You may be shocked and wondering upon chancing on this article title. Yeah! It’s true! 22 ways social media affects your Christian life is the real negative side of using social media. The introduction of social media made the world a global village. Communication becomes easier and helps to keep in touch with family and friends regardless of distance. Social media has become part of our everyday life. It is now incorporated into our educational systems, businesses, health sector and every aspect of life. Everything about life is now social media and we cannot live without it. However, social media is gradually affecting and destroying Christian life. In this article, I will discuss the 22 ways social media affects your Christian life and suggest ways to remain focused.
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22 Ways Social Media Affects Your Christian Life
1. It creates more pseudo and fake Christians: Anyone at all can profess to be a Christian. Anyone at all can create pages on social media and profess to be a Christian counselor with thousands of followers. Consequently, many have been led astray. The funny thing is that the fake Christians rather seem to be gathering more followers than the good ones. Why? Majority of people are after what their itches ears will hear but not the truth. This worrying trend has led to what is known as social media spirituality. This topic will be treated in detail in another post.
2. When social media becomes an idol: The mad rush for social media and high desire to become popular is sometimes disturbing. This leads to obsession. Teh over use of social media has misplaced the priority of many Christians. In Psalm 5:3-7, David said “My voice will you hear in the morning”. This implies that his personal devotion to God is his first priority when he wakes up. Unfortunately, instead of praying, thanking God and observing one’s devotion first thing in the morning, it is now social media first. Social media has therefor become the god of some people. They depend on it for answers, attention, solution and feel self-worth from the comments and approvals of followers.
3. It promotes worldly and fleshly desires: The fact of the matter is that, all social media users are not Christians. And all the people within your circle of friends may not be Christians. The rate at which some people flaunt their new properties, family photos, new cars and openly celebrate their achievements can cause others to be worldly minded. All the things people display on social media are sometimes just for fame, clicks and likes. Worst of all, some recent skits and short movies promote lust and weakens one’s moral fibre. And this trend will not stop because those lustful videos attract more views for the content creators to make money.
4. Addiction and its effect on productivity: These days, it looks like some people spend their entire time and live their life on social media. Recent searches over the past decades have shown that many people are addicted to social media. How you manage your time on social media is very important. Social media addictions are more damaging to your life and productivity. The question is “How often do you tend to check your social media accounts in every hour? This habit is terrible where employees use free office WiFi to watch videos and browse instead of working.
5. High level of distraction: The use of social media and electronic devices can easily distract you and shift your focus. While the modern Christian is used to electronic devices and interacts on social media, care must be taken. Sometimes, you can attest to the fact that you can be distracted so many times. This becomes disturbing when you are using your gadgets for devotion and religious activities. However, one needs discipline to remain focus and not lose concentration. The worst part where social media affects Christian life is getting glued to your screen while in church. Remember that you are in church to listen to the word of God and participate fully in the service.
6. Exposure to high risks that can endanger your faith: These days, all anti-Christian movements, occult groups, ‘New Bible Revelation Groups’, heretic movements and other movements against the Christian faith all use social media to push their agenda. The saddest thing is that these groups of people have huge followers and are being indoctrinated. But the question is, who monitors what the young and vulnerated Christians read and watch online? A lot of education needs to go into this to save Christians from these high risk factors.
7. Misinformation: Social media is one of the biggest avenues to spread misinformation and fake news. This can have negative consequences on public health, social and political issues, and personal relationships. And the worst aspect is it affects your spirituality and Christian life. These days, every social media user claims some level of authority. Everyone is becoming a motivational speaker. There are many self-acclaimed counselors and pastors who spring up overnight. And all these people have been misinforming the general public in their teachings. The moment you are misinformed as a Christian, your faith can be deformed.
