By Todd Barrier  

Social media. How should the Christian handle it?  

On one hand, it can be used as a powerful tool for spreading the gospel. Just look at the number of people who saw livestreams during the pandemic. In our little congregation, we saw thousands of views per week!  

On the other hand, it can also be used to the detriment of Christ’s cause.  

We must think of the tone we use when we post things, so we don’t turn people away from Christ. We must post truth. There is a growing segment of Christians who post memes that cater to their political ideology but are not true. We press that share button before we even check to see if what we have shared is true. That is not a good thing; it dims our light as light bearers of His.  

Other times we share things that are just crude or hateful, but we do it because it’s “true” about the person. Hateful is hateful, regardless of who we direct it at. We can have our opinions and firm stances on particular subjects, but when we spread false info or mean–spirited things, we are not being people who advance the gospel.  

The Bible gives us a great verse to live our social media lives by: Eph. 4:29-32, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth but what is good for necessary edification that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” 

Are you using social media in a righteous way?