This article is really nothing
more than a rant, but one with spiritual ramifications.
There is a type of Christian
believer on social media these days—especially on Twitter—who actively
‘recruits’ followers simply for the sake of growing their ministries. Proof of
this is by the many that they will follow, for an hour or day or two, and then
unfollow. One moment they are following 600 people, the next moment they follow
a mere 60. (How does that work?)
I can’t see much point in recruiting
followers; we should follow someone’s tweets presumably for some edification
benefit. To follow simply to be followed back, I think, reveals that person as
having a lack of integrity. That follower is simply following to be followed
back; they have no intent to follow genuinely. And besides, who could possibly
follow one thousand or more and not have their eyes spin, with tweets coming in
so thick and fast that there isn’t enough time to enjoy the pre-social media
life.
A Christian’s Integrated Life
At the centre of a Christian’s
life is his or her integrity. That is, the ability to grow our hearts toward
Jesus so that we back-up our Sunday-worship facade with a seven-day-a-week
devotion to God that is truly integrated.
True integration is a matter of
living our lives so honestly that the exterior life merely represents the
interior life, for there is nothing hidden.
This is a scary reality, for we
risk exposure, rejection, and shame. There are so many these days, and in any
day, really, that work hard to achieve a solid exterior life, but privately
battle with truly destructive interior lives. We should all relate.
Integration is genuinely our
biggest objective of discipleship, in becoming more Christlike. A life where we
no longer need to pretend, where we can be devout but also not hide a thing is
the life every Christian is called to.
One good test of integrating our
spirituality in the battle with the flesh is our ability to shun popularity for
popularity’s sake; in the case of some people’s use of Twitter, to not use
people. We don’t follow people so they will follow us back. We only follow
people if we genuinely want to follow
them.
***
If we wish to live the true
Christian life we must shun flesh desires to be popular and grow our number
bases; to recruit hundreds or thousands of followers. Social media is a
potential trap for influencers and would-be influencers. In the surge for
popularity we leave our relationships with God far behind.
What benefit is there to gain the
whole world yet lose our very souls? (Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:36)
The more we reject our flesh
desire, the clamour for popularity, for instance, the more spiritual Presence
of God we will experience.
© 2012 S. J. Wickham.
Graphic Source: Monster
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