Hey God, Did You See My Tweet?

I find the idea of God being in everything we do enthralling. Who are we to say what God is or isn’t a part of? He is so much mightier than we are, and to put Him in a box like that is demeaning. Sure, nature is beautiful, it has a way of connecting us with Christ in a completely non-verbal way, but technology simply shows how amazing He is to create us humans that made technology! I think that in and of itself speaks for His power. The Lord is not enslaved to a specific time period of technology, it’s easy to keep that thought because of the Bible, but we need to remember that God is always present, even while we’re playing video games.

A new trend that has been happening in the last couple years is Digital Discipleship training. In an article called Digital Disciples published by Faith and Leadership discusses the effects of technology on the Sabbath and how influential it was on their capacity to learn and take in new information. Instead of fighting evolvement, Reverend Keith Anderson of Upper Dublin Lutheran Church focuses on using that during his catechism class. Although I’m not Irish or Lutheran, their idea of incorporating technology into their works for God is very inspirational. Technology helps reach those who are not comfortable with face-to-face interactions such as young teens and adults. Their culture is different from the older generations. Anderson’s co-author of the book Click 2 Save: The Digital Ministry Bible with Elizabeth Drescher said the following:

“The church is slowly starting to acknowledge that social media is the landscape of communication,” Drescher said. “This is the medium where spiritual growth is happening, so we have to be working in that medium.”

Technology can be used to better the Kingdom. Missionaries from all over the world are using it to stay in contact with donors and prayer warriors. Many people swear by this because it reaches a whole new level of people that otherwise wouldn’t be supporting them. And the good things that are happening in areas around the world can easily be reached in a matter of minutes. According to Pew Research, 1 in 5 adults will share their faith online in a week. It says it’s about the same number of people who listen to Christian radio or TV. That may not seem like a lot but when you think about the masses, that is a pretty good means for communication, especially in the younger generations.

So how can we effectively decide as Christians to show our religion on social media without being a stereotypical “Holier than though” follower? Relevant magazine published an article called 8 Things Christians Need to Do More on Social Media written by Neal Samudre. What’s interesting is in his 8 points he never once says that we need to be sharing articles left and right about how wrong the “secular” culture is… His first few points are discussing making deeper connections with people, really making sure that you’re being authentic. It’s important to remember that social media is an extension of yourself that the world sees. Social media is not your personal journal.

After really considering it, technology is important and can be used effectively for representing God. After all, we are simply the hands and feet of Christ, in all that we do, which means that we need to be Christ like even in the things we post on social media. It doesn’t mean you have to post a Bible verse everyday, but just the way you interact with others will stand out. Being intentional is something that is not easily forgotten by others. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what activity you’re doing, baking bread or posting a Facebook status about making bread, if you’re intentional, you can show the love of Christ through technology.