Social media — We love it. We hate it. We love to hate it. We lament over what it has done to our minds, our time, our habits.

But, for this period in history, it’s intrinsically woven into many of our lives.

Never before have regular folks had such ubiquitous opportunities to build platforms where we can position ourselves as “influencers.”

There seems to be a race to establish ourselves as we convert curated snippets of our lives into posts that might resonate with worldwide audiences.

As someone who actively participates on social media, I grapple with the dilemma: Am I doing this to have my own name in the spotlight or to magnify the name of God?

I’m not suggesting that building an audience automatically detracts from our desire to bring glory to God. But if the goal of growing our platforms fills our vision entirely, overhauling God Himself, we may have slipped into self-glorifying sin.

Our situation is similar to how David in the Old Testament revelled in his own achievements when he took a census of the men who could fight in his army.

In 2 Samuel 24:2, David tells Joab, the commander of his army, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people. Then I will know how many there are.”

David wasted valuable time — nine months and twenty days — just to find out there were close to one million men who could wage war if needed (2 Samuel 24: 9)

David used his resources to prove that he had made it. In the online world, he would be deemed an “influencer” with over one million followers and counting.

Today, culture tells us that our worth is found in establishing our platforms. But when we pursue our idols of self-worth through our hustle for stage and spotlight, we conclude that what Christ has done for us is not enough.

This leaves us with the question: How can we lift up God’s name (and not our own) while also staying relevant on social media?

While this is not a comprehensive plan, here are some suggestions:

• Constantly examine our hearts

In the incident where David commands a census, Joab is unhappy about his king’s decision and asks a pertinent question: “But why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” (2 Samuel 24: 3)

“But why..?”— That’s a relevant question for us today. We ought to examine our motives and ask ourselves – “Why? Why would you and I “delight in this thing” called platform?”

When this same incident is related in 1 Chronicles 21, David finally understands the folly of his ways. When we allow God to examine our hearts, He can reveal the self-centeredness of our ambitions and bring us to a place of brokenness over our sin of bowing to the idol of approval.

• Hit pause on social media

If logging off social media for a couple of weeks feels like it will signal the end of the world, that may be an indicator of where our treasure lies. As Tim Keller in his book Counterfeit Gods says, “When anything in life is an absolute requirement for your happiness and self-worth, it is essentially an ‘idol,’ something you are actually worshipping.”

• Trust God to establish the work of our hands

There’s a clear distinction between doing the work and gaining recognition for the work. Moses in Psalm 90:17 prays: “May the favour of God rest upon us. Establish the work of our hands for us. Establish the work of our hands.”

We are called to work for the glory of God (Colossians 3: 23-24). But God does the establishing for us. Even if our platforms never become “noteworthy,” we can trust God to use the gifts He has invested in us for His glory.

• Let God impress on our hearts the beauty of the ordinary

In a world of bright lights and big stages, let’s be a people set apart. As Paul instructs the Thessalonians, let’s “aspire to live quietly.” (1 Thessalonians 4: 11)

We need to withdraw to a quiet place like Jesus did (Luke 5: 16) and consistently drink from God’s Word away from the spotlight before we can pour out.

• Delight in the Lord

We can overcome the compulsion to make a “name for ourselves” when we truly delight in Jesus. Like David may we be able to say: “One thing have I asked of the Lord; that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27: 4)

When we fall to our knees and know Jesus as our chief delight and greatest satisfaction then we won’t look for significance in the idol of approval and our platform won’t become a pitfall.

 

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A version of this article first appeared on the site Indiaanya

Photo by Joshua Hanson on Unsplash