No Neutral Data - Our Social Media Footprint

I often find myself wishing God would include an amendment to the bible that was super specific to the social media age. A list of what to do or not do would be super helpful, but not beneficial. It’s in the searching for these answers that we can dig to the treasure of God’s truth. A question that keeps coming to my mind over and over again is, why do we as Christians have a laundry list what we are against instead of what we are for? Let that marinate in your heart for a minute.

When our rally cry for our political agenda or social injustices is louder than our message of the redeeming love of Jesus, then we are getting it wrong. We can’t let our desire for our voice to be heard, be greater than the voice of Christ. When we start down that slippery slope, we can forget what is important.  There is urgency to this message because of the instantaneous access to information. We take in an overabundance of information at such a rapid speed. Just as quickly as we receive information we feel the overwhelming need to not only form an opinion, but also share it for the entire world to hear. We have to take a holy pause before we click like, share, or comment. God tells us that we must allow the Spirit to renew our thoughts, “then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” As we test our thoughts to his we can have a heart directed towards Christ’s message, if not we will always get it wrong. As the Holy Spirit is with us, always hitting the refresh button on our hearts and minds, we can remember what is important and combat the warfare that is the technology age. People are looking to our social media footprints to see where our hearts are aligned. We have to use it responsibly. Neutrality is not really an option, unless in our neutrality we are pointing others to Christ.  Just like my pastor often says there are no neutral moments, there is also no neutral data on the Internet.

I think a lot of this is a platform for what we as a society we are looking for. These two things can seem oppositional, unless we remember where our truth comes from: love and justice. We all desperately crave inclusion, to live in a world where everyone is equal no matter our affiliations, causes, color or orientation.  Yet, when we open up a new internet browser it is plagued with awful stories of heartache and brokenness, which leaves us questioning what is right, where do I fall in line for justice? I for one feel freed by the fact that I love a God who not only promises justice and love, but also takes that burden from me.

Ultimately, love and justice are delicately intertwined. God knew our hearts were broken by sin so in the greatest act of love we were served the most generous amount of mercy. He sent his only son to redeem us, so that we may be forever changed in relationship with him. I might not get it right most days. I still find myself puzzled and questioning how to process the next newest social injustice to flood social media. The world is watching. We can chose be click baited to engage in sinful outrage or perhaps we can use it to further causes worthy of a heavenly perspective. It can either be a plague of our generation or the greatest opportunity ever given to proclaim the truth in love.