instagram

When did doing what God has called us to do via His word become something that set us apart as some special tier of believer?

This morning I was checking my phone and saw five minutes worth of audio messages on Instagram from one of my dearest friends. In them he shared how he was being put on a pedestal at work (he works at a Christian organization) because he spends time in prayer and Scripture each day.

He was grieved.

Hearing it, I was grieved too.

This dear friend is devoted to Jesus. He is heavily committed to making disciples of Jesus and building the Kingdom of God where he lives. He fasts. He prays. He dives into Scripture. He tells others about Jesus. He disciples.

And because of this, other believers treat him like he’s special. And he doesn’t want to be. Like Paul, he knows that he’s the worst of sinners that Jesus came to save (1 Timothy 1:15). He longs for others to devote themselves to the things of Jesus.

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re seeking to live for Jesus too.

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re like me.

Your love for Jesus fades over time.

You drift away from Him.

And you look around to those who are intimately close to Jesus and see them as special or super.

However, there are not such things as SuperChristians. These men and women around us have simply held fast to Jesus, as the Bible has taught them to do.

In the book of Hebrews, we are called to hold fast to our Savior over and over again. The book of Hebrews is considered by some to be the most overlooked and neglected book of the New Testament (see Adrio Konig’s {what a name. geez.} book on Hebrews: Christ Above All).

Consider this provocative but weirdly enough encouraging verse:

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. – Hebrews 2:1

None of us drift toward Jesus.

That’s not a thing.

All of us drift away from Him.

And this one verse tells us how not to.

Pay attention to what you’ve heard.

Those of you who are followers of Jesus, you’ve heard the gospel. You’ve heard the call to get to work for the Kingdom of God where you live. Are you paying attention to that message? Are you digging into its implications on your life each and every day?

If, like me, sometimes the answer is no, there’s likely one of four things causing you to drift (Michael Kruger’s book Hebrews for You talks about these).

Busyness

I will share first the one that seems the most harmless. What does a schedule full of activities have to do with growing or not growing in our faith? The answer is, a whole lot.

The most dangerous thing in the world to my spiritual growth is my busyness. In this current season of my life, I am working super long days. I’m commuting an hour both ways for work, and due to the nature of student ministry, it has lead to 12-14 hour days over and over again. And unfortunately I’ve fallen hook, line, and sinker into every pitfall of the enemy. Drifting from my Savior day by day. It was only in this study of Hebrews I’m on that I was reoriented. And I can praise God that I started my day today in His word and presence.

2. Suffering

Our suffering causes us to drift. In the face of real and raw pain due to living in a fallen world, we find ourselves pushing God away. It is our knee-jerk response. I don’t know what it is that you are facing at this moment in regard to suffering. I know that we all have our fair share. My prayer for you is that you would cling to Jesus. I don’t have all the answers to all the questions I have regarding my own pains, but I am seeking to cling to Jesus all the same.

3. Opposition

Christians in America in 2022 are facing perhaps for the first time in our lives exactly what the church has historically faced throughout all of time. Opposition. Here’s what happens when we face opposition to the ways of Jesus. We do what is prevalent in our church culture today: we take an us vs. them mentality. We fight. We petition. We vote. We try all we can to take the lead in society.

Or we drift from Jesus because it’s hard.

There’s a better way fyi. Us FOR them. The church should enter into the world with goodness, kindness, and beauty. But that’s for another time.

4. Sin

Lastly, sin. My sin will separate me from intimacy with Jesus. My lustful thoughts. My anger. My fear. My pride. My desire to get the glory. These things will keep me from remaining close to my Lord and Savior.

Brother or sister in Christ, fight the drift. It takes intentionality and focus. It takes us waking up to the fact that we’re further from intimacy with Jesus than we thought we’d be.

Let’s go back to the friend I spoke about at the beginning of this post. I can promise you his heart isn’t that more people were like him in that they read Scripture, prayed, fasted, made disciples and all of this on a daily basis. His heart is that more people experience intimacy with God through these things.

There’s no such thing as SuperChristians.

We’re all the worst of sinners and we’re all in danger of drifting.

But my prayer is that more people would become like my friend. They would encounter God by pursuing God and making much of God.

Cause in the words of Syndrome, “if everyone is super, than nobody is”.

In His Name,

Nate Roach

I’m hesitant to write anything about social media these days because, for the most part, I don’t participate in any of it. But for the sake of transparency, here is my short history of social media.

I’ve been on most major social media platforms since 2006, which is when I got my first Facebook account. I’ve had a few Twitter accounts, a couple Instagram accounts, and I had a mad SnapChat streak going with a friend for over half a calendar year. But as of now, I only have a minimal Facebook page and a LinkedIn. So that’s that.

Now before I move on, I want to say I believe most anything* can be redeemed for the Kingdom of God. I believe our work, our rest, our play, our entertainment, our habits, our hobbies can be used for that sake of loving God and loving others. (*I say “most anything” because I’m not sure how explicitly sinful activities can be redeemed, although I know God can bring about, in a way, redemption out of those activities.)

