Social Media Probs

Zach Vertz

Let me be upfront ahead of time. To some individuals some of this stuff I am about to say might step on a few toes and to some none of this will be applicable to your life. But for the ones it does touch I hope it opens up your eyes. The more I live in this social media saturated generation and became increasingly more aware of some of its negative effects on our generation, the more convicted I became and realized it needs to be addressed.

Let's admit it. Our generation is hooked on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, Vine, and my personal favorite, MySpace (ahhhh, yeahhh! don't judge me! #hatersgannahate). But do you ever find yourself caught up on social media? Let's be honest. Do you? If I were to be honest, I have. I've found in my life that I could spend hours on end each day behind the screen of my phone checking social media, liking this, posting that, but afterwards I always get that feeling of, “Oh my gosh, I just wasted so much time!” Social media may not be a negative thing in and of itself, however, there are some real dangers associated with it that I believe we should all become more aware of. The first thing the Lord showed me was that it was consuming way too much of my time and therefore robbed me of my affections for Christ. It took my focus off God and put my focus on me. It made me seek the approval of man rather than God.

Some Social Media Probs our generation is consumed with crack me up but at the very same time are very concerning. To begin, some of you all have 1659 followers and 20 likes on each photo (meaning you’ve followed a bunch of random people who don’t “like” any of your pictures). Or you have 1232 followers but you don’t know 1200 of them. Or when people have to unfollow so many people to have the perfect ratio of followers to following, 2274/83 (cause that means your cool and popular). The best is when people buy followers (yes you can do that). We are becoming preoccupied with our image and what people think about us. We spend so much time prettying up our profile, taking the “perfect picture” of our food or coffee and then editing it with the perfect filter, and then on top of all that trying to think of a clever comment or hash tag to use. For what? A like? A follow? To exemplify that “perfect moment” in our “not so perfect” lives? What has our generation come to? Seeking the approval of our friends, or for that matter, strangers through a social site can become so stressful. People wake up! Let's change the world for the Kingdom. Something of real value! Sadly so many of us, me included, are too busy seeking the world’s approval over and above the only approval that actually matters, God’s.

READ Galatians 1:10  & Hebrews 12:1

That feeling needing approval is only found in Jesus Christ and Him alone. If you truly want to fill that emptiness it starts with living to please God. Not man. Once Christ becomes first, the joy of your salvation will return to you. Less time on social media and more time with Jesus the happier you’ll be! Try it today. Just see! Whose approval do YOU truly long for? The approval of man or of God?  I challenge you to make it a priority before ever getting your day started instead of checking how many likes you got on that photo to put God first and seek his approval and make time with the Lord first. The same goes at night before bed. God wants your full attention! Will you listen?