If you, as a believer, truly believe what Joseph said in Genesis 50:20 (NIV), “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives,” then do not give up on social media. Hear that again: Do not give up on social media! As believers, we need to be the good on social media that we want to see.
Did you know that “the Facebook” came out of a platform called FaceSmash? FaceSmash initially allowed college co-eds to rate the attractiveness of other college co-eds. This definitely was not meant for good.
No one should want to shame another. However, Facebook evolved out of this, as Mark Zuckerberg originally wanted a way for college co-eds to interact with one another on a digital platform. As Facebook grew, it became a place where people could connect and share.
As it has evolved over the years, it has changed in so many ways. However, even if there is less-than-ideal stuff on social media, believers do not have to follow that crowd.
If you are exasperated and think that all Christians are being blocked or cancelled on social media, don’t fall into this belief. Social media can be bad, but it can also be used for good to save the lives of others. If you are a Christian, make sure that what you are posting is Christlike. Proverbs 18:21 says this, “The tongue has the power of life and death.” This isn’t just referring to the spoken word anymore; for people today, it also refers to the typed word. Speak life into people. If you don’t have anything nice to type, just don’t post it!
I recently spoke to Crystal Buck, the owner of a small business, about how social media birthed and is expanding her business reach. She has even been given an opportunity by Facebook to be on a team of small business owners in the digital space.
She doesn’t hide her Christian faith. Her testimony reminds us that there is space, and a great need, for positive-speaking Christian men and women to be the good on social media. {eoa}
Erin Olson is the founder of Sandalfeet Ministries, a digital platform to encourage, equip and evangelize through blogs, articles, books, biblical resources and her podcast, The Depot Podcast with Erin Olson. She is a wife and a mom to three children, and currently resides in Birmingham, Alabama. You can find out more about Erin by visiting her website: sandalfeet.org.
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