Wednesday, February 28, 2024
The COVID lockdown of 2020 created endless keyboard warriors. Many of us were admittedly too quick to find relief in social media. I’m not passing judgment—I was one of those warriors! At the time, I didn’t see myself in attack mode. But if anyone posted anything I thought was aimed to spread misinformation, create division, or was blatantly ignorant, I believed I was the guy charged with correcting the problem. Yes, it was foolish, and I knew better.
At best, my calls to action educated others or resulted in the person deleting their post. At worst, my response invited others to attack me or the person I wanted to reach. It all could’ve been avoided had I followed the teachings of the great football coach Herm Edwards: “Don’t press send!”
Herm’s advice is in response to the various athletes who, during this social media era, have found themselves in trouble after typing and sharing with the world something that created unnecessary conflict.
Herm’s guidance is a game-changer, but his wisdom is rooted in the New Testament.
2 Timothy 2:23
Again I say, don’t get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights.
Anything that keeps us from our purpose is a distraction. And when we’re directly in the middle of conflict, we’re also distracting others from their purpose. It creates a cycle that moves us away from God. Something as powerful as social media can be used for good or bad. Only we can decide which side of the line to be on.
In Andy’s weekend message, he reminded us that we’re engaging with people on social media whom we’ve possibly never seen before. In light of that, what’s the benefit of actively sparring with them on the internet? It only results in wasted time and stress. And then, both parties leave the digital realm and waste even more time dwelling on hurt feelings.
There’s another option. What if we used our social media presence to engage in positive posts, to pray for others, and to offer Christian solutions instead of self-centered ones?
You never know when a purposeful post might draw someone through the doors of CedarCreek. That’s exactly how my family ended up at the Findlay campus!
Questions:
How has social media negatively influenced your time? Whose purpose is your social media presence serving?
Next Steps:
Look at your posts to see if you create positivity or conflict on social media platforms. Download the CedarCreek app to have something more influential at your fingertips. Share your Christian values online in the same manner as you would talk to your church family.
Prayer:
God, please remind me to start and end my day with you to prepare me to navigate my screen life. Strengthen my heart and mind and give me thick skin to ignore what’s petty and focus on what is right in your name. Let my approach be humble. Amen.
Series Theme Verse:
Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Today’s post was written by Jaron Camp, a regular contributor to the LivingItOut Devotional.
Do You have the gift of creative communication? Do you want to help other’s grow spiritually and get to know God better. The LivingItOut is looking form people who love too write. And if you spotted the errors in this paragraph and they drove you crazy, we’d love to talk to you about editing or proofing. To learn more about joining the LIO team, please email lio@cedarcreek.tv .