Social Media and Christianity

No time To read? Listen on YouTube Instead:

Current events in the United States have brought to light a fact that has always been known but seldom addressed in the religious world – social media as a whole is a detriment to Christianity. It does not improve the reputation of Christianity and it is not a tool to evangelize or change minds, as so many people try to suggest (and we will explain why briefly).

Before reading on, you are welcome to read the previous post about social media and men.

What we have seen in the Church today is that men often have two different avatars to their character: they have who they are online and who they are in the church. Unfortunately the difference between these two avatars is often stark. Men will post statements on social media that make them look ridiculous, uninformed and unable to think with their rational minds.

Between the arguing, pandering and simply foolish behavior that is displayed when men post their idiotic thoughts on social media, these men damage their own reputations and divide other Christians by the way they act in the virtual world.

1. Church Ministers/Leaders Should Delete Their Social Media Accounts

Few things are more discouraging to see than ministers or leaders in the Church engaged in stupid behavior on the internet. It is as if these men forget that the entire universe is privy to what they are typing on their selected social media platform.

You can find time and time again where Church leaders alienate half the congregation because they decide to engage in a social media debate or unnecessarily take a political position . (If a church leader engages in a social media debate, the Church should decide if that man has the temperament or even enough basic understanding of human nature to lead a congregation of people).

If a Church Leader wants to take a stand for a position, whether religious, political or otherwise, he must do so within the church in the physical presence of others. Posting statements online is easy and cowardly. Men can write out their opinions from the safety of their home and suffer no retribution, aside from the assorted “hate comments” from the equally brave keyboard warriors who disagree.

Church leaders and Christians in general are in the habit of posting things on social media that they would be ashamed of if everyone at their church could see those posts.

Here is a good rule of thumb, gentlemen:

If You Would Be Ashamed For Your Social Media Post to Be Put On A Big Screen In Front of Your Church Family, Why are You Posting That Content for the Entire Universe to See?

This is important for Christian women on social media as well. If you wouldn’t want an elder at church to see you sporting a G-string then why are you showing that to the world? (And let me guess, you also want to be a
“Strong, independent, respected woman” while you dress like a prostitute?)

A vast quantity of shame and embarrassment could be avoided if men would delete their social media accounts immediately. If you are a church leader and someone needs to contact you, they can call you on the phone (an archaic thought, but still useful) or contact your wife or children.

However there is one important fact to note – Social media can help you identify wolves in sheep’s clothing, if the wolves are stupid enough to post their true beliefs online. This can be observed when a person’s words in the pulpit or congregation do not reflect the words he posts on Facebook. If a man is a capitalist in the pulpit and a communist online, then assume he is a communist.

2. Men Dishonor Themselves on Social Media

How often have men made sagacious, thoughtful comments on social media? And of the few times that has happened, how many times have people responded to those comments with respect, integrating that wisdom into their own thinking? The answer is that is almost never happens. Individuals are happy with where they are and changing opinions on any matter involves too much work and too much pain.

Most men, however, do not post wisdom online. They post something that demonizes those the disagree with politically and religiously or they post something that degrades other men or marriage. They post some meme or joke that creates a caricature out of those who have different opinions than their own.

Is this Behavior Constructive?

Is it Changing Minds?

Is it Spreading the Gospel?

Is it Causing Men to Become more Masculine?

The answer to all these questions is a resounding “NO“.

3. Social Media Debates Do Not Change Minds

Individuals arguing on social media are more concerned with the answer to the question, “Who is right?” rather than the answer to the much more important question, “What is the Truth?”. For this reason, online debates are meaningless.

People are not on social media to have their minds changed.

Why would people give up their long-standing beliefs and political opinions because some online avatar shared some captioned picture bashing their beliefs?

“Let me post online about how stupid Republicans/Democrats are and then get mad when they don’t want to talk to me or convert to my side of the political spectrum”.

Standard Irrational Person

In fact, the majority of people who go online to see what people are talking about religiously or politically are either:

1. Looking for something to get angry at because they are addicted to outrage.
2. Looking for something to get offended at because they are addicted to the victim mentality
3. Looking for a bunch of people to agree with (which is highly productive).
4. Observing the warfare as an independent thinker (rare).

