We all have at least one friend on Facebook or some other social media platform who seems to have everything perfect at all times. I mean they're always posting perfect pictures where their make-up is just right, they don't have a hair out of place (#wokeupthisway), their kids all look like perfect angels, they've got the perfect boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse. They go on fabulous vacations ALL the time, their house looks like it came out of a Pottery Barn magazine, they have a dream job, etc. Then we look at ourselves and we see how imperfect we are. Sometimes it's a miracle if we have a clean shirt on before walking out of the house.
But here's something to remember, the life that someone's Facebook portrays and their real lives are vastly different. Facebook is kind of like a highlight reel, only the best moments make it. Most people (there are exceptions) don't want to broadcast to the world about the dirty, gritty parts of their lives. They only want people to see the glossy, pretty stuff. The truth is, everyone is struggling with something.
Unfortunately, this Facebook mentality has transferred into the church. I know it's always been around, but with the advent of social media, it's become more present. We don't want fellow church members to know that we've been struggling or that we're having problems. We just want them to see us as pretty, glossy, magazine cut-outs.
For example, here's how a conversation with a friend at church SHOULD go:
Friend 1: Hey, how's your week been?
Friend 2: Well, I've been having some issues with anxiety this week. And then there's this person at work who's really been giving me trouble. And one of the kids needs glasses, but we're still trying to pay for Toby's braces. And the car's transmission went out this morning, I don't know what we're going to do.
Friend 1: I'm so sorry to hear that. You know our kids are at the same school, and your house is on our way. I could pick them up until you get the car fixed.
Friend 2: Oh, you don't have to do that..I-
Friend 1: No, you guys helped us when our car broke, let me help you.
Friend 2: Thank you.
Friend 1: Here let me pray for you....
Here's how they usually go:
Friend 1: How has your week been?
Friend 2: Oh it was great! Thanks, how bout you?
Friend 1: Pretty great. I'll see you later.
So obviously the above conversations are just examples. However, as most people know when it rains it pours.(And just a disclaimer, I'm not saying you go blab your whole life's story to everyone you see at church, just those who are close to you like a Sunday School class.)
God designed the church to be a fellowship of believers who could come behind each other and offer encouragement, correction, prayer, sympathy, support, etc. If we take on the attitude of a Social Media Faith, where we present only a facade of perfection to those around us, we will never grow in our faith, and we can never be what Jesus wants us to be to fellow believers.
Now I know from personal experience that it is VERY HARD to be vulnerable to others. I've always been VERY guarded when it comes to personal stuff, but I'm learning (through some not so fun stuff) that there are times when my vulnerability is exactly what Jesus wants to use. You never know the day you share something with a friend or in a Sunday School class, someone else could be struggling with the exact same thing but didn't want to speak up. By talking about what you're struggling with you may really help that other person with their fight.
Someone once told me, The Word of God never comes back void. It doesn't matter how long, weeks, days, months, years, or even seconds, it will always hit its mark. I think it's the same way about being vulnerable before God. He will always use it, no matter what it will always be used to further His kingdom.
Final thoughts: I hope this encourages you to be more authentic with your fellow believers. Again, I'm not saying broadcast your life story to everyone in the church membership (although if that's what God called you to do, more power to you). What I am saying is get a close group of friends around you, CHRISTIAN friends who will lift you up and who you can lift up. People you can share your struggles with, pray for, have fun with. These types of friends are vital to the Christian life.
But here's something to remember, the life that someone's Facebook portrays and their real lives are vastly different. Facebook is kind of like a highlight reel, only the best moments make it. Most people (there are exceptions) don't want to broadcast to the world about the dirty, gritty parts of their lives. They only want people to see the glossy, pretty stuff. The truth is, everyone is struggling with something.
Unfortunately, this Facebook mentality has transferred into the church. I know it's always been around, but with the advent of social media, it's become more present. We don't want fellow church members to know that we've been struggling or that we're having problems. We just want them to see us as pretty, glossy, magazine cut-outs.
For example, here's how a conversation with a friend at church SHOULD go:
Friend 1: Hey, how's your week been?
Friend 2: Well, I've been having some issues with anxiety this week. And then there's this person at work who's really been giving me trouble. And one of the kids needs glasses, but we're still trying to pay for Toby's braces. And the car's transmission went out this morning, I don't know what we're going to do.
Friend 1: I'm so sorry to hear that. You know our kids are at the same school, and your house is on our way. I could pick them up until you get the car fixed.
Friend 2: Oh, you don't have to do that..I-
Friend 1: No, you guys helped us when our car broke, let me help you.
Friend 2: Thank you.
Friend 1: Here let me pray for you....
Here's how they usually go:
Friend 1: How has your week been?
Friend 2: Oh it was great! Thanks, how bout you?
Friend 1: Pretty great. I'll see you later.
So obviously the above conversations are just examples. However, as most people know when it rains it pours.(And just a disclaimer, I'm not saying you go blab your whole life's story to everyone you see at church, just those who are close to you like a Sunday School class.)
God designed the church to be a fellowship of believers who could come behind each other and offer encouragement, correction, prayer, sympathy, support, etc. If we take on the attitude of a Social Media Faith, where we present only a facade of perfection to those around us, we will never grow in our faith, and we can never be what Jesus wants us to be to fellow believers.
Now I know from personal experience that it is VERY HARD to be vulnerable to others. I've always been VERY guarded when it comes to personal stuff, but I'm learning (through some not so fun stuff) that there are times when my vulnerability is exactly what Jesus wants to use. You never know the day you share something with a friend or in a Sunday School class, someone else could be struggling with the exact same thing but didn't want to speak up. By talking about what you're struggling with you may really help that other person with their fight.
Someone once told me, The Word of God never comes back void. It doesn't matter how long, weeks, days, months, years, or even seconds, it will always hit its mark. I think it's the same way about being vulnerable before God. He will always use it, no matter what it will always be used to further His kingdom.
Final thoughts: I hope this encourages you to be more authentic with your fellow believers. Again, I'm not saying broadcast your life story to everyone in the church membership (although if that's what God called you to do, more power to you). What I am saying is get a close group of friends around you, CHRISTIAN friends who will lift you up and who you can lift up. People you can share your struggles with, pray for, have fun with. These types of friends are vital to the Christian life.
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (ESV)
Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.
James 5:16-18 (MSG)
Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:24-25 (MSG)
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