Social Media and the Christian

After spending about two seconds on social media, it's clear that glorifying God is not a priority in the world, let alone on the internet. Social media is all about putting the best you out there for everyone to see--even if that doesn't reflect who you really are. Influencers thrive on others' approval through likes, follows, and engagement, including yours.

But how are those people influencing you personally? Are they encouraging you to be more like Christ, or pressuring you to be more like them? Let's talk about how you can navigate the voices of social media in your life, evaluate how healthy they are for you, and exchange doomscrolling for hopescrolling.

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The Influencers and the Influenced
Right Thinking Leads to Right Doing
The Greatest Influencer
Fix Your Feed

The Influencers and the Influenced

Every one of us is influenced by our environment, whether it's the families we are born into or the social media we choose to look at every day. In fact, God designed us to learn from each other (see Hebrews 10:24). The best things to learn from others are those things that point you more toward Christ – humility, repentance, forgiveness, and so much more that defines and drives the Christian life. This can only happen if you let your influences be what glorifies God and will help you to glorify God, too.

Philippians 4:8 says to think about "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise..."

But what about social media? What message does it largely convey?

Love yourself.

Follow your heart.

You deserve whatever you want for just being you.

You are self-sufficient and can get what you want on your own terms.

The real influencers aren’t necessarily the people posting about their lives – they're the messages that you’re seeing, and maybe even believing about God, the world, and your own life. This sinful world is full of lovers of self, as explained in Romans 1. There is more access to self-glorifying talk than there has ever been in history, as if we all aren’t self-centered enough! It’s important to pick and choose who you follow and what you let influence your thinking (and your actions). Is your feed reminding you about yourself, or about your Creator?

Satan has always appealed to our inflated sense of self. Because we're prideful at heart, he wants to try to convince us to believe that we are basically good, or neutral, and that our earthly desires can’t be that bad. He even tempted Jesus Christ in this way! (Matthew 4:3-4, 8-10). Of course, he had no chance against the God of the universe, but he does have a chance against you, unless you are equipped and prepared. The bombarding messages from the world never stop, and so should the spiritual protection of your heart never stop. "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil." (Ephesians 6:11)

Right Thinking Leads to Right Doing

An earlier verse in Ephesians 6 says that we don’t fight against flesh and blood (aka other people), but that we are fighting a very real spiritual battle against our own flesh and against the enemy every day. Why is social media such a big part of this battle? Well, temptations don’t pose themselves as traps; they pose themselves as comfort, as buzzwords, or as seemingly insignificant justifications, just like the examples I mentioned above. At first glance, they don’t seem so harmful – what could be so bad about loving yourself? Of course, that’s something we all should do, but to the extent of idolatry, the Bible argues otherwise. It’s important to take a step back and into the Word, and ask what the Bible says about these issues. So let’s look at those same examples from above, but with truth to shine a light on them:

Love yourself – And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." (Luke 10:27)

Follow your heart – The heart is deceitful and desperately sick; who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

You deserve whatever you want for just being you – And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)

You are self-sufficient and can get what you want on your own terms – For apart from Christ you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

These statements, and the way they are presented to us in social media, commercials, billboards, and other ads, aim to convince you that you’re missing something unless you achieve a fleeting satisfaction of someone else’s creation. We know that only God truly satisfies (Isaiah 55:1-3) and that we are all born without an excuse of knowing Him and living for Him (Romans 1 again). By contrast, these statements are saying that you’re a good person, your heart is good, and that you should have whatever you feel is best for you. Live your best life. Do whatever you want, even if it’s wrong. You only live once; so if you enjoy it, it can’t be wrong…right?

The Greatest Influencer

Every single person is born into sin, and in light of that, we are also born with an identity crisis. It’s that burning question: who am I, and why am I here? Without Christ guiding your heart and providing your purpose, you’ll try to find the answers to these questions in the wrong places. Those answers can’t be found in a relationship, financial success, a great career, or even going to church to feel better about yourself. While all of those things aren’t evil in themselves, but you are doing evil if you’re committing to them above following and trusting God. He extended grace to us not only to save those who repent and believe from eternal separation in hell, but He also went as far as to give a new heart and make a new creation out of those who believe. Isn’t that beautiful? You no longer have to search for your identity, because if you’re in Christ, that’s where you’ll find it. You don’t need validation from friends, family, social media influencers, or even yourself to experience the vast peace and satisfaction that Christ gives.

That’s why it’s important to read, know, and apply the Word of God. In Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount, He explains the value of turning your heart toward eternal things rather than the things of this world in Matthew 6:19-21.

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Jesus wants you to follow Him, not trends. He wants you to listen to His voice, not the voices of so many others trying to gradually (or blatantly) lead you away from Him. He is a jealous God that wants our full devotion and longing. Who will you follow?

Fix Your Feed

So how can you get better at spotting the unbiblical messages that may be hiding in your feed? I know we can’t fully control what the wonderful algorithm spits out at us, but we can control who we follow, and so in part, we can control what we see. Here are a couple of ways to evaluate the accounts you follow to see if they’re influencing you toward the right things:

1. Is it God-honoring or God-hating?

2. Is it God-glorifying or self-glorifying?

3. Is the doctrine sound (for Bible-based content)?

4. Does the content and purpose encourage or put down others?

5. Does the content make you feel

   1. Inadequate?

   2. Discontented?

   3. Discouraged?

   4. Like you’re missing out on something?

Depending on how you answer these, it may be time to unfollow some people! If you spend a lot of time on social media, you are being influenced whether you like it or not. The more encouraging and spiritually enriching things you scroll by, the better your mindset will be; and maybe your relationship with social media can improve, too.

Conclusion

Social media can be difficult to navigate for the Christian. There are so many voices and so many appealing messages that don’t always line up with what God says in His Word. But, if you know the Word and let it affect your heart, you’ll be able to quickly discern whether or not you should be following a certain influencer or exposing yourself to certain content. We are called to guard our hearts, especially against comfortable but unbiblical things that we see or hear. I hope this guide helps you to draw closer to God and to use social media as a tool to help influence you toward Christ-like things.

Sources

Blue Letter Bible