When Being Social Goes Wrong

Written by Elaine Hall

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”

Mark 8:36

On the way to church one Sunday morning, a K-Love Christian radio DeeJay said his Bible study group had discussed the link between an unhealthy obsession with social media and how it could prevent a person's name from being written in the Lamb's Book of Life. The DeeJay mentioned the connection, but I wondered how the platform could ensnare awareness to a degree that it overshadowed everything else. 

Many websites and applications – (e.g.) Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, etc. – draw attention to certain people's opinions. “Influencers” strive to persuade viewers that their product will make them healthy, wealthy, or wise. The frequent posts and promises that gain the most likes, the most shares, the most comments, and the most followers can provide that elusive fifteen minutes of fame and possible financial rewards. Social influencers aim to make their names as recognized as their best-selling items.

There's nothing evil about checking in or being active on social media. As a tool, it enables communication and interaction. I love discovering profound quotes (I collect them), appreciating an artist's stunning paintings (I want to learn) or reading a joke that makes me laugh out loud (I share it with others). Facebook is also where I can stream church services I'm unable to attend in person, where I've seen posts about the loss of a friend's loved one that I might otherwise have never known about, or learn simple tricks that save me time.

Yet one walks a fine line between posting a video on TikTok or a photo on Instagram and social media addiction. When it becomes the latter, all that is valuable can suffer. Studies show when users feel compelled to constantly stay online, it can negatively impact mental health with resulting anxiety and depression. Younger viewers especially experience less face-to-face interaction, cyberbullying, privacy invasion, low self-esteem and body image issues. 

If you're already struggling to keep up with family, friends, a job or school, are you also neglecting the most important Person? Have you stopped carving out time for God, learning from Him, listening to Him? 

How does one go from a small side hustle to an all-consuming fixation? A little at a time like the frog in a pot. As the heat rises and the water comes to a boil, the frog becomes sleepy and is unaware of his dire straits until it's too late.

The Creator of the universe must have believed our relationship with Him to be significant since He listed this commandment first: “Thou shall have no other gods before me.” An idol is, “Anything that takes the place of God as the primary focus of worship, whether a physical object or heart-centered obsession” that can also include the desire for wealth, power, or self-centered ambitions; whatever replaces God as the ultimate source of trust, faithfulness and hope.

Exodus 34:14 finishes that commandment in part, “...for the Lord...is a jealous God”. The term “jealous” is not to be compared to a jilted husband or wife who seeks revenge for a spouse's wrongdoing. God requires our exclusive dedication, which He makes clear in the passion of His pledge to protect the bond between Himself and His people. You are His workmanship, unique as your fingerprints, and He cares for you far beyond the human boundaries of love.

Billy Graham once defined the Book of Life as: “God's record of all those...who have entrusted Christ as their Savior and have followed...Him as Lord.” We also have Jesus' promise in Revelations 3:5: “I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and His angels.” 

Father and Son see you; you belong to them. Don't allow an idol to separate you from the place where you want to spend eternity.