I want you to close your eyes and truly concentrate. Think back to a time where you saw a heated social media discussion that ended with one party saying, “You know, you actually changed my mind. You brought new information to light that I had not previously considered and as a result, I am updating my opinion. Thank you”. This never happens because people do not enter social media circles with open minds, they enter with intent to go to war, play the victim or become outraged.

Because people have access to other individuals who agree with them, even a person with the most ignorant beliefs can think they are of the correct opinion because a few dozen equally ignorant people agree with them. If a person belongs the the hypothetical religion that worships Godzilla, they have instant access online to a bunch of other people who also worship Godzilla. Before long they begin to think Godzilla is the “one true god of the multiverse” and that everyone should be worshiping him.

Before social media existed, that same person would have been rocking back and forth in their grandmother’s basement mumbling to themselves about Godzilla, “the true god of the multiverse” and never would have expanded their absurd beliefs to the rest of the world (likely because they would be institutionalized for that).

The same thing happens with people online who believe in equally absurd things like socialism. Groups of people can get in a chatroom with a bunch of like-minded dweebs and think they have the truth of reality in their palms that was somehow hidden from the rest of humanity for centuries. This creates an online mob-like “group think” situation where people can never elevate their mental perspective and observe their personal beliefs rationally by searching for flaws in their thoughts and seeking the fundamental truths of reality.

4. Men Damage Their Biblical Credibility When They Behave Poorly Online

When was the last time you were a spectator to a brutal online religious debate between people in your church and came away from the experience thinking, “I truly admire these individuals who were arguing and fighting it out like children on a playground replete with insults and personal degradation. I think I will consider them experts for other religious matters that I am curious about“. This does not happen.

Online debates leave a bitter taste in the mouth of all parties involved. There is never any true satisfaction at the end, even if there is a semi-clear “winner”. Feel free to explain how there is a winner in an online argument when all that was accomplished was the deepening of the ideological divide that already exists within churches.

Do not debate with others online, you are only damaging your own reputation.

5. Social Media Generates Conflict and Discord

Perhaps the most insidious thing to see on social media is Christian individuals sowing discord among the brethren. Make no mistake, this behavior is an abomination to God:

There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

Proverbs 6:16-19

Many men in the church are by definition “abominations to the Lord”. Why? Because whether knowingly or not they are causing division in the church. Social media is a breeding ground for division and sectarianism.

This cannot be overstated, if an individual is dividing brethren, he is an abomination.

To be an abomination is to literally be detestable before the Lord, to be an object of loathing. (BibleHub.Com – Hebrew)

Take a look at these following passages of the Word of God, the Word that these Christian individuals claim to be using as the guiding document for their lifestyle and faith. Compare that Word to their actions:

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.

Romans 16:17

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:19-21

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Ephesians 4:1-3

You cannot maintain the Bond of Peace wile having an online fight with a fellow Christian.

But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

Titus 3:9-11

But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.

Luke 11:17

These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage. But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.

Jude 1:16-19

I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

1 Corinthians 1:10

We have all these verses from the Mind of God warning specifically about division between the people of God, yet Christians are still chronically dividing into sects and creating online war-parties. This situation is not new considering the Apostle Paul had to correct the thinking and behavior of the Corinthians regarding these same principles (1 Corinthians 3).

As unfortunate as sectarianism is, it is natural to want to divide and stay in a small close-knit tribe, though this is unpopular to say. The organizational manifestation of conservationism is actually tribalism, because when the proverbial chips are down, people will only rely on their closest allies – humans will retract into conservatism when warfare begins.

Everyone who is willing to honestly analyze social media interactions must come to the following conclusion:

There are almost no social media-based conversions.

The idea that social media is a breeding ground for conversions is one of the popular imbecilic lines you will hear propagated by Christians attempting to justify their heavy social media usage. The fact is that almost no conversions happen from online interactions. The same people who say “Social media is a great place to share the gospel” are the ones who are not any sharing the gospel online. They just want to relieve the guilt they feel from how many hours they spend on social media.

