Something that’s been on my mind lately is this topic ofstatus. Relationship status, financial status, fashion status, job status. How many times a day are we bombarded with the concept of being at a certain status?
There’s facebook, instagram, pinterest, twitter, buzzfeed. Social media lives and breathes for a display of status. A breeding ground for anxiety, fear, comparison. Am I considered valuable in the eyes of my followers? Have I achieved what I need to be considered successful/beautiful/worthy/enough?
We all portray certain images on our social media. Untagging this. Purposely posting that. Updating statuses here and boasting about things there. I love a good trend, but seriously, there’s an obsession with the “selfie” and showing off every single thing that we are proud of and why? To get affirmation? To display our obsession with ourselves? To show off what we look like when we’re hanging out with our #bestboyfriendeverinthewholeworld?
We tend to post and display those things that we want the world to see of us the most. Do I retake my photo when it’s not the *best* angle because I don’t want it to uglify my instagram feed? Yes. Do I check my notifications on facebook obsessively after I’ve updated my status or changed my profile pic to see who has commented on it, to get affirmation that, yes, I have value in this dog-eat-dog world of ours? Yes.
Do I often find my identity in what others think of me rather than what God thinks of me? Yes.
My social media habits point to my sin and to the things in my heart that are falling short of those things which God has for me.
Although I’m occupied with my status on social media, it’s not about that status. It’s not about whether I have the right clothes, the perfect relationship status, the perfectly cleaned and decorated home, the exact amount of friends. No, it’s not about my social media status.
The thing I so often forget is that my identity does come from a status, but it comes from a completely different status altogether.
Because I do have a status that matters.
When I first understood the reality that Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, wanted a relationship with ME… that in spite of myself, my sin, my works, my shame, in spite of the very nature of my heart that separated me from a relationship with GOD … in spite of that, HE wants to know ME anyway… something changed.
I gave my life to Christ, trusting Him that he paid the penalty of everything I mentioned above by dying on the cross for me and then raising again to LIFE. He gave me a new status. A new identity.
Child. Heir. Adopted son. Saint. Justified. Not guilty.
I have so many new things that give me a new status before God, and I live as if they aren’t part of my identity or part of my life.
I trade that identity and that status with a simple “like” on facebook and a pointless affirmation of a favorited tweet. Because yes, my 140 characters or less of wit seem to matter more to me in that moment than the eternity and forever of named CHILD OF THE MOST HIGH GOD.
“Oh foolish Galatians! {Oh foolish Meg!}Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified...” – Galatians 3:1
“They {I!} exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” – Romans 1:25
Ouch. But yes.
So what’s there to do? What do I do when I’ve exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped myself, or the creature, or the social media presence, rather than my Creator?
I think it lies in this concept of walking in the Spirit. I think it lies in calling this what it is – replacing God with an idol – and calling it forgiven – because Jesus has paid for this already before the internet was even a conceivable thought – and calling on the Holy Spirit to empower me and equip me to walk in a way that glorifies God.
Does this mean I disappear completely from the world of social media? Maybe. But probably not.
Does this mean I renounce everything on the internet as from the devil? Doubt it. Or this blog would be pointless.
But does this mean that I consider where my heart is, that I live my life in the power of the Holy Spirit, and that I pray about what it looks like for me to use social media in a way that glorifies God? I think so.
How can I use social media in a way that points me AND my friends – whether they know Jesus yet or not – to see God? How can I glorify God in all that I do? How can I post photos and words and things about my house in a way that doesn’t seek to glorify ME or give ME a certain status but rather that in a pure heart puts my Mighty God on display?
I’m starting on this journey. I want to see my obsession with my status to be transformed… from social media status to the Creator of my eternal status. I’m praying for you, too. His status, sweet friends,is enough.