Introduction

“Should Christians be on social media?” is a very different question from “Should I be on social media?” In framing these questions there are two common mistakes. One mistake is when the former question commands the attention of the multitudes while the latter question passes unnoticed. Another mistake is to conflate the two questions so that an affirmative answer to the former automatically produces an affirmative answer to the latter.

If we start by assuming a ‘yes’ to the first question, we may then embark on the far more curious task of answering the second—for it is always easier to declare what mankind should do in general than to reckon with what you or I must do in particular. In discussing such a proposal, it is desirable to state clearly and specifically what it is that using social media will accomplish. But even this is fraught with difficulty because of how easily social media is upheld for quite opposite reasons. For instance, social media might be supposed to increase Christian witness, yet actually decrease it. It might be valued as a sphere for displaying the beauty of Christ, yet actually damper it. If you accept this state of things, you can soberly consider another distinction, namely, of what social media can do versus what it does do.

Very few Christians soberly consider the second question. Are you, dear Christian, mature enough to use social media? This is the right question if only you are bold enough to give an honest answer. Consider five guiding interrogatives to discern if you are mature enough to use social media. If you answer yes to each question, then you might be mature enough to use social media.

Five Questions

Do you live free from the temptation of pornography?

Proverbs 5:3-4, 8 > “For the lips of a forbidden women drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword …. Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house.”

Social media platforms provide easy access to pornography.¹ Explicit content sprawls across the frontier of Instagram, X, Reddit, Snapchat, and other social media sites. It is a direct gateway to lust and pornography for all but the most self-disciplined. Does your spouse say you are self-disciplined? Your children? Your boss? Your neighbor? Your pastor? It would be utter stupidity for a man with a history of adultery to move next door to a prostitute. Likewise, it is utter stupidity for someone who is tempted by pornography to enter the playground of lust called social media. How many Christians insist they only follow truth-tellers and then beckon the radiant liars of erotica to speak to them?

Do you keep a close watch on yourself?

1 Tim. 4:16 > “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

1 Tim. 4:10 > “For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.”

2 Cor. 13:5 > “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

By keeping a close watch on himself, Timothy will save himself and his hearers. The Lord does not expect his children to plunge themselves to hell for the sake of their hearers. He expects his children to “keep a close watch on yourself.” One objects and says, “Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor” (1 Cor. 10:24). This verse is often distorted, especially when Paul’s command is turned into an absolute. First Cor. 10:24 doesn’t contradict the principle of spiritual self-preservation. Is the act of eating seeking your good? Is the act of breathing seeking your good? Yes! Not seeking “his own good” is not absolute.

Not seeking “his own good” is also modified by the principle of spiritual self-preservation. The principle of spiritual self-preservation applied to social media says (1) When your faith begins to waver because of social media (Rom. 16:17f), or (2) when your future perseverance of faith is compromised by social media (Col. 2:4-8), or (3) when your toiling and striving is no longer accompanied by a sure hope of the living God (1 Tim. 4:10), then you need to abandon the noisy parade of social media.

Are you growing in godliness?

1 Tim. 4:6-8 > “If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. 7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

Gal. 2:1 > “Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me.”

In 1 Timothy, Paul is writing to a pastor. Yet Paul still instructs Timothy to “train yourself for godliness.” The pursuit of godliness never stops, even for a pastor. When it comes to social media, this priority needs to be remembered.

The principle is this: A Christian’s requirement to keep training in godliness is inversely proportional to their maturity, experience, and history of perseverance during hard times. Thus, the more mature a Christian is, the less continued training is required (but note, this “training” never completely stops). The less mature and experienced the Christian, the more time is to be devoted to training in godliness. The apostle Paul trained for fourteen years before beginning major ministry (Gal. 2:1).

There is something to be said for restraint. John Owen explains, “It is important that all our duties remain subservient to our regard of God and his holiness.”² Therefore, a Christian should be very cautious before committing full throttle to social media. They should ask their spouse, their pastor, and those who know them best if they are sufficiently trained in godliness to use social media.

