We are now living in an age where social media becomes a must in our every day life. There is not a day that goes by where we are not logged on to AT LEAST one or more social media platforms. The popular ones being:

• Facebook - a huge community with a HIGH amount of junk
• Twitter - where your status updates are followed, a short and sweet but VERY public diary
• Instagram - creative outlet for many, a photo journal of sorts
• Blogs - may be genre specific (food, fashion, combination of both, etc…) or personal musings (think e-diary)
• FourSquare - location based social networking

Having graduated with a degree in Mass Communication, majoring in Communications and Media Management, as well as interning in media-related fields and working in one now, I am very well aware of the POWER of media, particularly social media.

Wield it correctly and you will garner attention beyond your wildest dreams. Conversely, use it for purposes less than noble and you are able to tear down a person’s life, career or even a giant corporation.

I’d like to raise this question to you – What is your standard of being a Christian in social media?

Whether you like it or not, every status update, every tweet, every picture uploaded, every post written and every check-in logged IS and WILL BE SCRUTINIZED; either by those of the same faith as yourself, or your unbeliever friends.

Hence this message’s title: Being a Christian in a Social Media Dominated Age.

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1)     God does not live in social media.

- Or in Facebook, especially for this matter.

- Rampant posts on Facebook – “God, I need You…”, “God, where are You?”, “Lord, intervene…”

- I wrote this several months back: “The greatest battles are not in the battlefield, but behind a closed door and on bended knees.”

- Freedom of expression belongs to every person ultimately, but do not use the name of God as a means to rant or seek pity. 

- Reference: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31)

2)     Censorship is NOT overrated.

- As a Media student, censorship IS overrated. I am not fond of it. I do not like it when my work is being condensed to tell half-truths, or even worse, manipulated to sell even though the source of the news is half-baked.

- As a Christian, censorship is NECESSARY, What you post online is far reaching. You can never control who may share your post and deleting it may not undo your mistake.

- Think two, three, even ten times over if you need to, before pressing the ENTER button.

- Remember that tearing someone down on social media is a cowardly thing to do. (Reference: Ephesians 4:26 – “In your anger, do not sin.”) Solve it by doing face-to-face explanations and confrontations.

- Do not resort to using expletives to emphasize your point. There are over 1 million words in the English language, I am sure you are able to find a better and more accurate word for descripting purposes.

- Posting pictures of yourself in compromising positions, in unsavory locations doing less than pleasant things will cause more than your fellow Christians’ eyes to grow wide. You might have caused unbelievers to question the worth of Christianity.

3)     Verify your sources

- This was a trend that was especially prevalent in the recent elections.

- Emotions were running high, so much was at stake and everyone had an opinion of how things should have gone down. There were SO. MANY. UNTRUTHS that were circulated through social media through bogus attempts made by people with bad intentions, who were rooting for uproars to happen.

- Be careful what you "share". Check the source and verify it is true before you share them on your wall. Lots of medical wonders, health benefits, political arguments, etc… are not true and we are guilty of spreading lies if we put them on our wall.

4)     Express, Not CONFESS (or worse, CONVERSE)

- Social media is not your confession box. If you have issues that you need to set right or you are making an effort to turn over a new leaf, seek a PERSON that you can be accountable to and work on your issues with that PERSON. There is NO NEED for PUBLIC confession anymore in our age.

- Take personal conversation of affection and love private. The whole world doesn’t need to hear your love talk. "Expression" of affection is different from "conversations".

5)     Be His example.

- Just as the real world that we live in, the social media world is also not a place that is less than bright. We need to be His light, His mouthpiece through this avenue.

- You are an example of what you do, and what you don’t do.

- Your REAL life is your best testament of who He is. 

- You don’t win people over by godly statuses, quotes or sentiments on social media. It would be even WORSE if in real life, you are the complete opposite of what you profess to be on social media.

- Reference: 1 Timothy 4:12 & 16 – “… Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you.”