What Admiral Ackbar Taught Me About Social Media
Posted in facebook, Hannah's post, know God, removing yourself, Social Media 2 comments
"This is what the Lord says: Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But those who wish to boast boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the Lord, have spoken!" (Jeremiah 9:23-24)
Can you even visit with your friends without checking your texts, hashtagging tweets, or playing Candy Saga Crush? How big of a role does your phone or all the "social" sites play in your life? How much effort have you invested in getting to know your friends, your church, and your God, compared to how much you play Farmville?
Do you remember when MySpace was cool? At the time, I thought the idea of social media was so revolutionary. As a new stay-at-home mom, I loved the idea of social interaction without the cost of actually, you know, putting on real pants, washing my hair, cleaning my house or packing a diaper bag. I could play the get-to-know-you game from the comfort of my couch, and I felt like I knew people because I knew what they ate for lunch. (Uh, thanks Instagram, I guess.) Ultimately, I believe we all have a false sense of "knowing" someone because we are too comfortable to really get to know one another.
I don't blame social media; I blame our laziness. We don't actually want to get to know the messy 3D versions of people. We want what will fit neatly into a status update. Thumbs up if we like it, scroll elsewhere if we don't. No bond, no relationship, nothing that makes us actually work at learning, knowing or loving.
We are tragic pretenders.
My life has become real weird the past few months. I am getting to know lots about my family, my faith and myself by doing this new, crazy thing, that isn't new or crazy at all: I am getting to know the Lord and letting the Lord help me to get to know the people in my life. I'm seeing things in 3D, in real life, for the first time in a long time. I don't want to just update and boast, or brag about my life; I want to know the Lord. And I want the relationships I build here on earth to be something more than a checked box on Facebook.
Like I said, originally I thought this idea of social media was marvelous, but the experience has become something I don't want in my life, a crutch. Am I deleting my accounts? No, but I have set limits for the time I am on the sites and I've removed myself from the biggest time sucks.
True story: I would find myself habitually checking the sites. Like, Oh, I am just sitting here, I should check to make sure people think I'm awesome. Ew. So to nip that creeparific behavior in the bud, I made myself uninstall the app on my phone and replace the icon with an Admiral Ackbar soundboard instead. Why? Just to remind myself that social media is so often a trap.
Like I said, originally I thought this idea of social media was marvelous, but the experience has become something I don't want in my life, a crutch. Am I deleting my accounts? No, but I have set limits for the time I am on the sites and I've removed myself from the biggest time sucks.
True story: I would find myself habitually checking the sites. Like, Oh, I am just sitting here, I should check to make sure people think I'm awesome. Ew. So to nip that creeparific behavior in the bud, I made myself uninstall the app on my phone and replace the icon with an Admiral Ackbar soundboard instead. Why? Just to remind myself that social media is so often a trap.
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| Seriously, every time I habitually check where the old app used to be, this guy calls me out. |
Guys, we are not our status updates or our profiles. We are messy humans full of faults and flaws, and God knows all this and loves us anyway. I want to know Him. That's what I want in my life, not more followers or likes. I want to recognize His voice as He speaks to me in all parts of my life, not just the pretty, spiritual ones.
I think it's time we start making an honest effort to put down our phones and start learning to love again. We've gotten real lazy with our purpose here, believers. Our purpose is not to re-post verses and guilt-laden, "if you love Jesus" updates. We are to know Him and make Him known. That means we need social skills, not social media. It means we need to get on our face before our God, and get off of our soapboxes on Facebook.
Can you even visit with your friends without checking your texts, hashtagging tweets, or playing Candy Saga Crush? How big of a role does your phone or all the "social" sites play in your life? How much effort have you invested in getting to know your friends, your church, and your God, compared to how much you play Farmville?
Guys, it's time we slow down with the social media, and get back to the purpose of we are here. To know God.
Put down your phone. Get to know your God. Ask Him to make you available and effective to know Him and make Him known. Friends, it's time we have got to learn to live outside of the app again. Life is big and beautiful, full of opportunities and adventures. Quit seeing them on that screen and get out and see them for yourself. Experience life with a God who only wants you to get to know Him.
2 comments:
A wonderfully wise word, my friend! Our society seems to be forgetting how to be relational. We see couples in restaurants who sit there and check their phones rather than conversing with each other. We have had gatherings in our home where we were tempted to provide a basket at the door encouraging people to leave their cell phones there before coming into the house, because some would sit there and disconnect from everyone else. It is rude and disrespectful.
Wow...if we all would desire to connect with GOD as much as we desire to know everyone's Facebook business, what a different impact the Church would have on our culture!
The Toyota commercial on television is a perfect example of this, Hannah. Love it!
~clara
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