Social Media and my Soul

John gave me an extravagant gift for Valentines Day.  A camera.  A really nice one that will take me a long time to learn how to use fully in order to do it justice.  For now I’m just enjoying experimenting with it and am grateful for such beauty around us in Tortola to try to capture.

One of the great things about digital cameras is the ability to erase and re-shoot what you don’t like.  And the editing capabilities!  John took a picture of me and my arms looked heavier than I wanted so I cropped them out!  This “image management” is nice, but it’s got me thinking about dangerous territory.           

Shane Hipps recently wrote an article for Relevant entitled, “Is Facebook killing our Souls?”  He says, “ We become creators and consumers of our own brand… We endlessly refine, create and consume a digital projection we want others to see. However, we are rarely what we project…”

Facebook, Twitter, Blogging…ah, so many opportunities for image management.  Does anyone else wrestle with discernment in this area?

Although my hope is that this blog would be helpful and about the journey we're all on, I also feel like it's a dangerous business - this "public" aspect of formation.  I recognize that I often care more about the comfortable appearance of holiness, than the discomfort of truly becoming holy.  For me social media can tempt me to live into my false self – the “me” that’s dependent on appearances and affirmation.  

I resonated with a caution I read recently by Rick Warren: "Blogging theology is far easier than living it.  Writing on ministry is easier than actually living it.  Beware of self-deception." 

I don’t have any great answers to this.

I'm trying to be cautious and embrace some spiritual disciplines.  One of those disciplines is a commitment to be still before God first and then prayerfully ask myself some questions:

Is this authentic?  Is it “you” or just the “you” you want to appear to be?

Are you offering it in a posture of humility as someone in the process of being refined?

Are you able to laugh at yourself? 

What would the only One who matters think of this update, post, tweet…whatever?  Would He recognize the you here as the one He knows?