It is the equivalent of people who say “You know one or two glasses of wine at night is actually good for heart health“, when you know that these individuals have no interest in preserving the ole ticker. They are interested in gaining a leverage point based on data they purposefully manipulate so they can drink six glasses of wine with reduced guilt levels.

Social media conversions are as rare as pregnancies that were caused by rape, yet this does not stop abortion proponents from using the 0.1% of those abortion cases to justify the other 99.9% of cases. A 0.1% conversion rate does not justify the claim that social media is a medium for church growth. As optimistic as that sounds, the idea is not supported by data or facts.

All the religious pages on the internet attract people who are already religious and want to connect with other religious individuals. They do not, however, cause new individuals to find religion, at least not at the rates that social media users suggest.

It is true that you can find an anecdote here and there of people who have been converted through social media. But for every one of those stories, there are three stories of affairs that have started between religious people, as social media is one of the most common places for an affair to begin, according to a Fox article (Source). Is the risk worth the gain here?

6. Social Media Politics Destroy Conversion Potential

A great article from ChristianityToday.com has several incredibly important observations about the effects of making political statements online. Here are a few potent lines from Ed Stetzer:

“Statistically, the unchurched lean heavily Democrat. So—and I know it’s just me talking crazy now—if you want to reach the unchurched, maybe constant Facebook/Twitter posts about how stupid Democrats are might be a bad idea.”

It’s one thing to express frustration in your own home and in the confines of family, but it is another thing entirely to post warlike, alienating statements online.

This is true for both Republicans and Democrats. However, it might apply more to Republicans since the more you attend church, the more likely you are to be a Republican, as shown here:

In 2012, election day exit polls reported 12 percent of Americans who voted in the presidential election had no religious affiliation (otherwise known as “Nones.”). Of those who have no religious affiliation, 70 percent said they voted Democrat.

It’s not just the “Nones.” There is a strong correlation between church attendance and political party. The more you go to church, the more likely you are to be a Republican. The less you go to church, the more likely you are to be a Democrat. That’s been called the “God gap” in the media

As this article from just last year explains, the God gap still demonstrated in reports by Pew Research Center, “Those who attend religious services frequently have been more likely to vote Republican while those who attend religious services less frequently, or are nonreligious, have been more likely to vote for Democrats.” And even after some thought the gap might be narrowing, in 2012 it showed up again just as before.

Ed Stetzer, Christianity Today

If you are a Christian, you are more likely to support values such as hard work, personal responsibility, freedom to think for yourself and overall autonomy, which just so happen to be Conservative, Republican values.

The above quotes should serve as important reminders for Christians to avoid taking political stances on social media. Whatever you say will be interpreted differently than how you meant it or it will be taken out of context and used to attack you. You only damage yourself by talking politics on social media, and more importantly, you shut down conversations you could be having with non-Christians in the real world because they will see how you behave online and avoid you.

Your first impression on people of the world should not be one of division. Remember the tactic employed by the Apostle Paul when he spoke on Mars Hill to the men who had the Altar to the Unknown God? Here it is:

Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you

Acts 17:22-23

Notice Paul’s Maneuver – the very first thing he does with these gentlemen is to establish common ground (what a novel concept) based on the shared value of religion . In the very first sentence out of his mouth were words of unity. He established a connection with these men by showing them they had religion in common, then he preached to gospel from that point.

What a stark difference that is compared to what most people do on social media. Most Christians decide to attack and divide others instead of unify them (Don’t you get enough of that in your secular life?). Are you really shocked that people are not coming to the Church when the online behavior of many Christians is so reprehensible?

You may want to argue that “Most Christians don’t act that way online“. While that may be true, it does not matter. Non-Christians and people in general are only going to focus on the “bad apples” of the church, and those bad apples will give the entire church a bad reputation (“A little leaven leavens the whole lump” – Galatians 5:9).

7. Social Media Makes People think They Are Building Their Faith By Doing Nothing

Some of the more annoying posts you might see on social media are the “Share if you Love Jesus” pictures.

Jesus didn’t say “If you Love me then say that you love me“.

He said, “He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me” (John 14:21).

But when people share these religious images online, they feel like they are fulfilling some kind of duty they have to state that they love God (or to avoid guilt from not stating they love God). Yet they do not understand that God requires actions, not words or feelings, in order for one to demonstrate fealty to Him.

