In the World (Wide Web) But Not of It

The internet. It’s amazing. Right? It allows us to communicate from far away at historically fast speeds. It makes research, study, and learning easier and more accessible to the masses than ever before. It made us realize that cute cat videos can consume our entire day if we let them. We can all find things we love about the internet.

At the same time, if we are honest, we all hate aspects of the internet. While social media hubs like twitter, tumblr, and facebook offer some of these great things they also introduce a tremendous amount of poisonous material into our daily lives.

I have days where I look through my Facebook feed and all I seem to see is gossip, fear, and narcissism. No matter the demographic of my friends, all I ever seem to see is self-obsession, shallow complaints, propaganda, polarized news stories, celebrity gossip, and other posts that makes me want to throw my computer out the window.

Just now I looked through my feed and saw an article from a popular news site demonizing Obama, a facebook quiz to determine which car my friend ought to drive, an update on football players who tipped a waitress with money they wipes in feces,  a buzzfeed post about the struggles of a week without makeup (followed by 3 satire interviews mocking it), a college friend’s status declaring their deletion of a friend, a blog bashing a family company, a complaint about democrats trying to tax Americans out of their homes, 15 sassy comebacks you have to admit are pretty good, a post talking about Nicki Minaj’s posterior, and of course a dozen advertisements for things I don’t need and can’t afford.

How we 'post', 'retweet', 'like', 'share' and 'surf' is an ethical matter and we must be intentional about it if we desire to truly be the salt and light of the world (wide web) that Jesus said we would be.

So what is a good Christian to do about the new watering hole of society known as social media? How do we traverse this online culture and noise? Assuming that we will be intentional, I see three options.

1. Christians make their own internet sites so they don’t have to visit ones that are filled with gossip, narcissism, materialistic advertisements, and promotions of fear.
2. Christians sign off the internet and move away from the online culture that so easily disrupts the shalom (holistic peace) of daily life.
3. Christians learn how to be online in an intentionally alternative manner that keeps them connected to everyone else.

The first two options are what are often called “sectarianism.” This is when we separate ourselves and focus inward to a point that we lose touch with others who are different from us or who are not in our sect/group. Jesus never calls his followers away from the main culture. He promotes times of solitude and times of fellowship with brothers and sisters of faith but he never promotes the abandonment of the “secular” spaces in our world. In fact, Jesus opens our eyes to see that the sacred/secular divides we often see are an illusion. God doesn’t live in temples or churches and Jesus hangs out with the dirty sinners (which is good news for all of us sinners). Everything on earth belongs to God, is culture any different? Is the internet any different?

The problem with the first option is that the advertisements, gossip, fear, and narcissism all find their way into the Christian version of popular social media hubs. Why? Because people are people, even when they are Christians. Sectarianism leads us to gossip about other sects, fear other sects, and be obsessed with our own sect. Beyond this, if we create knock-off versions of the “secular” cultural hubs then we dismiss the good talents and works of those whom God loves and has called us to love. It’s essentially saying “We recognize that something good exists but because it’s not perfect or ‘Christian’ (as we define the term) we’re going to create our own lesser version to appease our sectarian guilt.” A sectarian response to the morally compromised culture of the internet actually produces the very thing it seeks to reject and avoid. The attempt to escape gossip, fear, and narcissism actually ends up cultivating all three. This approach simply doesn't work. We can't baptize the internet.

Not only does this sectarian response produce what it seeks to reject but it also rejects the goodness that already exists within the product being rejected. As stated at the opening of this article, the internet is comprised of nuance and to operate in a way that denies this truth and opts for a fictional black and white view of reality is to deny the reality that God has placed us in. 

The second option is equally as problematic since it dismisses the neighbor. More than that, it runs from the neighbor. This is a flight response that throws the baby out with the bathwater. The logic goes like this: A) Because there is bad stuff on social media + B) and social media is a big part of the internet + C) and we need to stay “pure” and avoid that bad stuff = D) we should reject the internet. There are some great reasons to reject the internet in our daily lives but when we operate under this premise we still welcome fear into our lives. It’s akin to a young boy locking himself in his room in order to avoid the girls who have yucky cooties. In order to avoid sin we end up avoiding those we should socially embrace. It is anti-biblical to avoid those who are imperfect simply because we don't want to be associated with sin.

Holiness (meaning to be set apart for a godly purpose) is important and we should seek to be pure from sin and evil. So how do we remain pure, seek holiness, and embrace the nuance of internet culture? How we do be in the world (wide web) but not of it?

Option three. We learn how to be online in an intentionally alternative manner that keeps them connected to everyone else. We do this in both our approach to the social media and our navigation of it. 

In our approach we remember that everything we and others post is an outworking of what is within our hearts. What we post, share, etc. is an expression of who we truly are (like it or not).  Online life is actually pretty similar to offline life in many respects. We may feel braver online or consider it to be less personal but whatever we put on the internet is a product of our heart, of our person. Just like our offline lives, the internet is filled with goodness and filth. Nuance reigns supreme online and even though we have the options to change our 'preferences' and 'settings' so that we see only what we want to see, it may be more beneficial to accept all of what people give us, even if it isn't what we prefer. Along with that, we reject the notion that people are less human when online and we accept that they are created in the image of God and deserve our love, respect, and service.

A way we navigate the internet alternatively is to treat our online lives the same as our offline lives. We must try to do this because whether we are online or offline we are living our real life. The two seemingly separate lives actually belong to a singular and unified life of one person. My online life is actually a part of my reality, just like my offline life.

So what do we do about the bad stuff and good stuff? How do we 'post', 'retweet', 'like', 'share' and 'surf' in a holy, pure, and honest way as Christians who know that our online activity should match our offline activity? Below are some suggestions.

1. Look beyond the posts and see the people. If the posts are discouraging you from seeing the person with mercy and you find yourself demonizing and dismissing the person then strike up a conversation to help you better see that they are image bearers of God.
2. Treat people online the way you’d want to be treated (both online and offline). Don't talk behind people's backs or interact in ways that are convenient for only yourself.
3. Only pursue the things that will uplift/encourage/challenge/unify. Don’t read or 'share' the gossip articles.(Please don’t mistake this for positivity self-help. Invest in the heartbreaking posts but don't give time to things that destroy)
4. When you want to share something first ask yourself “Is this honest?” “Is this helpful?” “Is this loving?” “Is this damaging?” "Would Jesus be pleased with this?" If it still feels good then post away. Otherwise, let it get lost in cyberspace.
5. Remember, even though the internet may make it seem so, the truth is that it isn’t about you. It's unhealthy to see our own picture and words as often as we do. It keeps us from focusing on others.

This discussion is much bigger than this post and the ways we must change are greater in number than my suggestions. My hope is that this is a springboard for improving the way we view the internet and how we interact online. Perhaps we won’t see advertisements decrease or our feeds become more pleasing but we’ll have more peace and we’ll extend that peace to others both in their feeds and when we meet them offline. I hope this drop in the bucket helps your thirst.