These are a few notes, then a few thoughts I had after watching the videos Ten Tips For Christians On Social Media (part 1 ~ part 2) on The Truth In Ten . I’m not going to give a complete outline of everything, since the information is right there in the videos, but there are some things I want to highlight here.
The speaker starts out by sharing the themes upon which these 10 tips are based. If these were all that I learned, I’d be happy!
– We are always called to glorify God (even on social media!)
– We are called to spread the gospel (are our posts hindering, or helping?)
– We are called to be holy (not just in church, but in life – do our posts reflect holiness?)
– Are we behaving so that people will ask us for the reason for the hope that we have?
– Are we winning the right to be heard? (are we building relationships? are we building bridges, or building walls?)
DEFINITELY if you have a chance to go see these videos – they’re only 10 minutes long, each – and are a Christian using social media, they will be well worth your time!
Watching these has got me to thinking about these things, and I want to share my thoughts with you here.
There are a couple of things that I keep in mind whenever I’m online. One of them is that I am always representing Christ in the world. If He wouldn’t say something – get involved with something – do something – than neither should I. He didn’t shame people, He didn’t ridicule people, He wasn’t mean to people. Therefore, I shouldn’t shame people, I shouldn’t ridicule people, I shouldn’t be mean to people. Also, He didn’t tolerate sin or sinful acts or sinful talk. He was all about goodness, holiness, and honoring His Father.
Therefore…I shouldn’t…well, you get the picture. God doesn’t wink at sin or pat sinners on the head. And neither should I. There aren’t degrees of holiness; either we are or we aren’t. And THIS is something we are to practice every minute of every day, in every interaction, offline or on, personally or virtually.
Something else to remember online: It feels great to be recognized and acknowledged and involved and even praised. And we can gain followers and attention relatively easily; we all know how easy people – we – can appear to be something they’re – we’re – not. But as a Christian, it isn’t about us. Everything – EVERYTHING – we say and do, anywhere, to anyone, is about being ambassadors of Christ (2Cor. 5:20). It isn’t about us or our popularity or acceptance (which oftentimes involves accepting the things that God refuses to accept, such as getting in discussions that slander, or gossip, or glorify sin, or similar)…it is about the reason God adopted us as His own children and workers for His kingdom.
In a nutshell…we don’t have the option of forgetting Whose we are when we log onto the internet. If we wouldn’t say or do something in person, we shouldn’t say or do it online. Because we are called to love, we are called to love whoever – wherever. Because we are called stand firm in our faith, we are called to stand firm everywhere. Because we are told to reject sin in all its forms, we are to reject sin under every circumstance. Because we are called share the Good News, we are to share it everywhere. If God is truly our heart and purpose, then we can’t lose heart and we can’t forget our purpose just because we can’t see the others with whom we are interacting. We have just as big of an impact for – or against – the Kingdom online as we do any other time.
A few sites that I read in preparing today’s Supernal Sunday post are listed below. But first, a few more thoughts, in my favorite format….
Christian Guidelines for Social Media Usage
5 Biblical Principles for Social Media
12 Guidelines for Church Social Media
A Mastodon Post from Pastor Tim
Thanks for reading – see you online! ?️
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