Sharing an “I love Jesus” picture online will accomplish just as much as posting a Black Square will accomplish.

Posting those types of images online gives Christians the “feeling” of doing something for God when in reality they are doing nothing for God. It’s the same as looking at an inspirational workout picture but remaining a couch potato.

8. Social Media is the Antithesis of Humility

How many times have you been scrolling down “BoastBook” or “Bragagram” and seen people directly or indirectly bragging about something they, their church, or their child has accomplished (whom no one is impressed with, by the way). They fish for compliments and praise because they have no self-esteem and only attempt things in order to be externally validated by others. And because other people feel the guilt-driven, political need to “like” or comment on a post and give that validation then people’s ironically inflated sense of self-importance is exaggerated even more.

Social media creates people who are 100% self-focused yet 0% self-aware.

What these people need is to be sat down and told that they are not the center of the universe, that their child is not the first child to ever be birthed, and that the photo of their caramel latte is not interesting or important.

People do not post on social media to be humble, they do so to draw attention to themselves. This is the purpose of social media, folks. This is also one of the main problems with social media, it generates an illusion of an audience in the mind of teens, young and even older adults and warps them into thinking that people are actually interested in their life.

Many Christians do what I like to call a “Stealth Brag“, where they made a long social media post throughout which they drop in a few of the kind, generous or righteous things they have done in order to cover the brag. This is one of the most infuriating things to see.

“I’m just so thankful to God for this opportunity I have to go study at Yale University. God has really blessed me and given me some great chances to do things and I intend to continue to serve him as I go through the program”.

Regular Individual Performing the “Stealth Brag“

What do you think this hypothetical person is trying to achieve with this post? They are trying to draw attention to themselves. They are tossing in a few lines about God but really they want you to focus on their accomplishments and how smart they are to be able to study at Yale. They cloak their boast in just enough spirituality that it slides past most people’s arrogance-detectors.

Make no mistake about it, posts like this have nothing to do with God and everything to do with the self – much like religious liberalism.

9. Social Media is Addictive

It is not a stretch to suggest that many people are addicted to social media. Even the Addiction Center recognizes there is a problem with a small but noticeable percentage of the population when it comes to compulsive behavior with social media. They suggest in this article that between 5-10% of the population has a behavioral disorder that can be classified as “social media addiction”.

Here are a few important lines from this article:

The phenomena of social media addiction can largely be contributed to the dopamine-inducing social environments that social networking sites provide. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram produce the same neural circuitry that is caused by gambling and recreational drugs to keep consumers using their products as much as possible. Studies have shown that the constant stream of retweets, likes, and shares from these sites have affected the brain’s reward area to trigger the same kind of chemical reaction as other drugs, such as cocaine. In fact, neuroscientists have compared social media interaction to a syringe of dopamine being injected straight into the system.

“Due to the effect that it has on the brain, social media is addictive both physically and psychologically. According to a new study by Harvard University, self-disclosure on social networking sites lights up the same part of the brain that also ignites when taking an addictive substance.”

In real life, it’s estimated that people talk about themselves around 30 to 40% of the time; however, social media is all about showing off one’s life and accomplishments, so people talk about themselves a staggering 80% of the time. When a person posts a picture and gets positive social feedback, it stimulates the brain to release dopamine, which again rewards that behavior and perpetuates the social media habit.

Addiction Center, Social Media Addiction

While 10% may not seem like a large percentage of the population, it is because you have to be an extreme case to count as a addict these days, as is the case with chemical drugs as well.

Perhaps it is a flaw in the system for a person to reach the point where they are robbing houses or stores in order to get money and pay for their “fix” before their actions are classified as “addiction”. This has to do with the “Black and White”, binary scale of how addiction is defined: where people are either addicts, or non-addicts even though there is a huge gradient between those two extremes.

There is a much simpler way to classify addiction, and we will take a hard stance here – if an individual has any type of compulsion or even craving, he/she is an addict at least to some degree. This will act as our working definition. Unfortunately, most Christian Social Media “Users” fall into this category.

