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Engaging Our Culture  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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Christians should thoughtfully engage with social media in a way that honors God.

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Share your screen time stats.
Social media is, for most of you, an hourly part of your life…
Social media is, for most of you, an hourly part of your life…
You’ve got to post and get likes and comments, you’ve got to like and comment on your friends’ posts, you’ve got to keep up with trends and challenges and hash tags. You never get a break!
The home was a space to let down your guard, freed from the perpetual gaze of your peers. You could almost forget yourself. You could at least forget how gawky and pimpled and weird you were, freed from the competition that characterizes teenagedom. No longer. The space of the home has been punctured by the intrusion of social media such that the competitive world of self-display and self-consciousness is always with us.
This quote makes me think about when I was a teen. Online communication was just starting…
We have to consider the way that social media influences us and the way that we can be an influence on social media. There’s so much pressure that comes with it.
I did a lot of reading while preparing for this lesson and was shocked at all I saw about the pressure social media puts on y’all. A teenage girl in this book said sometimes it takes her 70 tries before getting a selfie she likes to post.
Social media can make such an impact on your lives, negative and positive…
Draw this out some more.
Christians should thoughtfully engage with social media in a way that honors God.

Ten Commandments for Christians on Social Media

1. Honor the Lord.

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
This is a principle for everything we do.

2. Encourage others.

In 1 Thes., Paul is talking to Christians living in difficult times.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
We are called to love others, social media can be a great platform for this. Whether it’s something your write or say or something you share, you can encourage people to continue to live a life that honors God.

3. Boast in Christ alone.

Galatians 6:14 ESV
But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
This is true in all of life, but social media is just an easy place to be boastful about a lot of things.
There’s a difference between posting “I got a car today! Thanks mom & dad! Blame it on Jesus! #blessed” and “Got a sweet new whip. Leather seats, entertainment system, Apple Car Play, 10,000 horses, and it make peanut butter & jelly sandwiches! #theyseemerollin”.
Boast in Jesus, draw attention to Him.

4. Be in control.

1 Corinthians 6:12 ESV
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.
Social media is super addictive. It takes a toll on us. It’s literally bad for our health to be overly attached to our phones. Studies show it hurts our sleep, can affect our behavior, can affect our self-esteem and self-perception, and all kinds of other things. Being in control of it rather than in having control of us is much better. Watch this video.
Show video from New York CBS about college students giving up their phones for a week.
It’s not enough to ask, “What am I doing on my phone?” Instead, we’ve got to ask, “What is my phone doing to me?” -Trevin Wax
God wants us led by the Creator, not by any created thing!

5. Remember your mission.

Acts 1:8 ESV
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
A
We have a platform in social media that gives us the opportunity to spread the Gospel across the world in a second. I don’t mean sharing a picture that says “share if you aren’t ashamed of Jesus”! I mean sharing something you read in the Bible (but not a VSCO share…), something you’ve learned, something God’s been carrying you through, just sharing the Gospel on a live video even!

6. Don’t cause others to stumble.

1 Corinthians 10:
1 Corinthians 10:32–33 ESV
Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.
Don’t post things that will lead others to sin. Be modest in the pictures you post, that includes you guys! I know y’all are posting shirtless pictures in front of the bathroom mirror…!
Don’t post things that hurt your Christian witness. Don’t post things that will make people think it’s ok to do things that aren’t ok.

7. Don’t be passive aggressive.

Matthew 5:23–24 ESV
So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Matthew 5;
First, don’t get upset over things that don’t matter. That’s a whole lesson in itself.
If someone truly wrongs you or upsets you, social media is not the place to take it out. Doing things like untagging yourself in pictures or refusing to like their posts to voice your frustration is not a God honoring way to handle it.
Read from This Is Our Time, p 17
You go to people to voice your frustrations and work out problems, you don’t go to social media!

8. Don’t be vulgar or dirty, and don’t look for it.

Ephesians 4:29 ESV
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
This is practical too. Remember that your social media is out there for the world.
Philippians 4:8 ESV
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

9. Don’t be narcissistic.

Narcissism is being overly concerned with yourself.
Don’t be obsessed with looking good on social media, taking 70 selfies to get it just right.
1 Peter 3:3–4 ESV
Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.
Being so focussed on how your selfie looks and if it’s as good as other people’s is bad for you health. There are all kinds of studies showing this. The selfie culture is bad for our health, I really believe that. I’m not saying you should never post a selfie, but I think we have to think about what we’re doing.
I read an article on the effects of the selfie culture on WebMD, it was written by Cameren Rogers. She quotes a doctor…
People want to look beautiful. That’s a natural part of living in our society. However, I really do believe that social media is propagating and accentuating these unrealistic expectations of beauty. Dr. Neelam Vashi
We’re told in the Bible to think about others more than we think about ourselves. You need to be honest about what your social media feed or story and your attitude about it might say about how you’re doing there.

10. Don’t forget your identity is in Christ, not in likes.

I really believe that all our misuse of social media, mine, yours, everyone’s, comes from trying to use it to satisfy a need that only Christ can satisfy in us.
We want to be affirmed and accepted by others. We want to be seen, to know we’re not invisible, to know we matter. -Trevin Wax
I can’t imagine what I would’ve been like if Instagram and TikTok were around when I was a teenager...
We long for belonging and approval and to be loved. Trying to build our identity on what people think about us online. But Christian, that’s not who you are.
2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
1 John 3:1 ESV
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Our Creator, the King of the universe, loves us dearly brothers and sisters. That’s what matters.
If you don’t know what it means for your identity to be in Jesus, I would love to talk with you more about that! To share with you the lasting joy that comes from having those longings for acceptance and love met in your Creator!
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