What would Jesus say about social media? Jennifer Rawson
As followers of Jesus, Social media gives us a great opportunity to bring truth and light into a dark world. God wants to bless your time on social media. He wants it to be fruitful and joyful.
Share the Good News.
Go into all the world, and preach the good news to everyone. —Mark 16:15
The story of the world that we see unfolding on social media is bleak and uncertain: divisive politics, corruption, racism, evil and injustice, death. Sin and death are the most talked about issues of Facebook’s over 2 billion active users, and Jesus is the answer. When our comments on social media join in with the despair at a world torn apart by sin and death but leave out Jesus, we rob the world of hope.
Let’s remember to share the good news (the hope we have in Jesus) with everyone everywhere.
Motivation Matters.
Compare Matthew 5:13-16 with Matthew 6:1.
Throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tries to make the point to us that intentions and motivations matter. God looks beyond your social media posts to the motivation behind them.
Motivations matter because:
- Our inward motivation affects our outward behaviour. (Matt 12:33-37)
- God gives us what we want. (Matt 6:2-4)
For Christians, social media is an opportunity. We’ve seen how quickly fake news can spread. In a dark, murky world filled with misinformation and lies, we are called to bring truth and light. We are called to share the good news and glorify our Father in heaven.
But we should also be careful.
Fast Regularly.
It’s good to share the good news on social media, but that doesn’t mean you have to be on it all the time. Jesus loved being with people, but he also regularly took himself away from the crowds to be alone in prayer.
"I have the right to do anything"--but I will not be mastered by anything. —1 Corinthians 6:12
Going without social media will help you realise how much it dominates your thinking.
Questions:
How many social media accounts do you have? Which do you use most often and why?
Which of the 3 main points is God highlighting to you? (Share the Good News; Motivations Matter; Fast Regularly) How are you going to respond?
What kinds of good news or happy stories do you regularly see on social media? How do you think that affects what we look to for hope and satisfaction?
How does social media affect the way we do church (for good or bad)? How do you think it might affect the way we participate in and build community together?
There’s something about being behind a screen that emboldens us. What are the dangers of this when on social media? How might we use this ‘boldness’ for good?
What are some ways we can hold ourselves accountable for our social media use?
What do you think some of the most discussed topics on Facebook were in 2017? What are they now? Come up with some possibilities and explain why Jesus is good news for that situation.
Read Proverbs 26:4-5. How should we respond to foolish comments on social media?
In Matthew 6:1-18, Jesus warns us against practising our righteousness before others in order to be seen by them, specifically giving to the needy, prayer, and fasting. Are we in danger of practising our righteousness before others on social media? In what ways do we do this?
In addition to talking directly about Jesus, what are some other practical ways that we can glorify God with our social media use?