Social media has allowed us to keep in touch with friends and family across the globe, discover new information and meet people with similar interests. But at what price? Let us safeguard our souls while navigating this virtual world.
Social media has unquestionably transformed the way we behave. While some of these changes have been for the better, many have been for the worse. As Tim Challies poignantly writes in The Next Story:
Today, in our digital world, we spend much of our lives beyond Gibraltar, beyond accountability through visibility, able to say and do and look at and enjoy whatever our hearts desire. Yet for all the freedom it brings us, it can also bring us captivity. [1]
Recognising that we are in the midst of active spiritual warfare, Christians ought to be particularly aware of the dangers that social media poses to our souls.
Here are three key realities Christians ought to consider when using social media:
1. Social Media: The Gateway to Pornography
Pornography used to be something you had to intentionally go out to find. Whether it was enduring the humiliation of purchasing a magazine from the newsagency, or the shame of renting an X-rated movie from the video store, porn was not accessible by today’s standards.
But things have drastically changed. Pornography is now something you must intentionally go out of your way to avoid. As the Daily Mail recently reported, TikTok’s algorithms actively promote sexual content, drugs, and alcohol to users. Similarly, a large proportion of videos distributed via Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram’s newsfeeds contain soft pornography.
Social media has become an acceptable alternative to access pornography.
If this rings true for you, consider Jesus’ words in Mark 9:46:
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter life crippled
than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.
