Dangers in Social Media
There are very few of us
in the church who aren't at least aware of the social media site
Facebook. Four hundred million users spend six billion minutes per
average day surfing and posting on the site (Statistics were
gathered from www.penn-olson.com)This internet sensation
has grabbed hold of us, at least for now, and caused dramatic changes
in the lives of many. I want to begin by saying that I have a
Facebook account. My wife has a Facebook account. I don't think the
use of Facebook is sinful. However, I'll be blunt, many folks are
using this tool in a poor way. It is with great care that we should
investigate this technology and how the bible permits its use.
Facebook and other social
media websites do have a great purpose. They link us with people we
would otherwise not be able to visit. We can view pictures, chat
with, or encourage people easily and quickly on a daily basis. It has
never been easier to “greet and encourage”(Rom. 16:16) our
brothers and sisters in Christ than now. Where once we would have to
send standard mail to grandparents of pictures and birthday
celebrations, now we share with a simple click. Now, even our church
meeting invitations are sent through social media sites. We have much
easier access to potential converts to the gospel. Connections made
with old classmates, coworkers and their circle of friends and family
are easily made with this wonderful online tool.
While I could write a
whole article on the benefits of such sites, the scope of this
article is focused on the dangers that lie beneath all of the good
that can be accomplished.
Facebook
Addiction. I knew that people can get
obsessed with internet browsing, but I did not know that this is a
serious addiction that many people face today. If you use Facebook
daily, I'd recommend you visit this site:
http://janiquesvedberg.com/am-i-addicted-to-facebook-10-signs-of-facebook-addiction
just to be sure that your use is appropriate. People can login to
Facebook and lose hours of time from their day, unaware of the
clock's continuous march. This is common with other entertainment
addictions like the Internet and/or video games, creating a lost
sense of reality within a virtual world.
A
lot of people use Facebook as an escape outlet for depression, which
ironically, has been shown to cause depression, especially in young
adults (http://www.parentdish.com/2011/
03/28/facebook-depression/). Deuteronomy 4:24 says, For
the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
When we examine the amount of time we spend on His word, as opposed
to the amount of time we spend on the internet, can we honestly say
that God is pleased? If the answer is No, or if you're unsure, it's
time to start giving yourself a time limit on how much you “Facebook”
each day. I can remember a video game I used to play that displayed
your “career” statistic line. One of the statistics measured was
“Game Time Played.” It can be pretty scary to see how much of our
time is wasted on nonsense. Brothers and sisters...when it's not the
Lord's work...it is nonsense. Let’s be more productive with our
time. When we take time to enjoy any entertainment, including sites
like Facebook, let’s be aware of our hours and be diligent to make
sure we aren't “sucked in” with the rest of the world.
Facebook
can be a Gossip Rag. When we go to the
supermarket and are ready to check out, one can look to the right or
left and see the latest gossip about all the celebrities of the
world. Personally, I have little interest in what these people are
doing in their lives. But there is something alluring about a good
story, isn't there?
Proverbs 26:22 says, The
words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, and they go down into
the inmost body. God gives us warning doesn't
He? Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor,
him I will destroy (Psalm 101:5); Let no corrupt word proceed out of
your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may
impart grace to the hearers (Ephesians 4:29).
Finally, But let none of you suffer as a
murderer, a thief, an evil-doer, or as a busybody in other people's
matters (1 Peter 4:15).
Facebook
is not just a dangerous place to talk about other people, but to
learn about other people, which according to the scriptures can
be a condemnable offense (see 1 Peter 4:15 above). Not all
investigation of persons is wrong. We should be encouraged to learn
about our brothers and sisters in Christ. We should desire to learn
about people of the world as well, to know how we may better reach
them with the gospel message. Most folks who browse Facebook, do so
to find out what's happening in other's lives. There are no ill
intentions from the beginning, in most cases. However, no matter our
intent, the end result of our browsing is sometimes discovery of
people's imperfections, instead of finding how we can love more or
serve greater. Pictures and comments that were never intended for
public view make their way before the eyes of anyone smart enough to
operate a mouse. Some of these things are truly to the disgrace of
the people who perform the actions. But other times a picture is
viewed and judged completely out of context. One reason that gossip
is condemned, is because it judges unfairly. Without context, people
can jump to conclusions about things seen and create whatever story
they want to attach to the image. Facebook, much like gossip, is an
image or a small comment only telling a portion of the story.
