Self-Control or Out-of-Control?

Networking Disciples, part 5

Wine. Food. Sex. Work. Rest. Leisure. Social Networks. What do they all have in common?

All are gifts from God. And all find their purpose for good when enjoyed with self-control. Think of the labels we have for these things when the self is not in control. Drunkenness. Gluttony. Sexual immorality. Workaholism. Laziness. Self-indulgence. And, the new kid on the block – Textication (OK, I just made that up…).

You’ll never find a Bible verse condemning Facebook. But you will find plenty of principles encouraging self-control in all things. That includes social networking. Just as gamblers have been known to leave their little ones in car seats as they feed their addiction inside the casino, so those who have trembling thumbs and minds if they’re not checking their messages every 30 seconds have a problem. Too much is too much.

A friend memorably once told me, before the proliferation of all these digital tools, that the phone was his servant, not his master. When it rang, he could choose to answer it, or not, if something more important was taking place. Yet, when the phone rings, don’t we feel this compulsion to answer? We tend to think that an incoming phone call or text message or request to connect is a compelling call to immediate action. It is not. We are to be in control of our time and attention, not a thousand others who might be pinging us.

Social networks can be like a subtle, incessant, digital prison, sucking our attention into its vortex. We should use them, but not surrender to them. Christ came to set us free. Even from good things.

The high calling of God is to bring everything under His control, and to live out all spheres of life in a way that honors Him. If we cannot sit in front of a computer without wandering over to questionable sites and images, then we need to grow in self-control. If we cannot have a drink with friends without consistently sliding into a state of drunkenness, then we need to grow in self-control. And if we cannot appropriately shut off and on our social networks to attend to God-given responsibilities, then we need to grow in self-control. And, at times, self-control may involve periods and levels of complete self-denial.

We need to be the master of our clicks.

And while we’re discussing what our eyes take in on social networks, let’s talk about profile shopping. You know what I mean. Clicking on a link to some attractive face, then “innocently” rummaging around through on-line pictures, secretly indulging romantic or sexual fantasies. It’s just being friends, we tell ourselves. It’s building a diverse network, we say in self-justification. Get real – often, it’s nothing other than mental masturbation, and the real test of self-control is when you purposefully avoid occasions of temptation even when no-one else is looking. Because God is looking – right to the depths of the motives of the heart. He is to be first and foremost, not people or things or selfish desires.

It might be acceptable in geek circles to be joined at the hand with your smartphone, obsessively connected to others and their bits and bytes. But Jesus Christ calls us to a much higher standard. We are not to be obsessively connected to any lesser entity than Himself. Being conformed to this world involves going with the flow of whatever a bunch of people deem acceptable, even if it “owns” you. That’s the opposite of being His disciple.

You’ll learn to master your desires. Or, they’ll master you. Long before there were computers, the core issue has always been the same.

Social networks have their place, and it may be a bigger or smaller place for you and for me. If other people are hinting (or outright telling you) that you are losing control, then listen. They’re probably right, and they want you back!

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Networking Disciples – with Purpose

Why be involved with social networking?

Only you can answer that question. But you do need to answer it. God holds us accountable for all of our decisions and actions. If you’re going to invest precious time and energy into networking with others (live or on-line), then you need a clear answer to the Why? question.

For some, it is a legitimate social outlet – the modern-day equivalent of the backyard fence. Keeping up socially has never been easier, and the ability to upload pictures and videos and make real-time comments is truly gratifying. Social networks are great for stitching together extended families that may be scattered across many states and countries (I was just talking this morning with a couple who got on Skype with parents half-way around the world – literally – on the day of their little daughter’s first steps). And as long it is not interfering with other responsibilities, and isn’t being used in an excessive or addictive fashion, or regularly leading into patterns of sin – there’s a lot to like about social networking.

For others, it can be a form of ministry outreach. Establishing relationships, communicating the gospel, building bridges with a variety of people – social networks are very useful to both individuals and church communities for touching others.

For others (myself included), digital networks are also a legitimate and highly useful business platform. Creating person-to-person networks can lead to tremendous influence and open up whole new realms of opportunity, collaboration, and business growth. People in these categories may be power users of on-line platforms, whose time and effort spent in social networks would be wholly inappropriate for others.

For Christians, it may be one or more of the above, simultaneously. It’s important to remember that the purposes we may have for social network involvement are really little different from purposes we’ve always had for whatever we do.

