Social
Networking: All About Jesus or All About Me ?
To date I am proud to say that I have been able to resist
the lure of social networking. While I have an email account and a ‘ low tech’
mobile phone, I have deliberately avoided opening Facebook , Twitter and Linkedin accounts.
Despite my ‘carmudgeonly ’refusal to fully engage with
social networking, its’ rise in recent times has been impressive and its’
effects revolutionary.
Facebook has 1.06 billion monthly active users, 680
million mobile users and more than 42 million pages and 9 million apps. Twitter
has 500 million total users, of whom
more than 200 million are active users.
LinkedIn which enables business and professional users to post their
profile and link to others with similar interests, skills and aspirations has
200 million users.
Undeniably, social networking has been a tremendous force
for good in the world. Information is shared easily and quickly, wealth has
been generated and democracy has been enhanced as witnessed in the ‘Arab
Spring’.
Christians are beginning to realise the potential of
social networking for evangelism and the encouragement and building up of
believers. Prayer networking has taken on new meaning when information is about
a specific crisis or a general prayer need is relayed via Facebook or similar
medium.
So why am I as a born again Christian cautious about
social networking. For me it’s all about being aware of the potential pitfalls
in social media use. After all, the
Bible does tell us that we should guard our hearts and minds and not be
conformed to the world.
Let me offer an example. In Greek mythology, Narcissus
was so captivated by his own image in a pool of water that it became his
undoing. He became totally self-absorbed because he failed to understand and
control the low-tech medium of a reflective pool. Without a clear understanding
of the pitfalls in areas of social networking culture, there is a similar
potential to be stealthily led towards idolatry.
In the late nineteenth century an American visiting
Britain attended a meeting addressed by the greatest preacher of the day called
Joseph Parker. After the meeting a friend asked the American’s opinion of the
preacher. His reply was that he had indeed seen and listened to a great man.
Some weeks later, the American attended a rally addressed by another preacher
called Charles Hadden Spurgeon. Once again his opinion was sought at the
conclusion of the meeting. The American replied that he attended the rally to
hear Spurgeon, but had seen Jesus !
I wonder if Spurgeon was alive today what would his
social networking profile look like............ Would it be all about Spurgeon
or all about Jesus ?
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