Are people listening to you?

Mt. 10:11-15 > “And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. 15 Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.”

Mt. 18:15-17 > “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

Titus 3:10 > “As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, 11knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.”

As Jesus sends out the seventy-two on a mission (Mt. 10) he doesn’t tell them, “There must be a Christ witness in every town, no matter what.” Rather, he tells them that if the person(s) to whom they are ministering prove themselves “not worthy” (vs. 13) then the disciples should leave the town. What makes someone “not worthy”? Jesus says, “If anyone will not receive you or listen to your words” (vs. 14).

Jesus later instructs the disciples that when a professing believer is in sin but refuses to listen, there comes a time when the obstinate sinner is to be treated as “a Gentile,” that is, treated with distance. Peter Kreeft asks, “How should we describe someone who won’t bother to lift the key to the lock and see whether it opens?” His answer: This is “proof of the insanity of indifference to Heaven.”³

The test of whether or not they are listening is this: If you have patiently and repeatedly (Phil. 3:1) given them the truth in love (Eph. 4:15), you have done a good thing. But over time, if they do not take your advice or follow your warnings, stubbornly continuing in unbelief, then you should move on.

Similarly, Paul instructs Titus that when he is dealing with a divisive person, no more than two warnings are required before distancing (Titus 3:10). Paul models distancing in Acts 19:9, “But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him.” The broader principle is that irrespective of the specific sin, there can be limits to the number of times to warn someone before distancing.

Strangely, many Christians think the Bible doesn’t apply when they are on social media. Christians get on social media under the pretense that they are going to tell the real truth to a false world. But one biblical principle is that if you are talking and no one is listening, then you should move on.

Are you prone to be consumed with babble?

2 Timothy 2:14-19 > “Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. 19 But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

Fidgeting with the fundamentals of Christian theology leads to ungodliness, such as denying the resurrection. Quarreling about words leads to the kind of discussion in which words provoke and confuse rather than clarify. Irreverent babble is frivolous chatter and it is not a virtue. It is an eccentric sort of liberty where the only thing forbidden is common sense. Some people are easily consumed by pointless arguments. They think that fighting on the internet about trending paranormal topics carries weight. They think what they type next matters, so much so, that when they are supposed to be paying attention to their job, or their kids, or their spouse, they are thinking of the best comeback. To be on social media is to be behind the bars of the castle of quarreling (Prov. 18:19). Not many have the constitution to avoid transgression while surrounded by strife (Prov. 17:19).

Social media’s elaborate algorithms are not created to point users in the direction of wisdom but to blaze sudden, open enmity. Comments and content pique users by heightening suspicion of the boogeyman, a suspicion that crystalizes in political opinions yelped as a boast and a dogma. Anybody smart enough to create a username and password can bawl out a ballad based on the unwavering authority of that guy—what’s his name?—who pontificated on a podcast once.

Conclusion

The fact that a lot of people have been shaped by the world of Instagram, Facebook, pornography, Twitter, memes, and dilettantism doesn’t mean that Christians should be shaped by them. So, if you are a social media user who has failed the test, what should you do? Commit to a three-month fast from social media. Make a list of all the things you intend to accomplish with your extra time. Make sure family and prayer are high on the list. Live an actual life in the real world, without distraction. See how much you accomplish. See how intentional your life becomes. See how much you stop caring about what happens in the virtual world. At the end of the three months, make an honest assessment. Have you been more joyful, more fruitful, more attentive, more prayerful, and more selfless? If the answer to any of those questions is yes, what is the real worth of returning to social media?

Footnotes

¹ https://ir.lib.ugm.ac.id/id/eprint/3321/

² John Owen, Sin and Temptation, 49.

³ Peter Kreeft, Christianity for Modern Pagans, 202.