One danger for Christian believers is to take a good purpose (say, sharing Christ’s love and truth in the gospel) and abusing the social platform such that the exact opposite of the desired effect is achieved. For instance, it is easy to hide behind an anonymous identity on-line and shout out the truth with a condemning voice. But would that behavior be welcome if you were in a costume at a shopping center parking lot, screaming into peoples’ ears through a megaphone? Yes, social networks are an incredible means of mass communication – but you can easily communicate that you are an incredible mass of stupid, to a whole lot of people!

Another purpose that has to be carefully watched is the accumulation of on-line influence. Such influence can be a very good thing – if you provide valuable information, helpful encouragement, wise perspectives, and enjoyable banter, you will gain followers (and thus, some level of influence) on-line. There are some very influential and servant-hearted folks active on social networks. But some people are ego-handcuffed to their social media numbers, and, like a couple of notorious apostles, want for themselves positions of honor. None of us will ever be pure from mixed motives, but if you’re far more concerned with what your social audience thinks than what your Savior and Lord thinks…you need to repent more than you need to retweet.

Why be involved? Only you can answer that. Just like with everything else, make sure you have reasons that you can bring before God without shame.

(You may have noticed that there is a picture of a marmot in this post. It has no purpose whatsoever.)

See the earlier posts in this series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

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Networking Disciples – The Minus Side

People can – and will – ruin anything.

Many have an aversion to social networking because of the bad behaviors that can be found on-line. It’s important to remember that bad behaviors will be found everywhere, and that the human heart remains the fountain of trouble whether in the 1^st or the 21^st century. Nonetheless, there are peculiar problems inherent in a digitally-networked environment.

There can be the triumph of trivia. Just as there is meaningless babble in more traditional forms of communication (tabloids, TV, radio, etc), so there is plenty in social networks – multiplied and magnified. The ease with which empty nonsense can be generated and spread means that a tidal wave of triviality can easily overwhelm people. There’s a 24/7 stream of noise, and many are losing the ability to pull back and quietly reflect.

The answer to this is diligent selection and filtering, but still – at times it can be like trying to walk through Manhattan in the midst of a month-long sanitation worker strike. The garbage is everywhere, and you keep having to walk around it!

For Christians seeking to walk in a good conscience (and backsliders not seeking to walk in a good conscience), there is easy access to immorality via digital networks. Pornography is one click away at all times, and it doesn’t try to hide. For those unhappy in their marriages, access to old girlfriends/boyfriends can be one Google or Facebook search away. For the inwardly lonely, other people can seem really enticing behind their on-line avatar and persona, and before you know it, you’re committing adultery in your heart, with your text messages, and then in some motel room. Followers of Christ are not immune to this temptation, and falling into it has never had a lower barrier to entry.

Another downside is the potential time drain of social networks. Fifteen minutes of light browsing can easily turn into two hours of blog-reading, Twitter-exchanges, and Facebook messages that ultimately count for nothing of value, but leave other important tasks undone. Many Christians have defiled consciences about on-line networking, not because of overt sin indulged, but because of a time suck that amounts to addiction.

The addictive allure of social networking can also be manifested by smartphone intrusion. When you can’t even eat dinner with your family without responding to 5 text messages and a couple of Tweets on your iPhone, this creates relational issues. You have now set up a competition between your network and your circle of face-to-face friends and family, and guess who loses? Everybody. We’ve actually now set up some daily screen-free times in our family to deal with this issue, and it’s not just because of the overly-networked kids (ahem!)

Finally, there is digitally documented and magnified stupidity. A ruined reputation can be one posted picture away. Gossip spread on-line can destroy another person’s good name at lightning speed, even if it’s not true. Christians can say something unwise in a chat or a tweet or a blog, and by the time you shake your head awake and try to retract it, Google has immortalized your folly. Social networks are good for the transparently wise, but really bad for the transparently foolish.

The key thing to remember is: social networking is optional. Breathing is not optional, but tweeting is. Lots of involvement in digital social networking won’t be beneficial for everyone, and not everyone will benefit at the same degree of involvement. Jesus makes it clear that repentance and faith are not optional. Walking close to Him daily in a good conscience is not optional. Facebook is optional. A big Twitter network and an active Facebook wall are not passports to heaven, though they may be means to help you and others arrive safely. But they can also be handrails on the path to perdition.

If the minuses overwhelm any pluses for you, pitch it overboard. There are more important things in life than an on-line network. Better to enter heaven without a high Klout (social network influencer measure) score, than compromise your soul to be kind-of-a-big-deal-on-Twitter.

What are your thoughts on the minuses? Feel free to add your insights in the comments!

See Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.

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Networking Disciples – The Plus Side

Whenever a new technology breaks onto the scene, there is a human tendency toward one of two knee-jerk reactions – naïve acceptance, or fear-driven rejection.

