09/06/2023
Is social media the new fruit that is pleasing to the eye, but in the end leads to death?
When first tempted in the Garden of Eden, mankind faced a watershed decision - trust God or try to be their own God. The serpent lured Eve in with fruit that was pleasing to the eye and flattering to the mind. In that pivotal moment for mankind, she chose not to put her faith in God, but was consumed by the desire to be her own god. Ultimately, this choice sent all of humanity down the same path.
Fast forward thousands of years and mankind still has an appetite to be their own god. Today’s settings are different, but the storyline is the same - we are tempted to fulfill a role that belongs to God alone. While our culture gives multiple options to replay the Garden rebellion, the clearest opportunity seems to be through social media.
With a false promise that is, once again, pleasing to the eye and flattering to the mind, social media, and the far reaches of the online world in general, offer an impression that one can have the power to know all things, be all things, and be in all places at once. Through mass amounts of on-line content, the opportunity to fulfill that unquenchable appetite grows exponentially, causing many to be addicted to the vast knowledge at their fingertips - addicted to the idea of being their own god.
One would hope that when digital media doesn’t come through on the promise to make one wise, one would be able to turn back off of the path. But rather than turning, many continue to increase the number of apps and time spent in the digital world. With every “follow” or “like”, their minds are encouraged to linger longer, search deeper, take in more content, and be drawn further into the lie that people necessarily want and need what they have to offer.
We are not meant to be, nor are we capable of being, all things to all people at all times. When online, we can easily be deceived into thinking that we can be simultaneously perfect counselors, doctors, lawyers, parents, spouses, politicians, theologians, economists, teachers, etc… simply by doing a quick google search. Said differently, social media falsely promises that we can be perfect in knowledge and practice in all roles, for all people, and at all times. This is a burden no human was ever meant to carry.
Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Mat 11). While our culture is calling us to carry the burden of being all things to all people at all times, Jesus is calling us to one simple burden - the one he has already carried for us. The burden of following Jesus is often presented as hard, but compared to the expectations of the world, his expectations are light. The reason Jesus' burden is so light is because he has already carried the burden of our sin to the cross, paying the price of death, so that we might find rest. This not only frees us from our own sin, it frees us from carrying the burden of the world's expectations on us and the need to provide salvation in our own strength to all people. As Christians, we do not point to our own strength and wisdom, we point to the cross.
Jesus can accomplish this because he is more than just a man, he is also God. God is the only one who is capable of being all things to all people at all times. The very thing that social media promises through the distorted lens of sin, God offers perfectly in and through his sinless Son, Jesus. He is the only one who is able and meant to carry this burden.
Once again, the promise of social media is not new. The offer to be an all knowing God rather than a limited creation is a lie as old as the Garden of Eden. “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen 3). Social media is offering the same lie today: “Do you want a real life, take and eat so that your eyes will be opened, and you will know all things, and you will be all things, at all times, at all places, to all people - you will be like God.”
Social media promises this, the whole time claiming that “you will not certainly die.” However, there is a direct correlation between the rise in popularity of apps like Facebook and Twitter and the rise in depression, anxiety, and su***de - especially among teens and pre-teens. The more one consumes the promise of online deity, the more the offer turns from life to death. However, the solution is not less knowledge and ignorance. The solution is truth in place of a lie. The answer is more knowledge of the one true God. It is a reorientation of worship of self, to worship of God.
I understand the irony of me posting this on social media. And I’m not saying people should abandon social media altogether or the knowledge we can gain from technology. I’m just reminding myself and anyone who took the time to read this that rest is not found in the promises of this world. It is found in Jesus. If you are like me and find yourself stressed and concerned after spending even just a moment on the internet, the answer is not to go further into the very thing causing the stress, but to go to the one who has carried the burden of our sin far away.