8. Social media information can destroy your self esteem. Social media often presents an idealized version of people’s lives, leading to feelings of inadequacy and comparison, which can distract us from our true purpose in Christ. On social media, one could be tempted to believe that he or she is not fortunate in life. The kind of attention given social media celebrities, slay queens and ‘slaybrities’ can cause your achievements not to be noticed. If you depend so much on social media information, you may lose your self worth. Never look at what is happening and compare yourself to others. We are born and gifted differently.
9. Social media attacks on Christians and cyberly bullying: Over the past few years, anything ‘Christian’ is subject to attacks from the general public. One could spend thousands of Cedis or dollars on worldly programs and receive applause. A similar religious event organized would face backlash from the public and even among the body of Christ. They believe that investing into religious activities could be seem as wasteful. To them, those huge amounts of money could have been given to the poor in the church. Such sharp criticsm and unnecessary attacks on your personality, vision and other things could weaken your faith.
10. Social media enhances secret sin: A few years ago, fornication and adultery became a difficult act. Sometimes, it could be difficult to get someone to fornicate with but the situation is different in our times. The internet and social media contents are laced with lots of pornographic materials. Sex toys are being marketed on daily basis for self pleasure. There are lots of false teachings on watching pornography and the health benefits of masturbation. However, all these teachings are misleading, weakens one’s spirituality and enslaves the soul in secret sin.
11. False teachers and distorted theology: Social media can be a breeding ground for false teachings and distorted theology. This leads some people astray from the Word of God. The unfortunate thing is everyone is entitled to his own opinions on social media. There are no rules to prevent people from false teachings and distorted theology. The vulnerable can be easily deceived. Though some social media apps have introduced facts verification to prevent falsehood, it is still a huge problem to solve.
12. Vanity, self promotion and glorification: Whenever you visit social media, you will sometimes wonder whether some people are competing with others. Sometimes, every single post and status updates are meant to enhance one’s public status and to present a superior life. Some social media users have made it so obvious that they are competing with some people so they have to always do or say something to remain relevant. This largely promotes fake life, fake profiles, properties, achievements and some relations.
13. Gossip and Slander: Social media has made it easy for all kinds of evil to thrive. It’s all too easy to engage in gossip, rumors, or harmful discussions on social media, damaging relationships and tarnishing our Christian mandate. If care is not taken, you will easily join the flow to gossip and slander one another.
14. Unrealistic Expectations: Social media often portrays an unrealistic standard of beauty, success, and happiness, leading to discontentment and unrealistic expectations in our own lives. Most of the fake lifestyles protrayed on social media are sometimes, against Biblical principles and values. Over dependence on social media will cause you to be impatient in life. The sad reality is creating forms of unrealistic expectations. However, one needs to be guided and hold on to godly principles in life.
15. Neglecting Real-Life Relationships: Spending excessive time on social media can lead to neglecting real-life relationships, including family, friends, and church community. In Hebrews 10:25, the Bible warns against neglecting the gathering of the saints. And that is a warning against staying away from fellowship as the body of Christ and as a family. Don’t let social media destroy important relationships.
16. Shallow Spirituality: Consuming an excessive amount of spiritual content on social media without deep engagement can lead to shallow spirituality and a lack of personal growth. Social media offers the opportunity for one to display self-righteous acts. Out of the 22 ways social media affects your Christian life being discussed, this is the worst of them all. You may sound good and spiritual but shallow. It is the deeper spiritual disciplines that enhance a better walk with God. For details, read 21 things you will regret one day.
17. Depression and anxiety: Till now, many people do not know that some of the things posted on social media are not real. This has been worsened by photoshoots. The people living in slum areas can go to photo studios and take beautiful pictures. Chancing on those pictures online can keep you thinking and wondering how the person has made it so suddenly.
18. Poor time management: Show me a Christian that spends most of his time on social media watching unnecessary, sexually induced and lustful skits and other videos and I will show you a Christian who doesn’t manage his time well. Your life is your time and anything that wastes your time also wastes your life. If you do not have any value for your time then it means you do not have any value for your life. For this reason, the Apostle Paul warns in Ephs. 5:15-16 that “Therefore, consider carefully how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of the time because the days are evil”.