It’s never that simple. God calls His people to wisdom and discernment – regarding the potential danger of any given thing, AND the potential opportunity it might represent.

Digital social networks are enabling something quite amazing in our time – breaking down barriers of time, geography, circumstance, and ideology, and allowing people to communicate with one another directly. There is a huge plus side to all this.

The Apostle Paul had to send hand-written letters over long journeys by human messengers. Our church can interact real-time with its overseas missionaries via video Skype. When I was in college, I wrote letters home via the U.S. Postal Service. Now, I can communicate with my Marine son, wherever he is deployed, via text message and other digital means.

There’s one highly overused word for this. Awesome! (don’t like that word? OK, just swap in Fabulous).

God is a fabulously talented Creator. As a race, we daily unpeel the onion of this world to find more and more embedded genius, and though many attribute these marvels to an impersonal evolutionary process, we understand that all genius is God’s genius. And when very smart people reflect the image of God by creating new digital means of connecting and communicating, this is a gift to us from our Creator, even if the people-creators don’t acknowledge their role as God’s instruments.

Facebook has enabled me to re-connect with dear Christian brothers and sisters from the past – and not merely for the sake of idle connection, but for ministry and fellowship along the rocky path of life.

Interacting with a wide variety of people on Twitter has opened up dozens of new friendships, collaborative business partnerships, and even one rescue of a badly-injured biker lost in the woods.

Using my iPhone, I can now upload pictures on-line and videos to YouTube with hardly a thought, which has energized whole new areas of creativity and self-expression. I can publish musings on one of my blogs and touch others that I didn’t even know were reading it.

Christian mothers can work from home, on their own schedule, due to the productivity enabled by digital networks. This will be the future of work for many – as it is for me.

Connection, conversation, collaboration – the walls have come down and people can share freely. Even those who have been let down by horrible service can have an outsized voice, as many corporations have found out to their chagrin (hello, United Airlines!). You can’t get away with much anymore, because every person with a phone can be a reporter. This reflects something of the character of God, who brings deeds of darkness out into the light. I rejoice every time business or political hypocrisy is brought to the surface via digital means. Social networks, as they currently stand, are a bulwark of freedom.

And believers can gather around any number of virtual campfires, find and fellowship with one another, and create new opportunities for grace and learning and ministry. There’s a lot to like when disciples network!

See Part 1 of this series (the above is part 2)

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Networking Disciples

(I’ve thought long and hard about how Christians fit into the digital networking world, and have been navigating those waters myself for years now. It’s a rapidly evolving area and “the rules” seem to be written on the fly, but there are certain core principles that should guide a follower of Christ in all interactions, including social networking. This brief series is a humble attempt to sketch out a high-level view of the landscape, with one foot planted on eternal truth, and the other trying to keep pace with the fast-moving world of networked communications. -Steve Woodruff)

Digital networks are a given. We now have a breathtaking ability to communicate globally, with very few barriers; and, barring some unforeseen disaster, we’re not going back to the analog days.

As with all areas of progress through the centuries, this is a two-sided coin. There is a great blessing in digitally-fueled networked communications, and there is potential danger. Christians should never be naïve about areas of technological progress, painting them in shades of only black and white, good and evil. The black, the white, and all the grey in between stem from the human heart – the way we use the tools and platforms around us.

Social networks have been a cause of grief to many, leading to broken marriages, defiled hearts, and the ticking away of time frittered away in trivialities. However, the ability to easily connect and share over networks has led to richer fellowship, one-to-one ministry, and unparalleled opportunities for godly self-expression.

A budding Christian artist can find an audience via blogs and YouTube. Brothers and sisters in Christ can renew long-neglected bonds and share life together via platforms like Facebook. Unbelievers can gain a far more holistic and “human” view of believers as they share life via Twitter.

It’s an easy cop-out to blame TV, movies, or the Internet for any ascendancy of sin. And while there may be areas of blame we can assign to these vehicles as far as societal corruption, we have only ourselves to blame when we participate in darkness.

And we have only ourselves to blame if we ignore the opportunity to serve Christ through all of the means He has given us.

So, we have a choice. Eschew all progress and move in with the Amish. Or learn to deal with the hand we’ve been dealt, and redeem these powerful networks with the power of God’s grace and truth.

This series of posts (this is part 1, or the Intro, I guess!) is written for all those in the latter camp, who, like me, are on a not-so-risk-free journey to live in this present world, without being conformed to it. We might wish to return to Little House on the Prairie, when life was (purportedly) simpler. But God has put us here, now.

So let’s figure it out. Together. What issues would you like to be sure we cover? (add your Comments)

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