Social Media
by: Monica Gerges
Social media has quickly become a major part of the way we as a society and a community, communicate and spread goodness, positivity, love and oddly enough grow in unity. It has a great capacity for good, but in saying that, it has an even greater capacity for destruction if we are not careful about the sort of things we are exposing ourselves to, as we scroll through our Facebook or Instagram feeds.
Every social media platform includes large amounts of content that can lead down the path of destruction. Things that can influence us negatively, cause us to think lustfully, incite feelings of anger, jealously or provoke us to any other sin of the body or mind are easily accessible. They are more prevalent than one might think, but in actuality such content can also be easily avoided by simply disassociating yourself from the direct source.
What is harder to avoid however, is content coming from within our community about seemingly controversial topics. The topics themselves have the potential to cause major confusion and divisions among the Church if not handled appropriately, and it is content like this that some might argue is the most destructive.
So how do we go about avoiding such content? 1 Corinthians is a good place to start. In Chapter 10 St Paul says,
“All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me but not all things edify.” (1 Corinthians 10:23)
Simply put, an article or post is only worth reading if it will edify, enlighten and improve your relationship with God. However, knowing whether something will edify you requires some self-assessment and an understanding of your own limits and faith.
Having the zeal and interest to know what is happening within our Church is in no way a bad thing. If you are eager to know such things, perhaps the safest option is to seek such information from a reliable, trustworthy and honest source (like a Church Father) rather than a random opinion piece on Facebook.
Above all however, we have to keep in mind that at the end of the day all that matters is how we chose to love God and others. To focus on our salvation, the salvation of those around us, to spread the gospel and the love of God through our actions is our ultimate purpose.