Another sad thing about
this behavior, is that the people being judged are likely individuals
with no personal ties to the viewer. In my humble opinion, we would
be wise to assume and hope the best of people. If Brother Geary Trent
has taught me anything in the time that we've studied together, it is
that we are to learn to give folks “the benefit of the doubt.”
When we see something on Facebook that seems inappropriate, do we
give the benefit of the doubt? If we have personal ties to the
individual involved, and we see things that we think are violations
of scripture, then of course we should talk with the person and try
to find the truth of things. We should also encourage right behavior.
But often times we jump to conclusions about what we see and
privately pass judgment without even giving a person the chance to
share the whole story. Some would ask, “Do we need the whole
story?” I would say most of the time...yes. Lori and I have a
picture of a brother in Christ with a cigarette in his mouth at age
15 or so. He had picked it up off the ground, unlit and popped it in
as a joke. We laugh about how silly we all were as teenagers. That
same photo on Facebook could create all sorts of judgmental attitudes
toward the brother. Don't we see the unfairness with which we can
make our judgments?
On the other side of the
equation, people can also blatantly post pictures of doing things
that they ought not to do, and hide behind the mask that I've just
offered for protection. I think we are missing something by just
assigning blame to Facebook. We don't have the kind of relationships
that the 1st
century church had with one another. The brethren we read about were
so involved with one another's lives that there weren't many “hidden”
things. Christians ought to be in one another's lives, but not
through Facebook alone. If you personally interact with people of
your congregation on a regular basis, you will likely know what's
going on in whatever pictures are posted. If our relationships were
better, and we were less private with what we consider our “personal
lives,” I doubt Facebook would have the impact it does on our
opinion of people we know.
Please, don't use Facebook as your only source to keep
up with people. Understand that it is a dangerous source for gossip
and treat it with the same Christian care you would gossip in
person., For we hear that there are some who
walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are
busybodies. Now those who are such we command and exhort through our
Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own
bread. But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good. And
if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person
and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet do not
count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother
(2 Thessalonians 3:11-15).
Facebook
is an inappropriate forum to have bible debates.
How many congregations ruined, reputations destroyed, and good people
hurt do we have to endure to understand that heated discussions of
bible things are not always appropriate for public view? I've seen
and partaken in confrontations that have happened after church in the
front aisle, and I've also been part of better discussions that have
taken place privately out of public view. People are a lot more
receptive to what is being said in private than in a public forum.
Not to mention the countless words that are misunderstood due to lack
of tone or inflection in text messages or internet posts. There are
times that call for public confrontation, Galatians 2:11, and there
are times that call for a gentle approach as found in Acts 18:24-26.
People generally don't like being confronted in public. Often times a
gentle approach is all that's required to help bring a person to
understanding the truth.
Lately,
most of what I see in terms of bible discussion on Facebook, is
closer to slander. People calling for the demise of Brethren's
publications & the verbal attacks on persons are becoming much
more frequent among our own. It's sad to see, and disgraceful to know
that our comments amongst one another can easily be viewed by people
from the world. People that we may at one time have had some
influence over see this type of behavior and are instantly turned
away. Jesus Himself teaches this concept when he says, By
this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for
one another (John 13:35).
Speaking to one another in this way is cowardly. If you have a good
enough relationship with someone to talk to them about something that
you think is wrong with their life, then do it in person. If you
don't have that relationship, maybe you shouldn't be the one
confronting them at all. At the very least brethren, these practices
are divisive. Reject a divisive man after the
first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and
sinning, being self-condemned (Titus
3:10,11).
If
speaking in such a way should be condemned then “Liking” what is
said is equally divisive. If I tried to publish this article 10 years
ago nobody would have a clue what I'm saying. Thankfully, most folks
who've read this far will understand what I mean when I say “Liking”.
But for those that don't know, Facebook allows you to publicly show
your support of a comment made. Such support is called a “Like”.
People love a good fight almost as much as they love a good gossip.
In the midst of discussion among others, it's tempting to hop in and
show support of one side or another. Resist the temptation brethren,
and don't add any fuel to the divisive fire.
