Yeah… I’m back on Facebook.
This past April, I made a commitment to stay away from social media for the entirety of 2017. I made it clear that social media is amoral – neither good nor bad. Unfortunately, I have noticed the ways in which I use social media as a means to brag about my accomplishments and bolster my pride.
So why the heck am I back on it? Honestly, I have one big reason:
It is where the people are!
The vision God has given me for my life is to help people follow Jesus. One of the best ways to do this is by have a presence where people are – namely, social media. I began using social media again roughly a month ago in order to invite people to an outdoor service my church was putting on. It was through these invitations that I saw numerous first time guests come through our doors.
Nevertheless, all my concerns regarding my use of social media were valid:
- The human heart tends to worship self, not God. This is aggravated through each person having a personal page that can exalt them to celebrity-like status.
- The primary reason I engaged in social media was to elevate my status in the eyes of others.
- I believe the personal platform building done by many Christian leaders is a smokescreen for pride.
I fully believe I heard God when I decided to not use social media. Where I may have misheard Him is in the length of time. It seemed that he was leading me to reset my use for a period of time and be attentive to the effects it can have on my life.
So how long & how often will I use social media? I’m not entirely sure. My goal for now is to only post things that elevate those outside of me (local churches, businesses, other people) in an effort to consider other people as more important than myself (Philippians 2:3).
Who knows? Maybe I will write another “Goodbye Facebook” post in a few months!
Tyler Ramsbey 