19. Lost of respect for Men of God and the elderly: Constant publication and spreading of the scams, evil deeds and exploitation of fake men of God has caused some people to loose respect for genuine men of God. Some people now believe that all men of God are the same, thus, only after the money of people and not their spiritual growth and welfare. The sad reality is that, many people have stopped paying tithes and have become disobedient Christians because of the lavish lifestyles of false prophets and fake men of God. This canker has been extended to not respecting adults. Respect is a mutual thing; it must flow from all angles.
20. The issue of playgiarism: Playgiarism has become a normal thing on social media. Many people lift my contents and publish on other social media accounts without crediting the source. The worst aspect is putting their own names under the content as if they wrote it. This is a demonic activity. Romans 13:7 admonishes us to give honour to the one whom honour is due. Be an example to people as a Christian.
21. Emergence of thorny ethical issues: Social media has no morals – it is neutral. Although users are to abide by their privacy policies and community guidelines, ethical issues have become like cancerous cells. Unfortunately, the rate at which some people handle and abuse others call for ethics and good manners to be observed.
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22. Social media breeds a generation of dispectful, disobedient and insulting people: Have you ever come across how people are being freely insulted in comment sections on pages? Social media has made it posible for people who cannot even stand in front of you to freely insult you. The form of disrespect and insult being displayed on social media is too alarming. Desist from such practices! You can join the falsehood being speculated, insult and destroy someone but do you really know the fact of the matter? Social media can make you commit grievous mistakes and sin against both God and innocent people.
The way forward for Christians.
1. Discipline, uncompromising Biblical values and standards: The first thing for Christians to do is to remain disciplined and never ready to compromise. We must uphold sound teachings and values of the Christian faith. Without these things, social media will affect and destroy your faith in the LORD.
2. Proper time management: The Christian that does not know how to manage his or her time will have a problem with managing life. Your life is time and your time is your life. If you do not know how to manage either of them, then know that both are being wasted.
3. Watch what you watch (The method of Job): One of the best things for every Christian to do is to watch what you watch. In Job 31:1, Job made a deliberate attempt to watch what he watched in order not to sin against God. Job purposed in his heart and made a covenant with his eyes not to watch anything lustful. The human eye serves as the biggest entry into the body and the souls of men. Be careful what you watch with your eyes. It can damage your faith and your life.
4. Scrutinize everything through the lense of the Bible: Let the Bible serve as your final point of reference and guide. Anything that is contrary to the teachings of the Bible may be against your faith. The irony, however, has to do with things that the Bible silent on them and cannot be directly found in the Bible. Be led and be guided by sound Biblical judgments.
5. Be led else you will be misled: Each day, you must pray for the Holy Spirit to guide and lead you. The world of social media will expose you to all kinds of misleading information. We need the leadership and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in order not to fall into temptations. Without the help of the Holy Spirit, many will be led astray and their faiths destroyed. In Psalm 143:10, the Bible said: “Teach me to do Your will,For You are my God;Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground”.
6. Set boundaries for yourself: Set boundaries for your social media usage and prioritize your spiritual disciplines. Create specific times for prayer, Bible study, and worship without any digital distractions.
7. Unfollow and unsubscribe some pages: It is a serious thing when the Bible says in 2 Cor. 6:14 that “Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness?”. Some pages on social media may be full of entertainment but they are ungodly pages. The problem has to do with the content, the message and theology behind those contents. Inasmuch as most of these contents may sound so good and philosophical, we must be mindful of the brains behind those contents. Take heed, else, you will be deceived and misled. Unfollow and unsubscribe from any page that will enhance your spiritual life, maturity and growth in the LORD.
8. Know that God is watching and will judge you: In Matthew 12:36-37, the Bible says that God will bring every idle word spoken into judgement. Remember that judgment awaits else us tomorrow of every deed, words spoken and secret sins. The rapture will soon take place. Keep your faith active!
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