage. That’s why you hold the camera up high and angled downwards. The distortion makes your chin appear smaller.
Stop lying to yourself and stop obsessing over your appearance. Focus instead on beautifying your heart.
3. Social media becomes addictive, like a drug.
The brain responds the same way to new content/likes/comments as it does a highly addictive drug. Each comment, like, or new follower is a dopamine hit. Recognize the addiction, and start working to take your power back.
For some this will mean flushing the pills: deleting your social media account entirely.
Some might delete their existing account and start fresh with a new account, designed to exalt the Word of God instead of the self. For others it will mean taking a careful look at how they use social media, and setting limits.
Let the Holy Spirit guide you on this matter. You will know what to do when He convicts your heart.
4. It becomes a priority, when God should be your priority.
What are your biggest priorities? Make a list. God should be #1. Where does social media fall on your list of priorities?
Now make a list of what you spend your [free] time on, in order of most to least. What is your *true* priority list like?
With whom do you spend more time daily: Instagram/Twitter/Facebook, or God?
Social media becomes an IDOL in your life. You worship it more frequently than you worship God. And you know from the Bible how much God hates idol worship! Don’t accidentally turn social media into an idol and cheat on God. You will bring down curses on yourself.
5. Social media is an open door for the enemy to enter into our lives.
Social media is built on an algorithm which feeds you more and more content based on the things you express interest in.
This algorithm is the reason for so much division and hatred in our society. People are fed information that agrees with their existing biases. Each person is being fed a slightly different version of reality. This becomes a big problem for anyone who relies on social media for news about the world around them. It emphasizes our differences and minimizes common ground. And it is entirely due to the algorithm, which was purely designed to make money for the owners of the social media company.
Feeding people information that makes them angry, divided, and upset is good for business.
It makes people click on ads and engage with content. However, it also incites fear, anger, jealousy, division, and hatred. This is the opposite of what God wants.
How does social media browsing make you feel? Happy and peaceful? Or jealous and angry? Pay close attention, and determine for yourself whether it is a blessing or a curse in your life.
6. It becomes a stronghold for the enemy.
Does the idea of having to delete social media fill you with anger and fear?
It may have become a stronghold for you.
A stronghold is territory the enemy has claimed in your life, and he will defend that territory with anger and fear. Defeating a stronghold is challenging, because it is something the enemy planted within you, with your cooperation; he wants to keep there. You participated and enjoyed its planting. You might even love that stronghold. You might be very attached to it. It may feel like a part of your identity. But it’s not. It’s poison the enemy inserted into your life with your knowledge and approval, and he is using it to inject sin and temptation into your life.
To defeat a stronghold, you need the power of Christ. You are not strong enough to defeat darkness on your own, and that’s nothing to be ashamed of. Let Jesus fight your battle with you and for you. He has already defeated the enemy, so he knows how! Pray for willpower. Pray for strength. Pray for help resisting temptation. God will honor your prayers.
Take a hard look at your social media use and decide whether it is godly or not. Then make adjustments and get yourself right with God.
Stay humble all!