The More You Know
“Now that I have seen, I am responsible… faith without deeds is dead.” - Albertine by Brooke Fraser
We were not meant to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders.
Yet, we live in a time when it appears that we do.
It has been three weeks since I decided to take a break from social media. Only caveat is - I am the social media manager for our church, which has honestly hindered me for quite some time in being able to take extended time away (pray for your social media managers). But I would say I am about 80% unengaged, and only logged on to the business accounts needed to keep the church engagement running smoothly. I have abandoned my personal accounts for now.
This change has freed up a lot of my mental and emotional capacity. It allows me to connect more organically and personally with others. And, most importantly, it allows me to be there for the people right in front of me.
The first few days were a little lonely, I’ll be honest. I felt like I had no idea what was going on with anyone and, when I did see people, I felt like maybe they expected me to! We often don’t realize how many conversations are spurred on based on what we see people post online or how much others feel connected to us based on what we share.
This need for connectedness and to be “in the know” is probably the main appeal of social media for me. I have friends all over the country and world, that I keep up with online. It is a blessing… but it’s also very heavy. The weight was more than I even realized, until it was lifted.
I think this is because we are slowly, like the frog in the pot of boiling water, adapting to a world that is causing us to carry way more than intended - until we snap, break, or fall on our face.
Every day that we wake up, with our families, there is an amount of stress that we will face just within our own homes. Then you add on school, careers, community events, children and the expectations and demands of society. Each of us has a different capacity and amount we are able to juggle and carry. It is impossible to know how much is too much, until we've reached our limit. When this happens, we will know and something will have to give. Unfortunately, for a lot of people, our families suffer.
How is it possible? That the only place where no one else can do our job, becomes the one place that everyone is quick to put under pressure?
I know, for myself, we know the people closest to us are unconditional and will never leave. Yet, we feel the need to please and meet the expectations and conditions of others, so that they won’t leave.
We are in bondage to our followers.
Let me tell you right now… followers are fickle. They come and they go. You will never please everyone. If you are withering under the pressure of a following, I pray right now you will release that to the Lord and find freedom from the fear of people.
Now for others, it’s not the fear of people we are battling… but the need for control. We want to control other’s perception of us. We want to control the narrative. We want to control the comment section. We want to control everything, except, ourselves.
I say all of this from experience, not judgment. We are inundated with information, news and headlines every day that will cause us to practice the fruits of the Spirit. Most often, self-control.
December 31st, I heard a whisper from the Lord about a possible social Sabbath for the month of January. I wasn’t sure if I heard Him correctly… so January 1st, I woke up and continued my normal routine of a quick scroll through all my social media apps to see what I missed during my 7 hours of sleep.
I saw a post from a friend that stirred an immediate negative reaction within me.
It had to do with the inerrancy of Scripture, which I am very passionate about. Of course, I needed to come to the defense of the Word of God and the Lord… I needed to make sure that everyone else who saw this post was not led astray by their weak interpretation of Scripture.
I left a comment and then prayed.
This is too much. I whispered to the Lord. It is impossible for me to see a train wreck about to happen and NOT want to stop the train in its tracks.
The comment section went, about as bad, as expected. There was a difference of opinions, there was subtle superiority. The battle of likes began.
In the midst of it all, I received a private message that reminded me that social media is not reality.
Do you know what’s really going on behind the scenes of your favorite influencer?
Do you know how she treats her family? Does she wave at her neighbors? Is her husband proud of her? Do her children know time with them is most important?
If the people in front of us are not priority, everything else is a facade.
That day, I may not have changed the mind of this friend (that I have not spoken to, in-person, for 15 years) on her interpretation of Scripture. But you know what I could do? Teach my children to know the Truth. Talk to another friend, face to face, about it.
Maybe social media is robbing us of time that could be spent actually forming and shaping the ones who God has entrusted us to walk beside.
What have I missed the last three weeks?
That’s a good question. I wouldn’t know!
The best thing that has come from this social Sabbath has been the ability to free up mental and emotional energy to spend it in better ways.
Do I need to carry all the political and social chaos of the world? No. I really can’t juggle that and what my family is going to eat for dinner tonight.
Maybe in another season of life.
For now, I’ll stick to making tacos and look forward to a great conversation over dinner about what God is doing in the lives of my thirteen, eleven and eight year old.
If I’m accountable for what I see… then let it be the faces of those right in front of me.
Social media can burn out the soul —it’s taking in- taking on - giving away too much - Over burdens us. Where as Christ is asking us to carry His yoke. Loved your words on this. Thank you 🙏
This is very well timed and well written. Definitely stirred some conviction in my heart. You are so right that we aren't met to carry all of the things social media can throw at us , and I think our Heavenly Father would plead with us not to try. He knows it is too much to us. Thanks for sharing.