In our generation social media is an inevitable part of our culture. It is an everyday landscape of our lives wherein we can be updated to our real and virtual friends through our smartphones in an instant. From Friendster,multiply and myspace to facebook, twitter and instagram, more and more people are into it. Facebook statistics shows that there are 1.44 billion active users worldwide and Filipinos are one of the most active users with 30 million people last 2013 statistics (wala akong makitang ibang source ) and I guess it rises in our present time.
Imagine the number of people we can influence by how we behave in social media. Imagine if Jesus is physically present in our times, what would He do? Will He post the same things you are posting or sharing? I’ve listed things which I believe not proper for every follower of Jesus because we should be the salt and light of this world. (Matthew 5:13-16)
1. A Selfie with Scripture as caption –Anong relasyon ng mukha mo sa verse na nakalagay sa caption? I know that we are all fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) but our lives are on the spotlight higit pa sa picture na nakikita ng mga friends mo sa screen nila. The main question here is that are we really living up God’s word that we share? Are we in obedience to it? As Jesus is saying in Matthew 7:21 that “not everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven” kaya minsan kailangan din ng puso natin ng camera 360 if it really reflects God’s words sa buhay natin na makikita ng ibang tao.
2. Prayer Post – Sino ba talaga kausap mo? Si Lord o yung friends mo? Kung may ‘thinking out loud’ ngayon, noong panahon ni Jesus may ‘Praying out loud’ ng mga Pharisees at Scribes (Matthew 6:5) which is I believe still true today. I’m not condemning that we should not pray in public even Jesus did that when He multiply the loaves and fishes before five thousand people, sinsabi ko lang na minsan kailangan nating pumunta sa sarili nating mga kwarto dahil sometimes there are things that should be between you and God.
3. Pictures doing good deeds – Please don’t take this wrong, good deeds are good that’s why it’s ‘good’ deeds, pero kapag pakitang-tao na lang we become hypocrites but “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3). Sometimes it is good that we build people’s awareness that there is still hope for humanity for the kindness that we have but don’t let it go to our head. Dapat nating tandaan na we are selfish on our own and we should recognize that Holy Spirit leads us to that act, di na kailangan ng documentation kasi may nakakakita na sa taas and I assure you that the rewards are far greater than what we can get in this world.
4. Emotion outburst – Easy ka lang bro at sis! Huwag gawing outlet ang social media kung maglalabas ka ng sama ng loob. Natural sa lahat ng tao na naooffend, nasasaktan, napanghihinaan ng loob, nagagalit at kung ano ano pang negativities pero kailangan nating controlin or tayo ang macocontrol nito. True Christians are catalyst of peace which is one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Kahit cliché na sasabihin ko pa rin naipagpasaDiyos na lang natin yan including kung ano yung nararamdaman natin (Romans 12:19) at wag kakalimutang magpatawadJ
5. PDA ng mga lovers – Ang programang ito ay rated SPG patnubay ng magulang ay kailangan. PDA Please Don’t Attempt to post pictures ng kasweetan niyong forever mo (kung forever talaga). Alam kong may mga friends kang kabataan din kaya dapat tayong maging role model sa kanila to help them build their characters. Ipursue natin ang pagiging righteous and pure people of God (2 Timothy 2:22).
In addition para sa mga kababaihan, please glorify God on how you dress. God wants all of us to be pure not just in our mind but also with our hearts. Most of God’s precious creations are covered. Look at the pearls in there shells, the gold under the most hidden places on earth and you should be covered too because you are a precious creation of God.Your body does not belong to everybody secure it for your future partner.
6. Every minute post – Hala alam ng buong tao lahat ng ginagawa mo, PBB lang ang peg? hindi ba mabubuo ang araw mo kapag hindi ka makapagpost ng isa o higit pa? “Jameson is eating lunch”, “Jameson is watching movie”, “Jameson is feeling sleepy” pati pictures every minute din. You know what I like on how Jesus lived His life? He loves to be with a lot of people and He loves to be in solitude (Luke 5:16). We should be cautious that it will not affect other areas of our life like creating good relationships with people but more important with God. In this era that we are living we need to balance everything, there would be a lot of distractions but we need to discipline ourselves on the things we need to do. Malalaman natin kung ano yung subject ng worship natin kung saan natin nilalaan ang ating oras so beware if we are making idols.
7. Prayer/message Chain– “Please share this prayer or quote and you will have full of blessings today” Really? Can’t God bless us if He wants to? Apostle Paul commanded us that we should always pray (1 thessalonians 5:17), It is one way to share our hearts with God and for the sustainable relationship we have with Him. Ang isa talagang problema dito ay yung mindset natin about reward system, kapag hindi ko ishare to o ipost to hindi ako iblebless ni Lord. Alam mo bang blessed ka na nung ibinigay mo yung buhay mo kay Jesus.
8. Condemning others of their beliefs and who they are – Isa sa pinaka napansin kong attitude ng mga kristiano sa panahon ngayon ay masyado tayong exclusive, masyadong close minded sa mga issue ng lipunan. Isa na nga ung napapanahong issue is yung same sex marriage, we post a lot on how we disagree to them and judge them on who they are, the problem is that we judge them and forget to love them. It’s easy for us to love those people that love us the real challenge for us is to love the person that is unlovable in our eyes (Matthew 5:16). We should do what Apostle Paul did in his ministry in winning people, when He’s with the Jew, he live like them and to the Gentiles as well (1 Corinthians 9:20) but not to the extent of them influencing us but us influencing them.
Ang Makata Ng Manlilikha 