Dave’s Monday Blast – January 6, 2020
I ran across this article a few days ago by Luke Greenwood. Luke works for an organization called Steiger Europe. Steiger is a worldwide mission organization that is called to reach and disciple the Global Youth Culture for Jesus. He resides in Warsaw, Poland.The title of the article: “If Timothy had Instagram” compelled me to read on, and I am delighted I did. The premise: “Avoid the idle talk, post what really matters.” Over the next couple of weeks I want to explore this topic of using social media in such a way that the Kingdom can be advanced and God glorified.
Timothy was so sold out for Jesus that when the Apostle Paul invited Him to go on his first mission trip, he agreed to the most extreme mission prep ever … getting circumcised! They traveled together everywhere and saw a lot of people come to Jesus. On occasion, Paul asked him to stay behind and take care of the new church plants; commissioning him in 2 Timothy 2:14 – 16 to speak the truth in such a way as to please the Lord.
Luke comments, “Timothy could have been a social media ninja. He was good at building relationships, so when he came to town, everyone would have started following him on Instagram.”
Paul cared very much about Timothy, calling him a “true son in the faith,” so he wrote letters to him, encouraging him in what he was doing for Jesus. These were public messages, and they would circulate the churches in the region…so it was kind of like Paul writing to Timothy on his wall instead of through his inbox, giving him life lessons right there on his public profile.
For Paul and Timothy, nothing was more important than the message of Jesus, His death and resurrection. Paul encouraged Timothy to stand strong in the truth, especially because many people at the time were teaching false ideas about Jesus, arguing over all kinds of subjects that were becoming major distractions to the young Christian community.
Luke continues: “Social media thrives today because it responds to a deeply felt need we have to be heard and to find our identities. We don’t know who we are anymore, and we don’t know what to believe. We’re told there’s no absolute truth and that no one really knows the answers to the big questions, which leaves us with nothing but our own opinions. So, we spend hours watching and reading other people’s thoughts, and voicing our opinion on anything that comes though our feed. Deep down, we’re trying to find ourselves, but it’s looking into an abyss.”
Social media presents a huge opportunity today to communicate truth with a broader public reach than ever before. Of course the pitfalls are myriad. Next week we will begin to unpack some timely and very INTENTIONAL advice from the Apostle Paul as he mentors young Timothy on using social media as he teaches truth. We will begin in 1 Timothy. Thanks in advance to Luke Greenwood and Biola University for the education on this critical topic.
