Social networking is a big part of modern life. It is necessary to ask what biblical principles intersect with 21st century electronic information transfer. You have to admit it is a stretch to think of Paul texting Timothy to bring him the parchments so that he can post them on his blog.
Social networking was virtually unknown a decade ago. Yes, email allowed us to correspond quickly, but as a form of communication it was not much different than regular mail. Today our lives, as well as our children’s lives, are dominated by Internet-enabled communities. Emoticons form a modern shorthand that allows for an instant transmission of moods, thoughts and plans across cities, states and continents. People write on electronic walls to announce when and what they are eating, what the weather is, and how they feel about it. Amazing! Prior to this new age of social networking, people would not think of phoning, or even emailing, a friend in another state to announce that they had just put the kids to bed or that they are standing in line at the drugstore.
Thankfully, there are biblical principles to guide you and your children as you engage the virtual world. Here are three principles that are safe guides for children and their parents. These are:
consider others more significant than yourself (Philippians 2:3,4),
communicate only what will build others up (Ephesians 4:29),
and most importantly, do all of your communicating realizing that since you belong to Christ, his reputation is connected to your reputation!
The point is not simply to avoid evil content in electronic communication, but to use these principles to bring honor to Christ while interacting virtually.
Therefore, honor God with your posts, tweets, texts, instagrams, etc. Psalms 139 and 121, Proverbs 5:21 and I Corinthians 10:31 all teach that Christians are always in the presence of God, that he knows our deepest thoughts continually, and that with our minds and mouths and fingers we are to bring honor to him in all the things that we do. We never cease being in relationship with God. His Spirit dwells within us!