I Can't Help but Think about the Unbelievers on the Other Side of Your Screen.

Almost five billion social media users exist worldwide today — with the average person spending two hours and 25 minutes on social media per day. If a person lived to be the average age of 73 years old — with the previous statistic in mind — it would equate to 5.7 full years of their life spent on social media alone.

Whether you like it or not, and despite the negative impacts, social media is relevant, and most people use it. Over half of our world’s population does, to be specific. Fifty-nine percent. That’s a pretty amazing percentage.

Art, music, politics, business, marketing — every area of society and life is being influenced and guided by the collaborations happening through social media and its ripple effects. The power that social media holds is unavoidable and undeniable. It is literally permeating the world around us.

A recent study shows that 40% of people are influenced by social media when making decisions or seeking advice.

This is the reality that we live in. Whether you personally choose to hold accounts online, or not — WAKE UP! In the 21st centurn, social media is the primary means of connection, communication, marketing, networking, and entertainment. And it’s not going away anytime soon.. The 4.9 billion number I started with is expected to jump to 5.9 billion by 2027— a billion-person increase in just a few years.

Many Christians turn away from and outright ignore the facts that I just rattled off. They deny it, they don’t want to talk about it, they want to avoid it. Many times in my life, I’ve been looked down on by other believers for holding an online presence, being told it is “from the devil,” or “the root of all evil.”

But I object and passionately disagree with that stance as a Christian.

In Isaiah, the word of the Lord is written, “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.” I believe that God is in control. Still. Even amidst the rise of social media and the fear that it inflicts upon many, I believe that He reigns. I believe that He knew that this new age was going to happen, and He knew that technology would advance at a rapid pace. And I think it’s going to play a role in the redemptive plan of the world somehow. 

All things are subject to His command and authority. 

John Piper writes in “Spectacular Sins: And Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ,” “All that came into being exists for Christ — that is, everything exists to display the greatness of Christ. Nothing — nothing! — in the universe exists for its own sake. Everything — from the bottom of the oceans to the top of the mountains, from the smallest particle to the biggest star, from the most boring school subject to the most fascinating science, from the ugliest cockroach to the most beautiful human — everything that exists, exists to make the greatness of Christ more fully known.”

Philip Graham Ryken added commentary to Piper’s quote in his book “Christian Worldview: A Student’s Guide.” He said, “If it is true that everything is from Christ and for Christ … and, further, that He holds everything together — then He’s directly relevant to everything there is.”

And that means even amidst the entanglements of social media that most Christians hate — Christ is relevant to it. He controls it. As cheesy as it sounds, He sits with us when we are scrolling online. He knows what everyone posts, what everyone sees, and how it affects the viewers on the other side. He is wrapped up in it. He made it. I wholeheartedly believe that He wants us to use this insanely powerful vehicle of influence to share about His love and His glory.

There has never been another time in history when we’ve had the ability to instantly communicate with people all over the world. Within seconds, something we post or send can reach someone all the way around the globe or reach millions of people at once.

John tells us to be in the world, but not of the world (15:19). What does that mean nowadays, the “not of?” 

I believe God wants us to live a real life here on earth. Walking around the same streets as unbelievers, breathing the same air as unbelievers, working the same jobs as unbelievers, interacting online with unbelievers — yet with the chief goal to display the glory of God in everything and not submitting to the powers of darkness in this world.

When Paul was talking about his ministry, he wrote in 1 Corinthians 9, “To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win against the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.”

That means getting eye level with the unbelievers around us, meeting them where they’re at, connecting with them personally in some way and then sharing the love of Jesus Christ with them right where they are.

Today, over half of our world population dedicates hours a day to social media sites. This IS where they’re at. And I think it is our job to meet them there. Amid their feeds. With the saving gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Great Commission looks different to every person in every walk of life, but the primary calling remains the same. “Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations.” We are here to make Him known — and I know for a fact that most days (no matter how many followers you have), there are more people that see what you post than people who interact with you in-person. Whether you have 200 followers or two million, rarely are you ever able to talk to that many people per day. 

What you share doesn’t need to be overly creative or fancy looking. Literally, you can take a photo of a Bible verse that stuck out to you and post it. Talk about what the Lord put on your heart, or what He’s teaching you. There are also countless Christian pages that do the work for you, then all you have to do is repost it. You never know who is going to read it at the right time, you never know whose heart God is knocking on at this very moment.

I cannot help but think that there are many unbelieving followers on the other side of your screen who are desperate without Jesus and seeking any kind of guidance or direction on how to give their life to Him. What if God is asking you to surrender your control over your accounts, and let Him use them?

Just imagine if every Christian posted what they learned in their morning quiet time, or what God was teaching them that day, or even just shared a scripture of the day. How would that radically change the world’s feed each day, with the billions of Christians surrendering their accounts to the work of the Holy Spirit? What a crucial role this technology could play in modern-day evangelism.

Acts 4:20 says, “For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” 

May this be our mantra — that we are walking so closely with the Father that we cannot help but to share what we are seeing and hearing.