10. Social Media Damages Mental Health.

Before we even talk about social media and mental health, it is important to note that is hard for an individual to be successful in life if they are dumping hours of their time into something like social media that provides 0% return on investment. Unless your career revolves around social media, it will not make you money.

Heavy social media usage can damage self-esteem and overall mental health. When was the last time you met a person who spent any amount of time on social media and was satisfied with their life? Constant usage of these sites leads people to be unsatisfied with their lives and depressed because all of their friends are posting photo-shopped snapshots of their life that do not reflect reality in the slightest.

Social media makes people think that not only do they have to keep up with Jones’s next door, but they also have to keep up with all the Jones’s online.

Let’s go back to the Addiction Center for a moment and see what they have noted about social media and mental health:

Research has shown that there is an undeniable link between social media use, negative mental health, and low self-esteem. While social media platforms have their benefits, using them too frequently can make people feel increasingly unhappy and isolated. These negative emotional reactions are not only produced due to the social pressure of sharing things with others, but also the comparison of material things and lifestyles that these sites promote.

On Instagram and Facebook, users see curated content – advertisements and posts that are specifically designed to appeal to you based on your interests. While scrolling through this curated content, people may see a post by an individual that has a great job, excellent partner, or beautiful home and feel happy or inspired by this person. Others, however, may see these pictures and feel jealous, depressed, or even feel suicidal due to the fact that their own life is not as “perfect” as those that they see on Facebook or Instagram.

Recent studies have found that frequent social network users believe that other users are happier and more successful than they are, especially when they do not know them very well in real life. Social media facilitates an environment in which people are comparing their realistic offline selves to the flawless, filtered, and edited online versions of others, which can be detrimental to mental well-being and perception of self. Excessive social media use can not only cause unhappiness and a general dissatisfaction with life in users, but also increase the risk of developing mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. Constantly comparing oneself to others can lead to feelings of self-consciousness or a need for perfectionism and order, which often manifests itself into social anxiety disorder.

Addiction Center, Social Media Addiction – Social Media and Mental Health

How much more needs to be said about this matter? Everything written in the above quote is intuitive – we know it instinctively. Yet we continue to go back to pool of digital validation even though it is damaging our minds.

11. Social Media Paints an Unrealistic Picture of Reality

Much like most mainstream news stations, social media paints a picture of a reality that does not exist. If the users are not busy shoving idealized pictures of how perfect their lives are down your throat, they are making you believe that the world is horrific, violent and evil. This is unfortunate because the majority of Americans get their news from social media – a source that has questionable accuracy even on its best days (According to the Pew Research Center).

Ask any individual who watches mainstream news about the state of the world and they will likely think things are getting worse and people are becoming more violent, when the reality is that violence has steadily been decreasing for years according to the Pew Research Center (Excluding the year 2020 when the American people embarrassed themselves with cowardice). Even though the future does not seem that bright, it is still brighter than is detected on social media (which is heavily left-leaning when it comes to politics, as many silicon valley individuals who create the media sites lean left).

If you are going to use social media, you have to understand that what you are seeing does not reflect reality. You are seeing a picture that has been carefully crafted by your peers or by your news stations that are designed to mold your thinking a specific way. If you take nothing else from this article, you must learn to think for yourself and not swallow every single detail that you hear or see on mainstream media.

If you watch CNN for more than two minutes, it suddenly becomes clear why everyone lives in constant fear. And it also becomes clear that the majority of that fear is manufactured in order to keep individuals relying on the government instead of on themselves and their local community.

Understand: All news media channels and websites are businesses, and business have bottom lines.

If they have to manufacture fear in order to keep you watching so that advertisement revenue will continue to flow in, they will do so. They do not care about you. They care about power. The more divided we are, the more power they have. Get your information from rational sources.

Conclusion

All in all, social media has a net negative effect on the user. While you can surely find articles about the positive aspects of social media, just know that those elements are not the majority. Perhaps if the political climate was different, this view on social media would not have to be taken to the extreme.

Human beings are not in a position to behave rationally anymore. If they are not going to behave rationally in their riots and protests, why in the world would they behave rationally online where there are no consequences to anything?

Consider carefully whether social media usage is worth the risks it brings. Be very careful with what you are putting into your minds.