Posting With Purpose

The National Calendar, whose motto is “Celebrate Every Day,” recognizes some unusual, weird, wacky, and generally unknown holidays and celebrations.

Today’s observance, however, touches the lives of almost everyone—Social Media Day.

Their web page offers a brief history of social media, its various platforms, and its impact on society. It also provides social media etiquette with these seven suggestions:

• Be yourself when you interact online.
• Like, comment, and share content to build connections.
• Use a polite and professional tone when communicating online.
• Give credit to the original source when sharing content online.
• Use hashtags to expand your reach or the reach of the content source.
• Create valuable content to organically grow your audience.
• Refrain from engaging in negativity, online arguments, or cyberbullying.

These rules of online interaction would not only serve us well as we post, but they actually find a basis in Scriptural admonitions that apply in all interpersonal relationships, including social media.

Social media is neither inherently good nor evil. Like any tool, its value depends on how it is used. A hammer can build a house or cause harm. Likewise, our keyboards and screens can encourage others or tear them down.

Here are seven biblical principles that can help us post with purpose.

#1 Be truthful.

The Bible admonishes, “Therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor” (Eph. 4:25).

Posts that exaggerate, repost false information, or outright lie about another person or a belief they hold are just as wrong as if we verbally uttered them. Posting it on social media doesn’t lessen the sin of lying.

A good question to ask before we post something is one we say each week in our Rotary meetings when we recite the four-way test—“Is it the truth?”

#2 Be an encourager.

Social media provides an opportunity to offer encouragement to those who are hurting. Often, we learn of unfortunate circumstances a friend has encountered or a loss they have suffered. This is a good time to share a kind word, express concern, or offer some assistance.

Social media may provide a wonderful occasion to fulfill the scriptural injunction to “encourage one another and build one another up” and to “encourage the fainthearted” (1 Thess. 5:11, 14).

#3 Remember, love is not rude.

There is too much incivility in our society today. This is especially true on social media. Hurling ugly epithets with rude, crude, and pejorative posts on Facebook or other social media does not reflect the attitude of Christ and the spirit of Christianity.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:5, “Love is not rude.” The J. B. Phillips modern speech translation renders it—“Love has good manners.”

The advice my Mom gave me when I was a kid applies to social media: “Mind your manners.”

#4 Give credit where credit is due.

It is easy to post something that originated with someone else—an author, preacher, or blogger—and pass it off as our own. Honesty requires correct attribution of others’ ideas.

“You shall not steal” would apply to stealing someone else’s intellectual property.

#5 Regard online posting as you would personal speech.

What I post is just as important as what I verbalize. The first-century exhortation regarding speech finds its application in 21st-century social media.

“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice” (Eph. 4:31).

“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Col. 4:6).

#6 Add value to others.

While it’s fun to share pictures of our vacations or post about our successes, stop and think—“How can I post something that will help someone else?”

Paul’s admonition can find practical application in our online posts:

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Phil. 2:3-4).

#7 Practice the Golden Rule.

All relationships, whether in person or through social media, can be enhanced and elevated to a higher level by applying the principle enunciated by Jesus in Matthew 7:12:

“Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

While social media may tempt us to fritter away valuable time or adopt wrong attitudes and actions, there is much good to be gained from this technology.

Sharing good news, prayer requests, YouTube sermons, Bible studies, devotional blogs, brotherhood news, and church web pages with spiritual resources, as well as much more, makes the medium valuable.

Let’s use social media responsibly. Don’t abuse it. Rather, make it a tool for spiritual edification, encouragement, and positive influence.

Every post leaves an impression. Every comment reveals something about our character. Every interaction is an opportunity to reflect the heart of Christ.

Happy Social Media Day, my dear readers!

Thanks for reading ThePreachersWord.

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman