Christians be warned! You will not stand before the Almighty God on that dreaded day of judgment and say, ‘ it was just on Facebook, God!” Social media, including Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter just but to mention a few, can ruin your faith in a big way! The bible says, money is the root of all evils, today we have another one: social media! Nowadays you do not have to walk to Koinange street to get a prostitute, you just need a Facebook account!
This begs the question: What exactly are we doing on social media? What began as a way to meet and exchange with family and friends has now turned out to be the platform to spew tribal vendetta, wreck marriages and relationships, propagate seeds of prostitution, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies and , extol celebrities as gods and goddesses among other social ills which have no place among a people who profess the faith of Jesus!
Social media has gotten so much into heads and lives to the point that it is the first thing we do when we wake up and the last thing we do when we fall asleep! I may forget to wake up and thank God for enabling me see another day but will not forget to check statuses full of crap on Facebook walls! What is more, we even identify ourselves with such ills, we like them and even comment on them approving of such behavior! While social media can be of value like reading updates from evangelists and men of God which edify our souls and strengthen us as Christians , much of the content, maybe upwards of 90%, do not add value to our lives at all!
Let us do a deeper analysis of social media through the lens of some of the Ten Commandments!
1. You shall have no other gods before me.
It is not a surprise that pages belonging to political figures, celebrities and other cultural and social icons have the highest number of likes and followers compared to Christian ministers and organizations! The likes are in millions! What does that one tell you? People want to know more about the progress of pregnancy of a celeb than hear the word of God from an anointed man of God! We have extolled these figures on social media to the point that what they say is the norm, and we like, comment on their statuses and share in approval! It doesn’t matter how wrong it might, but it matters so much because what they say is what we also seek to emulate in our lives! We simply worship them, and read more about them than we can read the bible! It is no longer what God says! You have broken the commandment!
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above,or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them
This commandment is tied to the first one! You may not need kneaded clay soil to curve an image in the likeness of Christ , but by your mouse, you have put images of celebrities on your walls, profiles and cover images symbolizing how much you adore and cherish them. Why? Because they are cool! What is more? You worship them as if they are gods, and you admire them, even if they post nude photos! Or it is just FB? You have broken the commandment!
3. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
How many of us do scroll FB pages and Twitter while in Church? Instead of worshipping, we are so busy with our phones! What are we reading and looking at? Gossip, posts that fuel tribal animosity, sexually explicit photos, statements laced with rage, revenge, and the like. Even if we are looking at words of encouragements on social media on days of worship, let us do so in the right time, not when we are in the presence of God! God wants undivided worship before His presence, but the devil comes to steal, destroy and kill (John 10:10) You have broken the commandment!
4. Honour thy father and thy mother:
Some of us have dishonored about parents through social media. And we stink terribly here! Because a ‘certain model’ did not approve of his father’s absence or mistreatments when they were young, we have also gone ahead to hate parents who were absent or did us wrong during our upbringing! Where did you read that? Certainly, not in the bible! You have dishonored your parents! God has commanded us to forgive! Forgive 70 times 7 times (Matthew 18:21-22). You have broken the commandment!
5. Thou shalt not kill.
You may not have thrown stones or wielded pangas during the 2007/2008 post-election violence, or Lamu killings, but you have done more damage through your reckless and tribally-inclined post s on your wall! Instead of preaching peace, you have sowed discord and caused more mayhem among the warring factions. You may not be on the battlefront, but your posts have given impetus to those who are/were involved in senseless killings! On that day, you shall not arise in judgment and say, it was just a post! You need to repent! You have broken the commandment!
6. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Social media has opened a conduit for demise of so many marriages. Why are you staring at those sexually-explicit photos? Matthew 5:28 “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart”. Some marriage beds have been wrecked big time immediately a partner has found out that the other party is exchanging with some other person on social media! Do not fool us, not even God can be fooled either! You are liking the photos and status of that woman or man and commending on them but with an evil and adulterous mind! First, it starts with a simple ‘ you look pretty’ or ‘ Hi’! You have even gone ahead to send him or her illicit messages, expressing interest in her ‘ fundamentals’ . And you have not stopped at that, you have even arranged and met on the back or your loving wife or husband! How comes you never let your partner get hold of your phone? Slowly, you are drifting away from your marital bed! 1 Corinthians 6:9 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality”. You have broken the commandment!
7. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
Covetousness is all the social media! Men and women have fallen to the trap of schemers online who plot to have share of other people’s hard earned property. Men and women are in search of those who have it, they entice them with nice messages and soon or later, even sleep with them. It is interesting to learn how many lives and marriages have been brought to a halt because of social media. Perhaps next time be careful not to post so much about yourself, you may not know the trap that is awaiting you!
If indeed no student has ever passed an exam being on Facebook, and no ailing marriage has ever been salvaged through Facebook, and no dispute has ever been resolved on facebook, can social media be of any value? Yes! It all depends on how , when and what you do on social media! Use social media to reach out to others with your faith in Christ, share the hope of salvation and the coming of the son of man! And preach to those who sow seeds of corruption on social media, do not be influenced by them, but rather influence them for the cause of Christ! If used well, social media can be a very ideal platform to reach out to the unsaved. But if you are in weak in faith, easily swayed and unstable in faith, then social media will bury your faith and you might be shocked to find that your condition will continue to worsen every day! Next time you have an issue in your relationship or disagreement with someone seeks better avenues to resolve it amicably than washing your dirty linen on social media. Follow pages and figures that build your faith! If a brother or a sister keeps spewing bile on their walls, simply ‘unfriend’ or ‘unfollow’ them, that is, if you can’t manage to influence them with the good news of Christ! Why should they cause you to stumble in your faith? Christ has died, the sacrifice has been offered, let us live holy lives, for He is coming for a holy people! Next time before you press “Share”, read it and think again! Remember, the Judge is at the door, and He is recording everything!
Let the peace of God that transcends all human understand be upon you! Shalom!
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