Being An Image Bearer

Safe Guarding the Image of Jesus in a Cyber Saturated World

Being An Image Bearer Includes How We Use Social Media

Have you considered that our conduct on social media can impact how people think of Jesus? How can we make sure that we present His image, and that the way people perceive us is in a way that honors our Lord?

Well, I think one way we do that is by learning how to communicate. We have to learn how to communicate with a lost, secular, and increasingly god-hating world. I know a lot of people who are very aggressive passively. They’ll cut you off in a heartbeat, but they’ll do it in a nice way. Has anybody ever experienced that?

Words are important. How we communicate is very important. We live in a social-media-saturated world today. Just out of curiosity, how many of you are on Facebook? How many of you are on X? How many of you use Instagram? How many of you use Google? Pinterest?

Here’s the point: we’re out there, whether you understand that you’re “out there” or not. You have many different faces. I’ve come to the realization that I’ve got a persona, or a reputation, and there are some folks who don’t really care too much for me. I’m too frank for them, or I don’t react to their stimuli. Has anybody ever had somebody try to get under your skin at work?

If you want to drive them crazy, here’s how you do it—you ready? This is free, by the way: don’t respond. Don’t respond, because what are they after? They’re after a response. Now, there have been times when I’ve thought things, but I try to exercise what I call the 5-second rule. You know what the 5-second rule is, right? Just because it’s on the tip of your tongue doesn’t mean it has to come out of your mouth. Think about it for a couple of seconds—Do I really want to say that?

Here is a list of the top 10 things you might like to say at work, but you better not:

• “I don’t have an attitude problem; you have a perception problem.”

• “I don’t suffer from stress. I’m a carrier.”

• “I can please only one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow    isn’t looking good, either.”

• (In honor of my wife and all the IT folks out there): “How do I set a laser printer to ‘stun’?”

• “Nice perfume… must you marinate in it?”

• “Stress is when you wake up screaming… and you realize you haven’t fallen asleep yet.”

• “A cubicle is just a padded cell without a door.”

• “I’m trying to imagine you with a personality.”

• “Does your train of thought have a caboose?”

• And my number one (but I’ve never said it out loud): “If I throw a stick, will you leave?”

I’ve seen a lot worse, brothers and sisters, on Facebook.

I posted an article on my Facebook page recently, by a pastor named Eric Reed. It was entitled, An Open Letter to My Social Media Friends. Some of you read it. One of the drawbacks of social media is that it has dulled our sense of what should be shared publicly and what shouldn’t. I’ve seen some things on there and thought, Whoa, that is way too much information. Facebook has become a place where people—still surprises me—have become quite comfortable sharing issues of life that should only be shared with their spouse or with their family.

Facebook has become a platform for sharing grievances of all levels of seriousness. And quite frankly, I’m amazed at most of the stuff that’s on there and appalled by some of it, especially when I see it from people I know profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I always wonder, Why are you posting that on Facebook? Have you talked to the person this is aimed at? Some people think that posting things on social media takes the place of a real-life, face-to-face conversation. I’ll post it out there, and they’ll get the hint. Wow, you talk about becoming emotionally handicapped—Facebook does that, as does any social media.

Now, I’m not talking about asking for prayer and things like that. I don’t have a problem with that, though some of the details can be too much. Because I know for a fact, with all the nurses in my family, a lot of stuff gets put on Facebook that is a HIPAA violation. You can’t share that kind of information—unless it’s about yourself; then you’re free to share whatever you want. But you shouldn’t be sharing that kind of information about other people.

I think we’re not too far away from the day when people are going to be sued for not having permission to post personal and private information about someone else—even if it’s in the context of a prayer request.

I say all of that to say this: words are important. Words can be funny sometimes, but sometimes they’re ill-timed. Words can also be cutting, can’t they? Do you remember that old jingle: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. How many of you know by experience that’s a lie? Words hurt; they sting.

The thing about words, brothers and sisters, is that you can’t unsay them. You can’t unsay them; you can’t go back and rewind to pull them back. Once they’re out, they’re recorded, aren’t they? They’re recorded. And the person you said them to, or about, have recorded them in their mind. Our brains function in such a way that it’s hard for us to forget hurtful things when they’re said. It’s hard to get them out of our minds, isn’t it?

So, we must be very, very careful about how we communicate. And listen, I’m sharing this with you, brothers and sisters, as one who knows by experience. I’ve both been hurt by words and hurt others by my words, so I’m not standing here lecturing or telling you—I’m one of you, and I know what I’m talking about.

We can control only two things about our communication. Have you ever thought about this? There are only two things you can control about your communication:

1.      What we say: You can control that. I know it’s more of a challenge for some than others, but you can control what you say or post.

2.      How we respond to what others say to or about us: We can control what we say, and we can control how we respond.

Now, what’s left out of that? We cannot control what other people say. That’s an important principle to remember. We cannot control what other people say, but we can control what we say, and we can control how we respond to other people.

Why does all of this matter? It matters because the Father desires that all of His children be conformed to the image of Jesus. How we use or misuse social media will affect how other people see or don’t see Jesus in us.

I want the world’s testimony concerning me to be this: to recognize me as having been with Jesus (Acts 4:13). How about you?

Dr. Mike

Image by Thomas Ulrich from Pixabay