๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ -๐จ๐ฃ
โข Tell us about one thing that frustrates you about being online.
โข How does online activity complement face-to-face interaction? What are its limitations?
โข How would you describe social media to a person from the 1800s? Why?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด, ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด: ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ค๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ, ๐ด๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ, ๐ด๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ; 20๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ญ:๐ญ๐ตโ๐ฎ๐ฌ
Social media can be a good thing.
Especially in the last few years, most of us have engaged the outside world from the confines of our homes through our smartphones and computers. To a certain extent, we might even say that social media has kept us sane.
The usefulness of social media is felt not just in our personal interactions with friends, but also in our church life. During the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, the global Church went online all at the same time. Social media enabled us to connect with our discipleship groups in ways that were not possible before.
But whereas social media does so much good to all of us, no one can deny the fact that it also has its share of pitfalls and brokenness. Weโve seen how people use social media to slander, attack, sow panic and fear, spread disinformation, and cancel people and institutions. This is especially true in religious and political discourses. In order to get to the meat of the news, social media users have to wade through the muck of memes, hot takes, outrage, and extreme reactions.
Navigating the dark side of social media is a challenging task for Christians who are called to be salt and light in the world. How do we bear witness to the light of Christ when the social media landscape is too toxic?
๐ญ. ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป.
๐๐ฆ๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ข๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ. ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฐ:๐ฏ๐ญโ๐ฏ๐ฎ
The biggest deficiency of social media communication is disembodiment. The complex person from the other end of the conversation is only represented to us by a small profile picture or avatar. We see the words, we hear the voice, we sometimes see the video, and yet the person is not physically present. The absence of a living, breathing person in front of us sometimes makes us a bit more intense than usual. Because we donโt see the non-verbal cues, we can easily go overboard with our reactions.
Every time we go online, we need to constantly remind ourselves that thereโs a thinking, feeling human being created in the image of God behind that avatar we are responding to. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ, Paul says. The reason we need kindness and tenderheartedness in our online interactions is not to look cool in the comments section, but to give the other person dignity and honor Jesus in the process. What do you think being kind means online?
๐ฎ. ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ.
๐๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด, ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด: ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ค๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ, ๐ด๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ, ๐ด๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ; ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ญ:๐ญ๐ตโ๐ฎ๐ฌ
At one point or another, social media users have all experienced getting into a heated exchange with someone online. Whether the argument happened in a private chat or on a public forum, the emotional expense is the same. The problem is aggravated by the fact that you donโt see the other personโs face or hear the personโs voice and tone. Friendships have been broken because of this. The unfriending and blocking that follow complicate our relationships.
The Bible admonishes us to listen more, speak less, and slow down in our anger. This is something the Internet is not wired to do. A better way to argue your point is to pick up your phone, call that friend, and discuss the matter level-headedly. The best way, of course, is to meet that friend and talk in person. This is not just for the sake of ironing out wrinkles in our relationships. As Christians, we go a step beyond online interactions to finding opportunities to proclaim the gospel of Christ. Social media engagement, after all, is not an end in itself. It is a bridge to preaching the gospel and demonstrating the love of Christ to people who donโt know Him yet.
Why do you think face-to-face interactions matter so much? How have you known this to be true?
๐ฏ. ๐๐๐ธ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: ๐๐ฎ๐ป ๐ ๐ด๐ผ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ต๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ-๐ฏ๐-๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ?
๐๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ. ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ธ, ๐ค๐ช๐ณ๐ค๐ถ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ณ๐ค๐ถ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ฃ๐ข๐ณ๐ฃ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ, ๐๐ค๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ด๐ญ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ, ๐ง๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ; ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ. ๐๐ข๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฏ:๐ตโ๐ญ๐ญ
Online political discussions are never easy. And doubly so if the discourse involves people from church who happen to oppose your political convictions. It is one thing to argue against a stranger online, walk away, and forget about the whole thing; it is an entirely different thing if the other person is a churchmate whom you will probably sit next to at a worship service. Is your affinity in Christ more important than your political allegiances?
The apostle Paul admonished the Colossian believers to adopt a new way of seeing their brothers and sisters in the Lord. The old allegiances, divisions, and social classes now fade in comparison to our new identity in Christ. Political colors, in other words, do not supersede our bond in Jesus because Jesus is Lord over all the things that separate us. How have you grown in your understanding of this?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข How do you think a Christian should engage online? What is one thing you will start, stop, or resume doing? Why?
โข What are some of the challenges and limitations of online activity? How will you give more value to face-to-face interactions?
โข Do you know someone online that you can reach out to and invite to have a conversation this week? How can you point this person to Christ?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for technology that allows us to stay connected. Ask God for wisdom on how to use this well.
โข Pray that your relationships would grow and thrive, even with those you do not agree with. Ask God for grace and humility.
โข Pray for those you interact with online to know Christ and follow Him. Pray you would set a godly example.
Engaging on Social Media
Week 3
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