A Way With Words: Christian Engagement in Digital Spaces
On July 14, bestselling author and Nashville pastor Daniel Darling, spoke to an attentive group at Mars Hill-Mobile about a somewhat taboo topic in the Christian culture––social media. Many of us have social media and are all too guilty of letting our emotions get the better of us in our posts. Is there really a way to have social media and maintain our Christian identity? Is the only way to “be a good Christian” on social media to not have social media? And how do we speak out against injustices while still representing Christ? Daniel addressed these concerns and so many more.
Darling titled this talk, “Social Media and Our Social Witness.” As Christians, everything we do should be considered a part of our witness or our testimony, and that starts with our words. Darling reminded us that one of the best things Christ gave us is words. We are blessed with the Word of God--the Holy Bible. We are created in the image of God, but the problem is that our words do not always reflect that image.
“Christianity is a religion that has a God that speaks. We often take this for granted--God is not obligated to speak to us, but He does,” Darling said.
The only reason we know about God is because He chose to speak, and literally spoke the world into existence. After the fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, the first thing God does is speak by calling out to them. Also, part of Christ’s ministry was giving words to those who had none. He made the mute speak and the deaf hear. We serve a God who speaks and who loves words.
Proverbs 18:21 attests to the power of the thumb, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” In today’s culture, we have more ways to communicate than at any other time in our history. As followers of Christ, we are not the Word, but we serve a God who is the Word. God’s spirit is here to help us calm our tongues and our thumbs.
This past year brought us less face to face conversation and more “screen to screen” conversation. “The farther humans get from face to face conversation, the more likely we are to sin with our words,” Darling said. Social media is constantly advancing, but the call of Christians to steward our words is the same.
When considering our words, we must constantly check ourselves against violence. One of the most harmful tools we have is our words. As Christians, we should use our platforms of social media to speak for the vulnerable, but that does not mean we have to post an opinion about everything. We tend to jump onto “news” that confirms our biases. A group of people that all agree with us online are not always right. We must constantly ask ourselves if this is the right platform and the right place before posting our opinion. We, too often, do not believe “news” that is negative, if it is about someone we like, and vice versa. We enjoy spreading “news” that is negative about people we do not care for. We need to be quick to get the entire story and slow to post.
Almost everything online is considered a “crisis” and we should not mistake these for real world conversations that we could be having. We can allow online news and social media posts to make us as Christians negative about the world and even the church. As Christians, the opportunity to use our voice comes with great responsibility. We know the loudest person in the room is not the bravest in the room or the most correct, and arguing on social media for Christ does not show more courage than Peter and Paul who died for their faith.
Darling also reminded Christians that there are some good uses for social media, and it isn’t something we are supposed to count as taboo. Social media can be used to raise awareness
and support for victims of a recent natural disaster, fundraising for an accident victim, or to help find a missing child.
Social media is raising a cancel culture where good news is canceled out online. Social media can also be used as a coliseum where the person being accused are virtually attacked by the masses. As Christians, we must be thoughtful and slow to post. We have to press the good news of Christ against the online cancel culture of our world. When we post or speak before thinking, we are just as guilty as the mob crying out to crucify Jesus. Jesus bore our sin and shame so that we would not have to face it, and we as Christians are called to better. Jesus calls us to see those we do not agree with and to still be image-bearers of Christ. James 3 reminds us that we must not lose sight of this because those who oppose our ideas are also image-bearers of Christ. Being redeemed by Christ means that we can now use our words to tell the good news. Even online, we are still in the public eye and people will associate our posts with our beliefs.
Darling closed by reminding us that “often, people have Jesus in their bio and hate on their timeline.” We can’t just say we are Christians and then use our voice to slander others. Darling also reminds us that a healthy online life is shaped by a healthy offline life--one surrounded by good family, Christian friends, church, and small groups of believers.
3 Pillar Resources
Biblical Teaching- For those looking to read more on this topic, try Navigating the Digital Sea: Gospel Guidance for Social Media by Kort Marley. Also, memorize this verse and be reminded of it before engaging on social media: “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” (Colossians 4:6)
Gospel Community- In our culture of influencers and followers and likes and shares, we can easily miss out on true and real interactions. Give a community group at Mars Hill a try. There are so many different gatherings going on every week, full of people just like you. Visit pomh.org/communitygroups to read more about what community means at Mars Hill and to find a group!
Intentional Discipleship- Navigating social media in a way that is pleasing to the Lord is tough enough for adults, so it must be even more challenging for our teenagers! RightNow Media offers a 5-week study on this called Engage with Kirk Cameron. Text POMH to 49775 to get access to your own account- it’s totally FREE!