I want to also lay this foundational assumption of the way everything works. I believe everything, yes, everything, forms us. Everything forms us, molds us, makes us. From morning to night, from night to morning, we are forming and being formed by everything that’s around us. For example, when I make a salad, the salad is forming my body (in a healthy way). But when I make a bowl of ice cream, the ice cream is forming my body (in a, let’s say, different way).

James K.A. Smith’s You Are What You Love is where I stole (acquired) this idea. So if you want to read more about this idea about everything as formative, then buy it and read it for yourself. In fact, it’s so good I would be willing to buy it for you.

OK, so far we determined:

I have used and currently do use social media.
I believe in the ability for Jesus to redeem most anything in creation.
Everything in the world forms us to some end in some way.

Now, let’s talk about two distinct yet related ways that social media forms you. And I am going to use Instagram as a clear example. This is not to raise it higher or drag it lower than any other forms of social media. It’s just a way to make this all more concrete.

Two of the many ways a social media platform like Instagram forms you are: (1) It increases your desire for novelty, and (2) it increases your desire for sensuality.

First, Instagram is intentionally designed to cause you to become addicted to it. This is not-so-subtly because of advertisements. Instagram makes money when it sells ad spaces. Economics lesson over. Everything about the platform is meticulously crafted to usher you into an mindless habit of swiping and tapping and swiping and tapping and swiping and tapping. We become Olympian-like in our ability to swipe and tap so much that we do with ease it while operating an oversized bullet moving at 75 miles per hour.

How? In short, Instagram plays into our biological and neurological essence to trigger positive emotions based on novelty. We desire new pictures. It’s that simple. We want to see something new every time we open the application. If you saw the same picture on the top of your Instagram feed whenever you opened the app, you would be less inclined to open the app.

Second, Instagram as a visual media is particularly designed to play into our natural, sensual desires. OK, Economics lesson again: Sex sells. Economic lesson over. You know it’s true. Just watch literally anything. I mean there are too many examples. You were probably lured into tapping on an advertisement just five minutes ago because of some really good looking guy or gal wearing sunglasses that you can’t tell if they’re taking them off or putting them on. But woh those are some good looking shades.

To be sure, I am not immune to these “ideas” because I’m aware of them. I think studies have shown the opposite can be true in many cases. I might be more inclined to succumb to social media tricks simply because I am aware of what’s going on. To be honest, that’s one of the many reasons I don’t have many social media accounts anymore. It’s simply too enjoyable.

So what does all of this have to do with following Jesus?

Well, I’ll tell you by referencing Matthew 5:27-28:

“You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery. But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. – Matthew 5:27-28

Adultery?

Yes, I’m talking about adultery. Why?

In Russell Moore’s Storm-Tossed Family, he mentions briefly that affairs are often had because of a desire for novelty. Yes, novelty, especially in all things, obviously, sexual.

So, let’s just say novelty does play a large role in affairs. And let’s say based on Jesus’s words that affairs are not just having sex with someone who is not your spouse. Affairs can be in your heart, and they’re not just restricted to married people either. This is some difficult stuff to consider.

But what does this have to do with social media, including Instagram?

It’s this:

Everything forms us. Instagram forms us by engaging, rewarding, and enhancing our innate desires for novelty and sensuality. Desires for novel sensual experiences drive affairs. Therefore, Instagram is forming us to have affairs.

And recall, affairs can be had in your heart whether or not you’re married.

If you are serious about following Jesus, you need to deeply consider what he has to say about how to resist the temptation to sexual sin.

Jesus also says this:

“If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” – Matthew 5:29-30

Please hear me out on this. I am not saying every Jesus follower needs to “cut off their hand,” i.e., delete their social media accounts or toss your smartphone to be recycled properly. I am saying if you claim to follow Jesus, and I pray I’m doing the same thing–if there is a log in my eye in this, please point it out for me–please consider his intense hatred of sexual sin and his command to cut yourself off from anything that might cause you to sin.

Can you use social media, namely Instagram, to bring about redemption? Yes. Certainly, please do that. Please do that for the millions of people on Instagram. Please exemplify Jesus there. Post pictures of Bible verses. Post pictures of you enjoying creation. Post pictures of your small group sharing a meal. Post pictures of you spending time with your spiritual family and biological family. Please. Be light and salt on Instagram.

But I equally beg you to consider if Instagram is worth having if it sends your whole body to hell.

For me, my proclivity to lust and greed and jealousy was too much to have an Instagram. It’s too much for me to watch certain movies and TV shows and YouTube videos. I’m a weaker brother. I really am.

And if you are strong enough to bring about God’s Kingdom online and be a faithful witness, stay on social media. But if you are weak like me in these regards, please delete your account.

Social media is a discipleship issue. It’s a spiritual issue. It’s a life or death issue.

Whatever you choose, I pray your faith would increase ten-fold as you follow Jesus.
– Matt Welborn