The Faithful Surrender

It’s the new reality, the new foundation for society, and the new cultural desire. The social media that we have at our fingertips can be both good and bad. It is a way to keep up with long-distance friends and family, a source for news, and a great way to look back on past events, photos, thoughts, or memories. On the other hand, it is a crutch in awkward situations, a marketplace for information of all types, and a place that fosters all opinions, rumors, and avenues of drama. We have to be careful, though, and refrain from placing a blanket label on all social media and its use as being good or bad. Personally, I don’t even think the question lies in is social media good or bad anymore, but rather, how do we process, and what do we do with what comes from it? That’s where we find the need for self-control, self-discipline, and, in some (probably all) cases, divine intervention.

Before we proceed, I wish to address any perceptions of irony or hypocrisy that may stem from reading this entry (that’s on social media). I am not saying that Christians should or should not utilize social media. I am not saying that the use of social media will or will not send you to hell. What I am saying, however, as you’ll hopefully also conclude after reading, we have to exercise caution in our use of social media. We cannot allow it to come in between us and God. We cannot allow it to steal our joy. We certainly cannot allow it to become our only source. Additionally, we must take lightly most of what we see on social media. Not everything that we see is accurate or dependable. Not everything that we see is something that we need to engage in. I don’t know much about the psychological impacts of social media use, or the scientific explanations, but what I do know is what we read, what we see, what we hear, what we write, what we digest, what we engage in, and what we allow to arrest our minds and our hearts, matters very much. We can all agree that social media can be both good and bad, uplifting and destructive, revelatory and damning, and it can be all these things all at the same time. How we choose to use and perceive social media, and what we see thereee, is what makes all the difference. All of these factors are things that we must weigh for ourselves and ultimately decide if we should or should not use social media. Is social media healthy or detrimental for me?

Before we get too deep into the impacts that it has on us, we must first understand what social media is and exactly what we’re dealing with. So, when we hear of social media, most of us refer to platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), to name some of the classics. But today, in March of 2026, social media has been manipulated to supply the demand of its users. Whatever you want to engage in is what’s on your social media feed. If you want to see preaching, you’ll see preaching. If you want to see politics, you’ll see politics. If you want to see something else, you’ll see something else. Sometimes, you’ll see a mix of everything so they (the social media platform) can determine what exactly it is that you wish to see, so they can make sure it’s in front of you when you wish to consume.

Social media has given everyone (who chooses to use it) a platform. Before social media became widespread, everyone had an opinion but limited means to interject it. Social media has now cultivated a place for that opinion to be heard and somewhat valued. Practices that we’ve seen in the media (as it refers to news outlets) for years, like sharing bad optics and possessing the ability to create false pretense, now rest in the hands of every consumer. One bad actor can share a disparaging thought about someone and ruin their reputation forever. But as I said previously, we’re not here to discuss whether or not social media is good or bad; we’re here to discuss its impacts on followers of Christ.

So, can Christians use social media? Of course. It’s important for us to remember, though, that the same biblical principles that we are to apply to our lives should be applied to every aspect of our lives, even (especially) our use of social media. In all ways, we should reflect Christ and His love. It is very easy, though, to live a different life on social media than in reality. We portray on social media only what we want to be known. We may carry ourselves in many different ways on social media, and all of them can be contrary to our reality. It is here where I am reminded of James 1:8 that says: “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

Social media has equipped us with somewhat of an empowerment. It has enabled us to share and receive information quickly, entertain and be entertained, and allowed for us an opportunity to “check-out” after a long day. It is the testimony of many (including myself at times) that social media has become more than they ever wanted it to be in their lives. It has become unclear to many (again, including myself at times) who or what the consumer actually is. Am I consuming, or am I being consumed? This is where the impacts start impacting.

At no point in our lives should anything come before God. When we allow ourselves to be consumed by anything or anyone other than God, we are doing just that. But before we dismiss that statement as if we don’t do that and it doesn’t apply to us, let’s look at it like this: how much of our time is spent on social media per day, and how much is spent in God’s Word? How much of our time is spent in prayer in comparison to social media on a daily basis? Before you start thinking bad thoughts toward me for bringing this up, I am guilty too. I have had hours of screen time but only minutes in prayer. I’ve consumed post after post, video after video, comment after comment, but only a few sentences of scripture. The further we get from the fire, the colder we get. Less and less time spent with God through prayer, meditation, and His Word means more and more time for the enemy to have his way in our lives.

I’ve set limits for myself time after time. I set a built-in timer that limited my time on Facebook once and started out strong. I rarely bypassed it, and that went on for a couple of weeks. The first time someone told me about a post that I needed to see, I bypassed the timer and looked for the post as if it was my next meal. After that, it became easier and easier to bypass that timer, and before long, bypassing it was just another step that I needed to take in order to access my account. I say that to say this: don’t set unrealistic goals for yourself. If you know you cannot meet that goal, give it to God and go on. Repeatedly failing at meeting your goals leads to nothing but discouragement and burnout, so ask for God’s help to develop that discipline.

There’s always something on social media that we can allow to consume us: maybe gossip, someone venting about the service they’d received at a restaurant, consistent speculation about political figures, or folks capitalizing on others’ misfortune. Thankfully, I see a lot more good than bad on social media most of the time. I love seeing people share about God’s goodness in their lives, encouraging devotions, scripture, and much more. These things provide a balance. It gives us hope in the midst of despair. I am thankful for those that take time out of their day to uplift others rather than tear them down. So, before we share or engage in something on social media, I think it’s important that we remember Jesus’ saying in Matthew 12:34 when He said: “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”

So now that we’ve explored several things that can impact followers of Christ in their use of social media, I want to clearly restate that I am not discouraging or condemning the use of social media. Have at it! I just want to share that if it’s something that is taking us away from our purpose, something that is keeping us from God, we must address it. I am not speaking disparagingly of the platforms themselves, their consumers, or anyone, for that matter. I am just trying to help us all to exercise caution in our use of something that can be a building tool or a drain.