YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, WhatsApp, you name it – can alienate you from God if you are not careful on what you do when you participate in these platforms. You must aim at remaining faithful and true to your calling of holiness and righteousness (Hebrews 12:14). There is no time a Christian shouldn’t be holy. What you do on social media is in full view of God and you will give an account about it one day.
Unknowingly and often carelessly, some people have promoted evil, encouraged others to commit sin, blasphemed the name of the Lord, caused commotion, perpetuated division and many other things that are against the will of God on social media. I have often found myself doing the same at some point and I’m grateful to God that His Spirit that guides me shows me my errors without fail. I always make sure that I correct my wrong doing.
I will zero in on four things that a Christian may take for granted while participating on social media yet such things defile that person. Christians are their brother’s keepers and therefore should care not to lead any person astray (Romans 14:13 – 23).
1. Joining groups and liking pages that promote evil
There are groups that are in direct opposition of what the Bible teaches. I know a group from my country that is titled by the word ‘gossip’. A registered Christian on this group is listed in the book of hell because gossip is of the devil. There is another one that is dedicated to expressing hate for the king of Eswatini. I have seen some other groups promoting the worship of other gods. A Christian should not be listed as a member in any of these groups because it is not clean.
On those social medial platforms that allow you to create groups, you also must not create a group that will open doors for others to sin against God. The same applies for pages.
I once created a page called ‘Joyous Celebration Stole my Song’ on Facebook. I honestly believed that this South African music group had stolen a song from another artist because the song was not new but had just been rearranged a little bit. I could have been right but a reader dropped me a comment exhorting me that my page does not glorify God. I realised my mistake and stopped updating the page. That was a long time ago and I now believe that this page is no longer visible on Facebook. This fellow Christian was a true sibling in the Lord.
I encourage you to review each of the groups you have joined and those that you have created to see if they do not conflict you with Christian beliefs. Unregister and delete or if its not possible to delete these groups like the case is with Facebook, stop updating and Facebook will eventually remove the group as it normally happens with inactive groups.
2. Comments that promote evil
What you pass on as a comment on social media matters because your comment could lead someone astray. Your call as a Christian is to comfort, show love, respect, give godly direction, exhort and give genuine responses and opinions without any ulterior motives. I have seen discouraging and insensitive comments on social media. A case that comes to mind is one where someone was selling a dog for a very high price. I also passed on a funny comment that I today realise was not good to have come from me as a Christian. A Christian should not do that.
3. Uncensored photos
Pictures are a good and easy tool for passing on messages to people today. This is easier done through social media. Sadly, evil trade and soul defiling photos are shared through social media. I have noticed that a social media profile photo has a lot to define the person’s way of life, motives and relationship with God. The same applies with shared photos. On Facebook, I have removed so many people suggested to me by the platform because of immodest profile pictures. I do this to avoid getting into temptation. Often when you try to follow these people, you discover that they are not good for a Christian to befriend, they would make bad friends.
4. Blasphemous videos
The devil disguises himself in comedy, adult videos, event clips, hidden camera clips, and many more videos that do not glorify God. It does not matter the purpose why people share the videos but a Christian should stay away from videos that are unclean and uncensored. Sometimes you open a video without knowing what it shows, your most appropriate action is to stop playing it as soon as you observe that it is unclean and delete it. Do not share it because if you do, you are promoting evil.
I once learnt that scary movies cause trouble to the soul. I got this from a free ebook by Howard Pittman titled “Placebo’. I would encourage you to read this book or watch the YouTube video where someone narrates it.
God takes it to a higher level
God’s judgement is very strict. Did you know that laughing when some one is sharing a lie defiles your soul? God takes every action or expression we make seriously. I got to learn about this from Abraham Yakubu’s sermons when he teaching on God’ judgement. Similarly, if you search and enjoy reading any of the listed forms of participation on social media, even if you do not join or pass on comments, you have defiled your soul. Never take for granted what you do on social media.
Take time to reflect on how you participate and seek God’s guidance on how you can clear yourself from this. Keep God at the centre of all that you do, including your participation on social media. Remember, “in all your ways, acknowledge Him”.
Be blessed.
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