I’m on FaceBook quite a bit, because it’s the thing to do, right? After all that’s how you promote your church, that’s how you promote yourself, that’s how you connect with all your friends. You create the FB page, you get on Twitter, you have a Snapchat, you scan through Pinterest, and all the other social media accounts that are out there. The question that I have is, “Are they really doing our society good, or are they harming us?”
Now, before many of you jump all down my throat and turn me off, don’t get me wrong, I post a lot on FB. I read a lot on FB. I connect with my family and high school friends on FB. I do promote our church and church events on FB. It is a great tool for sharing the Love of the Lord. But, just as anything that is meant for good, it can also be meant for evil. We can make it our God. We can worship FB. We can worship social media and spend more time on social media than we do with the Lord. When we do, there’s a problem. I want to share with you some suggestions that I read in a book not to long ago concerning social media that we can title the “10 suggestions of social media.” These are the 10 commandments because if you command someone you know full well that they’ll be broken. After all when God gave Moses the 10 commandments, He knew that Israel, mankind was going to break them. Actually, we were already breaking them as He was writing them. That’s why He also gave the plans for the Tabernacle at the same time. He knew that we would need the plan of salvation, forgiveness, the blood to be shed for the forgiveness of breaking the law. So, these are just suggestions for managing social media. Realize also that we won’t share all 10 today, I’ll just share one in each blog. I’ll do my best to write more often so that we get through them quickly.
- Put God First in All You Say and Post.
This sounds easy enough, right? Well, if it were really that easy, we wouldn’t need to be reminded to do it. So let’s think about ways we can remind ourselves of what is fundamentally true. There were many times when I was growing up that my parents would tell me, “Rob, remember who you are and whose you are.” You don’t just represent yourself or your family; you represent Christ. Paul says it clearly: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17).
Too often we want to compartmentalize our lives. We’re tempted to think we’re okay because we do the church thing on Sunday, or Saturday night. Then during the week, we do the work thing, and on the weekends, we do our own thing. But in reality, because our lives belong to God, everything we do should be God things. EVERYTHING.
He should be first in all we do. If we’re watching TV, going to the grocery store, studying for an exam, asking someone out on a date, updating our FB status, or tweeting about our latest business deal, whatever we do, we should do it for God. Notice the way Paul qualifies his instructions: “whether in word or deed.” Whether we’re speaking or acting, shouting or singing, do it all for the glory of God. We could translate this into our social media culture by saying, “Whatever you do, whether tweeting, commenting, posting, or uploading, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Before saying anything online (or in person), ask yourself whether you are truly representing and reflecting the love and goodness of God. If not, don’t say it. Ever. And don’t just think about the words you say; think about the pictures and videos you post. If in any way they don’t reflect God’s standards, don’t share them.
The Living Bible translates Proverbs 3:6 this way, which should be our standard online, “In everything you do, put God first, and He will direct you and crown your efforts with success”
In other words, “Thou shalt put God first in all you say or post.”
Pastor Rob
