Social Media and the Church

Acts 20:31 Therefore, always be alert.

When we talk about missing the mark when it comes to witnessing to the Millennial Generation there may be no greater platform for Christians to kill their witness than Social Media.

As I continue to look at the relationship between Christians and those outside the church, I was drawn to look at our Social Media interactions. I am not a statistician but I am willing to bet that the majority of Christian interaction with non-believers takes place on Social Media. You want to kill your witness in a heartbeat, then social media is just for you. I am not saying that Christians should not have social media accounts or should not post on them. I have Facebook and Instagram that I use regularly and a Twitter that gets little use. What I am saying is that Social Media is an effective witnessing tool that has a high risk of going bad quickly.

I once was asked, “where would you stand if God’s judgement was based on your social media pages”. If someone does not know me can they tell that I am a Christian by what I post and the things I follow on Social Media? Even better for those that do know me and know that I am a Christian what type of witness is my social media to them? Have you ever thought that your Social Media might be a form of witness to others. Maybe it is that quite co-worker who you forgot you were even friends with because they never post anything. They never have much to say but they see every post you make.

Social media can be a huge booster to your ability to witness but all it takes is one slip up to ruin that entire witness. There are those outside the church who are constantly looking for a way to bring Christians down and if you think that is a lie just post something questionable on your Facebook and watch them come crawling out of the wood work. You may not hear it directly but the whispers will start…Oh did you see what Scott posted, yeah and he calls himself a Christian, that was very loving was it? It may not be fair or just but the world is going to judge and put Christians under a microscope so we have to be very vigilant of what we post and follow on Social sites.

What about the other side of the story. What if every Facebook post is a bible verse and you are constantly sharing your testimony over social media and witnessing to others? What if you are the king of Christian memes and you forward every picture of Jesus that says send this to 100 people or you don’t love Jesus? That may all be well and good but what if it doesn’t fit your life in the real world. What if you are the guy or girl at work that is always gossiping or telling a dirty joke but your social media is full of Christian content? Do you think your friends who know you are going to take any of that seriously? Probably not. They will probably see it and think wow, what a hypocrite, you know I just saw Scott in the coffee room talking about everyone behind their backs and now he is going to post a scripture about loving each other on Social Media; what a hypocrite!

We live in a very interesting time in which we have technology at our finger tips and can put our emotions out there for all to see. Anytime you post something online I think it may do good to answer a few questions first:

1. Am I posting from emotion? If so, take a deep breath and collect your thoughts before posting.

2. Will this post hurt my witness?

3. Could this post be used to hurt someone else?

4. Am I spreading love or hate with this post?

5. Does this post match my lifestyle?

I encourage you to post Christian things on social media, if for no other reason than as an accountability tool. I know if I post something I should live up to it myself.

Social Media is huge and ever changing to today’s young adults. This week it may be Facebook and Instagram and next week it may be Twitter or something else altogether but if you are using Social Media, use it wisely and know the world is watching every word you post.

If I can modernize a quote attributed to both Spurgeon and Moody I will say this; The world may never pick up a Bible and read it, but Christians they will read your Facebook and that is where they will begin to build their opinions on Christianity.

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