Self Control and Social Media

I love social media, especially Facebook and Twitter.  My family would probably tell you I love both of them too much.  I love the connectivity they offer me to the world. I love them as a forum to meet old friends, make new friends (although cyber friends aren't real friends, right?), to solicit and gather information, to engage the world, and to support causes that are important.  There is a certain power that comes with the ability to speak to the world from behind your computer desk, and that power can be used as a force for good or a force for evil.

As Spiderman's uncle says to him "With great power comes great responsibility" and I fear that many times, we misuse the power of social media and do not exercise responsibility or self-control.

I'm guilty of this from time to time.  I have occasionally voiced personal opinions on sensitive topics on Facebook and Twitter that have gotten me into trouble.  Because I am a Christian minister I have to be extra careful of what I post and which debates I engage in publicly.  From time to time I forget this and it has cost me.  I am learning, however, that people in public positions do not get to use social media as carelessly as those who are not in public positions. While this is at times frustrating, it is also a fact of life in the age of information and social media.  I get that.  I don't like it, because I have strong opinions and I am wired to engage with people who have different opinions, however social media is not the venue in which to do this, but I get it.  This does not mean that I can not have an opinion or that I can not support that opinion and disagree with the opposite opinion.  What it does mean is that I have to be mature enough to know when and how to engage in discussions surrounding the topic that do not bring dishonor to the name of God or to the church.  

Social media allows me the cloak of supposed invisibility.  When it is just me alone with my computer, it is easy to forget that what I am writing could potentially be seen by hundreds if not thousands of people.  I have no control over how what I write will be used by others, how it will be taken by others, how it will be forwarded by others, and how it could ultimately end up hurting many more people than just the one person I may be targeting in my tweet or Facebook post or blog.  I am not actually looking into the face of the person with whom I am having a "discussion" via social media.  Adding the hashtag #justsayin or something like that, does not excuse me from saying things that are hurtful or offensive that I would not say face to face to that person.  When I am protected behind my keyboard alone in my office it is easy to forget that there is a real, living, human being for whom Christ died at the other end of this discussion.   

As Christians we are called to a higher standard than even those in public office.  From the housewife to the President, from the student to the University Professor, from the dad to the Pastor, if you are a Christian there is a higher standard that we are called to follow, not just when using social media, but in every interaction.  This standard is called "Self Control" and it based on the universal principle of love. 

The Bible talks about them over and over again.  Here are four examples out of thousands I could cite.

2 Timothy 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and self-control."

1 Timothy 6:11 "But you, man of God, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and self control."

John 13:35 "By this will all men know you are my followers, if you love one another."

1 John 3:23 "This is  (God's) command, to believe in Jesus Christ and to love one another."

I have seen far too many Christians use social media as a vehicle to express anger, bitterness, resentment, hostility and to then express slanderous, hate-filled, one-sided rants towards people, institutions, and policies or beliefs with which they disagree.  Whether you are a liberal Christian or a fundamentalist Christian, Facebook, Twitter, and the comment section of Youtube videos are not the places to engage in public bashing of those with whom you disagree.  In fact, no place is the proper place to bash those with whom you disagree, regardless of who you believe is right or wrong. Believers don't do that to each other.  

James 3 is an amazing chapter in the Bible on learning to control the tongue.  I think if James were writing today he would be talking about learning to control our use of social media.  I'm still learning. I hope you are too.