Andrew King and Chris Hawthorne get us to look again at the Facebook culture
The explosion of social media over the last five years makes it increasingly difficult (for younger people at least!) to function socially without it.
Should Christians shun it as the work of the devil or embrace it as the best thing since sliced bread? Most of us would agree that the true answer lies somewhere in between – but where? What are the underlying dangers and the genuine opportunities? Here are some brief comments to get you thinking.
1. The danger of being shallow rather than wise…
Ever since the start of daily papers, a news industry has been needed to fill the column inches. Before then, newspapers were only printed when there was news!
But now that the 24-hour news media has to fish for stories to tell, much of the ‘news’ is actually trivia. In many ways social media is merely an extension of a cultural obsession with trivia. How often do we have something really worth saying? Does it matter if we don’t? Well, yes, because of something called the ‘signal-to-noise ratio’. Put simply, the more irrelevant ‘news’ we hear the less attuned we are to notice and reflect on the real news! There seems to be a real danger of wasting our time updating or reading trivia. How often do you manage to go through the day without checking your Facebook page? How often do you go through a day without reading God’s Word?
And yet the trivia posted by our friends can give us an opportunity to know them better even when they are at a distance. The trivia people post via social media can give you avenues of conversation when you see them that you would not have without that social-media connection. This in turn can give opportunities to share the gospel, or encourage each other.
It is also true that not all social-media posts are trivia. Often our attention can be helpfully brought to important or informative articles by Christians and non-Christians alike. There is a great wealth of very helpful Bible teaching and other articles ‘out there’. If someone you trust (like your pastor) sends you a link to an article and says, ‘This is good’, then social media can be another tool for strengthening our biblical and cultural literacy.
Top Tips:
• Keep (or establish) a habit of reading good Christian books (especially old ones) alongside your use of social media.
• Be intentional in your use of social media, even in your reading and writing of ‘trivial’ posts.
2. The danger of being selfish rather than serving…
‘How I look and what people think of me’ has always been a dangerous obsession. Whether it be carefully constructing my comments (to get his or her attention) or regularly checking for their replies, social media runs the risk of making an idol out of our own significance. And it is sometimes shocking what people reveal! Parading our emotions to get attention and habitual stalking are real dangers to avoid. And, unlike the folly done in the corner, some people will grow up knowing that all their silly comments are captured for all to see.
The flip side of the draw towards using social media to get attention for yourself is the opportunity to serve others quickly and honour God publicly. Wisdom is, of course, needed here. Perhaps a friend has shared their pain (even unwisely). What a great chance to phone them up or go to see them. (Note: replying to their post online may not be the best plan!) With Facebook and Google+ you can limit your posts to a set ‘list’ or ‘circle’, giving you the chance to share a specific prayer request appropriately. You could even utilise one or the other as a church prayer board.
Instead of escaping into a world of unimportant ‘noise’ we have a great opportunity to use our online time to serve and to bless. If we can keep our online conversation full of grace and seasoned with gospel salt, who knows how the Lord will use the opportunities that come our way!
Top Tips:
• Be aware that the idolatry of self is never far from any of us; think before you post comments fishing for a response, and reread all your comments before you post them, remembering all the people who will read them!
• Think through how social-media contact can enable face-to-face or at least voice-to-voice contact. Use social media as a channel to deeper and longer conversation serving others for the sake of Christ.
3. The danger of being connected rather than communal…
Social media has the danger of removing our minds to ‘somewhere else’ rather than where we are. Escapism is as old as the hills, but, with our phones always on, social media escapism can become all the more pervasive. Surely there is something wrong with a group of friends who become ‘alone together’ as they tend their phones. Although we were made for unmediated fellowship with God and each other, sin has produced the pain of separation. Yet, as God became flesh and dwelt among us, he showed us again the beauty of face-to-face community life. Sin separates, but grace gathers.
And yet, wisely used, social media gives new opportunities to meet up! Offline events can be publicised through Facebook and friends might notice that you are nearby when you ‘check-in’ on Foursquare. Used well, social media can be a great tool to get people together offline, and the breadth of social interactions that happen online may well form increased opportunities to share God’s grace with brothers, sisters and the world at large.
Top Tips:
• Be ready to switch off or silence your social-media feeds when you are in community; always value the beauty of face-to-face community life.
• Use your social-media presence to talk up good times together, to continue conversations started when together, and to arrange to meet again. Remember what your friends have posted about as easy conversation starters when you see them next: from ‘How was the skiing trip?’ to ‘That donut looked good!’ to ‘I was really interested in that article you “liked”‘.
In the end the various forms of social media are merely communications tools. Each one provides different ways to say what you want to say and different ways to listen to others. Much of that communication is by its nature broad; not between two people but between many. It may not always be two-way, but that does not make it unhelpful. Social media, because it is how people are communicating, provides many opportunities to get to know people in different ways and that will always give opportunities to bless and encourage.
Like all forms of communication, social media needs to be used with love, wisdom and self-control. ‘Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check’ (James 3.2). We can apply that to what we write just as easily, especially in our use of social media. As with all forms of communication, the opportunities social media present exist in the same space as the dangers. For some people the dangers will be too dangerous and to honour Christ, wisdom will dictate a light touch or even removing ourselves from it entirely. But for most of us wisdom and grace will enable us to engage and communicate in the world of social media for the glory of God and blessing of our ‘friends’.
So please don’t shun social media and lose the opportunity to be salt and light in your friendship groups and beyond. But please don’t become immersed in our culture’s obsession with the now and the trivial.
Andrew King and Chris Hawthorne serve as pastors in two Grace Baptist churches in London. To contact Andrew, please visit www.highburybaptistchurch.org and Chris, visit www.sjwrbc.org
