Culture Shift
I remember when I was in elementary and middle school, social media didn’t even exist. Not that it wasn’t on the rise, but it didn’t exist for me. Friends meant people that I hung out with… people I saw and had physical interaction with. The physical presence directly correlated to who were my friends and acquaintances. It influenced whose house I decided to go over… who I chose to invite over.
I remember in high-school planning to hang with friends meant going to the nearest mall where everyone would go. To be social. To see people. To make friends. I remember sitting around the campfire with friends with no technological distractions.
What has the world come to that society demands social media to be our source of interaction or to be the pool of where we can choose our ‘friends’?
Culture has shifted quickly. Media has become the platform of social interaction and, sadly, carries much influence. Regardless of if we like it or not, Jesus tells us to seek the ‘person of peace’. This is influence. We must seek influence so we can gain influence. Right?
Leveraging Influence
What if we, as Christ-followers, chose to not give up social media as a fast because of all the negative aspects to it… but what if we chose to enter into the culture of social media with a new perspective to leverage every ounce of influence we have for the sake of the gospel?
What if we lived such a life that our social media accounts were stained with the blood of Christ? What if my life was so immersed in Jesus that I couldn’t boast in anything else? What if I just chose to die to myself and stop using social media for self-promotion and rather promoting the name of Jesus while living it?
Imagine how greatly God could use you if you were just brave enough to sacrifice yourself and relentlessly pursued Him. What a legacy you could leave. What inspiration you could be to so many broken hearts just longing for hope. You could make a difference if you simply change your perspective on social media and begin promoting the Jesus you claim to live for. People don’t simply follow what you say… they listen to what you do.
What if what you do became the heartbeat of your social media platforms?
For some of us, that means we have to change how we live. For some of us, that means we have to change from being afraid of what others will think of us if they knew we lived this way. For others, that means giving your heartbeat a bit of encouragement to continue on boasting in His name.
Either way, we all must be changing to be better. We all must be changing to leverage our influence better. Social media has become culture. Culture is not the enemy. Darkness is. Let’s penetrate culture with Light. Pierce out the darkness with our Light. We are a city on top of a hill. Our Light will shine… so let it.
But as technology continues to rapidly grow, make sure you are changing your lightbulbs to make sure you are as effective as you can be where God has placed you!
If Jesus had social media…
I think he’d be following 1 person and he was being followed by 13. And, look at the influence He still has! He invested heavily into his 13 followers and his message still carries on. Let that fuel your fire!
