Philippians 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.(NIV)
As we look at all this world has to offer us we see idea’s that we believe will help us as ministers of the gospel and we wonder if we can harness this for God. One of these concepts that we have latched onto is the idea of Social networking. This is the idea of using things like the internet and other tools to make connections with people that will benefits us.
There is an inherent problem in this idea of Social Networking that all Christians should fight with every fiber of their being. Within social networking is the idea that we are out for ourselves. We use this so that the ideas and recourses of others can be helpful for us. Social networking such as twitter, facebook, and friendfeed, all have behind them the idea that we need something and we think the other person may be able to fulfill that need.
The problem for Christians is that we should, as Philippians 2:3 says, Do Nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. We should not be selfish in nature yet that is what Social Networking Implies.
So what do we do? Well for one thing I am not suggesting that we stop connecting but instead place more importance on our connections. We use to look at connections with other people as gifts from God but now it is just clever computer programming that has caused us to connect with these people. Let us lay aside this idea and change how we think and use Social Networking. Instead of thinking that we can get stuff from these people let us understand that God is in this.
God wishes us to care about each other instead of us trying to get stuff from for selfish reasons. We must quite social networking and instead reach out, get to know, and care about those that God has placed in our lives even online. We must make these connections mean something. We should desire to reach out and help each other. Pray for one another and their needs. Let us never neglect God’s providence in bringing us together. God is good to us in connecting us to each other so let us live for God even through Social Networking.
Perchance the name must change. Instead of being selfish in nature perhaps we should use a term that does not have such a selfish connotation. Perhaps we should say that we are sharing in one another’s lives online. “Life Connecting”. We are connected in Christ let us connect online with all of our selves. Let our lives connect with one another instead of just trying to manipulate others to get the stuff we want.
May God connect our lives together in a church that is greater than ever because of the connection He has given us
