Short Thought continued.....

The Subtle Seduction of Social Media?

 

It started innocently enough; a ‘ping’ on Messenger from a male ex-colleague,

enquiring about how life was these days.  It seemed innocent.

 

Then the questions became more personal and, without realising, I found myself sharing my thoughts, dreams and desires in a way that I would never have done in a random face-to-face encounter.  The anonymity of on-line ‘chat’ brought down my relational defences and I felt like I was privately journaling.

 

Except I wasn’t journaling ... I was sharing personal thoughts about myself, my relationships,

things that I perhaps wasn’t sharing with my spouse.

 

Unaware of the dangers, I continued chatting until one evening, minutes became an hour ... time flew by.

The chat started again the next morning and continued until...

 

One morning, my eyes were opened to the inappropriate nature and time spent chatting.

I was aware that too easily a line could be crossed and our online relationship could become something more.

 

We hadn’t had a relationship in ‘real-life’ for years.  The Intimacy developing between us was misplaced. 

The time taken had been stolen from another.

 

I saw what I was doing for what it was: inappropriate, betrayal, emotional adultery and sin. 

I fell to my knees in repentance and asked God’s forgiveness:

 

“Against you and against you only have I sinned...”

(Psalm 51:4)

 

Thanks to the Holy Spirit my story ended well –

but not without pain to my spouse when I confessed my lack of judgment.

 

As I consider the scope of influence that different forms of social media has,

I ponder the likelihood of this happening to others.

 

At the beginning of Friends Reunited and Facebook, stories abounded of old boyfriends and

girlfriends reuniting to the detriment of their current relationships/marriages.

 

Social media can be used wisely, with discernment, appropriately.  It can rally response to humanitarian crises, and bring to awareness of world events that otherwise might escape our notice.  Social media is not all bad.

 

My experience does however make me wonder:

Have we lost our natural caution when we engage socially online?

Does the relative anonymity of social media encourage behaviour that we’d otherwise shy away from?

Does the platform subtly conceal our actions?

After all, everyone is doing it.

 

God’s word offers us a clear message when engaging with our culture:

‘Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you

into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to

know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.’

(Romans 12:2 NLT)

 

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you anything God wants you to know about your own use of social media. 

Let’s determine to use it for good and for God’s glory!

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