𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠-𝗨𝗣
• Tell us about one thing that frustrates you about being online.
• How does online activity complement face-to-face interaction? What are its limitations?
• How would you describe social media to a person from the 1800s? Why?


𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗
𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴: 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬, 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳; 20𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥. 𝗝𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗦 𝟭:𝟭𝟵–𝟮𝟬

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. We’ve 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?

𝟭. 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻.
𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘉𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘴 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝗘𝗣𝗛𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝟰:𝟯𝟭–𝟯𝟮

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 don’t 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 there’s a thinking, feeling human being created in the image of God behind that avatar we are responding to. 𝘉𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥, 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?

𝟮. 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲.
𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴: 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬, 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳; 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥. 𝗝𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗦 𝟭:𝟭𝟵–𝟮𝟬

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 don’t see the other person’s face or hear the person’s 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 don’t know Him yet.

Why do you think face-to-face interactions matter so much? How have you known this to be true?

𝟯. 𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲-𝗯𝘆-𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮?
𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳. 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘦𝘸, 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯, 𝘚𝘤𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘢𝘯, 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘦, 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦; 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝟯:𝟵–𝟭𝟭

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?


𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡
• How do you think a Christian should engage online? What is one thing you will start, stop, or resume doing? Why?
• What are some of the challenges and limitations of online activity? How will you give more value to face-to-face interactions?
• 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?


𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥
• Thank God for technology that allows us to stay connected. Ask God for wisdom on how to use this well.
• Pray that your relationships would grow and thrive, even with those you do not agree with. Ask God for grace and humility.
• Pray for those you interact with online to know Christ and follow Him. Pray you would set a godly example.