It's sad that the smaller
this world gets, the harder it is for all of us to get along. We've
always had different opinions about small matters, but now those
small things have grown into large things. Why? At the end of the
day, does the why or the how really matter? We should be striving to
repair the personal relationships that we have and leaving the rest
alone. Getting involved on either side of a fight within the
brotherhood always ends in loss for both sides. The church must stand
for the truths that it is built upon, but that can begin and end with
the people that you directly influence in your life. There is no need
to speak to acquaintances or people that you have little contact with
who are involved in a Facebook dispute. People that desire to go
beyond the truth will certainly find their way without us escorting
them. If you have people you can personally study with and help, do
it. If you don't, then don't get involved...especially over the
internet! Why express any more concern for these folks than you would
our brethren who use individual cups? All of these are brethren in
Christ flirting with losing the protection that is offered for sin
through the blood of Christ. My point is this, if we all spend our
time and energy working on building our own congregations, how much
time would really be left to worry about all of this other stuff? How
much influence can we really have on a person that we know so little
about? Why talk about people that we have only met a few times, or
heard a few things about? That's how Facebook works though! It puts
us in contact with people we would usually have very little to do
with. It allows us to criticize others actions publicly or behind
their back. Simply put, Facebook is dangerous.
Facebook
promotes Gender-Role Confusion. Now
before anyone gets too upset over the title of my last point, I want
to preface my remarks with this...Women have the right and are
actually commanded to be teachers. It's where the teaching takes
place and how it takes place that we need to examine. There is one
passage of scripture that instantly comes to mind when I get on
Facebook and I see women commenting on bible things. Let
your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to
speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law says. 35And if they
want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for
it is shameful for women to speak in church
(1 Corinthians 14:34-35).
A lot of people may note that it clearly says
in church at the end
of the quotation. I don't discount that the apostle Paul was
referencing behavior that was taking place within the worship.
However, the object of my focus lies in the reason why. Why aren't
women permitted to speak? This passage teaches that they are “to
be submissive, as the law says”. In Paul's
day it appears the teaching in the worship service was slightly
different than how we do things today. Since the New Testament was
not complete, no one could have bibles open before them. So, one
would get up before the congregation and say something, and the
audience would ask questions or make comments to be sure that the
speaker was correct or to verify what was said. Some of the audience
members would ask questions that would lead to discussion contrary to
what was just taught. It was quite possible for men to be “put in
their place” as to what God's word taught right in the midst of
their services. That is why Paul writes to the Corinthians the things
that he does concerning women. Women were to be silent in the
churches. Verse 35 gives further clarification. If a woman had a
question, in order to not shame a man or usurp the authority given
him by God, she was to ask her question in a private setting.
How can we say that
Facebook is a private setting? I am fully embarrassed for women that
post their comments on Facebook in blatant disregard to the idea that
Paul is presenting. Our women keep silent in the churches today,
because that is what they are commanded. The woman's God-ordained
role is not compromised by simply speaking outside of the assembly,
even when offering encouragement through scripture. However, when a
woman publicly shames a man, whether she is right or wrong in truth,
it's violating the headship structure that God created. That applies
to Facebook and every other public forum. Again women who “Like”
comments made to a man's rebuke, dishonor their head. If you are a
woman reading this, I understand that what you try to teach may be
accurate according to scripture, but there are better ways to teach
such things. We want to respect the headship arrangement that God
Himself set up and that Paul preached about in 1 Corinthians 11:3. To
use Facebook otherwise is not only disgraceful to the man involved,
but to your head (mankind), to your congregation, to your family, and
to God.
I pray earnestly that
people begin to use a different approach when they login to their
accounts. Facebook CAN be a wonderful tool. It can do many great
things individually for us and the Lord's Church. It was not so long
ago that Facebook was used for sharing photos with friends and family
instead of proposing religious agenda. Religion is life, so it will
be part of our sharing. However, we must stop using our comments and
photos to tear and destroy. I encourage people to remove “friends”
and not visit sites of those that you know will promote controversy.
Sometimes this may mean we will remain uninformed about certain
people's lives. Honestly, who cares? If someone wants to show you
what is on someone else's site to gossip about them, don't be
bothered! If someone has confronted you about a post or pictures,
invite them willingly to study with you instead of taking offense to
someone's query. If this difference be small enough to keep
fellowship, then let it go. It wasn't two generations ago that
Brother Homer Gay and Brother Homer King kept company while
disagreeing over a pretty serious question. They saw the importance
of peace keeping. Would it even be possible for them to do that in
today's Facebook world? I wish brethren today could see the same
things that they did. People who thought different in times past
didn't have to flaunt their uniqueness before everyone. Those who did
were seen as outcasts. Try promoting peace instead of controversy.
Where controversy rears its head have nothing to do with it.
Facebook is fueling a
fire that will always burn. As humans, we like to push limitations.
Often times we do that to grow. That pushing can be a good thing as
long as it remains in the confines of the truth. It's when the
pushing goes beyond what the scriptures teach that we have a problem.
It's so simple to ignore an important question regarding this article
and issue. Is Facebook really worth all the damage it's doing?
