Facebook, Twitter and Unrealistic Expectations
In less than ten years, Facebook has grown from a small network of Harvard students wanting to stay connected to a worldwide phenomenon with over 1 billion subscribers. Twitter was launched just a few years ago by Jack Dorsey. Today there are over half a billion users and that number is growing by 135,000 a day!
Social media has become part of our everyday lives. It’s radically changed the mode of communication in the 21st century. Some people love it. Others hate it. But, love it or hate it, Facebook, Twitter and the growing number of other social media platforms are here to stay.
Social media can be a valuable tool. It can be used to report up-to-the-minute news, promote a cause or just stay connected with old friends. But like anything else it can also be used for less-than-honorable purposes.
A brick can be used to build a school or break a window. How it’s used depends on whose hand it’s in – a builder or a thief! Whether social media has a good or bad impact depends upon the person using it.
Social media is a great tool in the church world. It’s used to connect with people, promote missions, offer encouragement and even share the Gospel. Unfortunately, it’s also used as a platform for gossip and criticism. It’s sad that marital infidelity oftentimes begins with inappropriate interaction on social media. But, just like we don’t outlaw bricks because some people use them to break windows, we can’t ignore the value of social media or boycott it just because some people misuse it.
There is another, less-obvious danger of social media – especially in the church world. What we read on Facebook or Twitter can result in us having unrealistic expectations about our churches and ministries. If we’re not careful we’ll compare our behind-the-scenes life with everyone else’s highlight reel!
You know what I’ve NEVER seen on Facebook or Twitter? A post like this from a pastor or church leader….
“Terrible crowd today. Worship was dead. Praise team missed it. My sermon never got off the ground. Met with a family after church who’s decided to leave. I feel like quitting.”
Never once have I seen a post like that. It’s always something like this:
“WOW! Unbelievable service today! Packed house. 497 baptized. Miracles of healing. Message was incredible!”
The truth is we all have sub-par church services on occasion. Sometimes our sermon just isn’t that good. Sometimes the praise team chooses the wrong song. Sometimes disgruntled people leave the church. But we don’t ever share that. I wish people would on occasion. I think I will. The next time we have a sub-par service, I’m going to share the “not-so-spectacular” report on social media.
When, multiple times a day, we read all the great victory reports, we are tempted to compare our week-in and week-out 
reality with other people’s best moments! We think, “Why isn’t my church seeing those fantastic results every week?” The reality is that we all have off weeks; we just don’t post about them. Facebook and Twitter can set us up for unrealistic expectations. Nobody (but Jesus) is on 100% of the time. I have a secret about that pastor who just posted that incredible report – it was probably his first post in 10 weeks!
I’m not implying that we should be timid about reporting the great things that God is doing. We should not keep silent about growth, revival and victory! (As long as our motives are about exalting Him and not us.) I just think that when we ONLY share the pinnacle moments, we can actually discourage others when we are hoping to build their faith. Perhaps when I have a “not-so-great” week and share it on social media it could actually be an encouragement! I love to hear great reports of what God is doing in churches around the world. But when I hear a great pastor of a great church admit that sometimes even he has an off week, I realize I’m not alone in being human. To me, that’s encouraging. I’m not encouraged by someone else’s bad week, but by the reality that, if another pastor had an off Sunday, but he’s pressing on – then I, too, can recover from a bad Sunday and go on and have revival! Being honest about my own weaknesses may even bring a greater dimension of God’s strength into my situation.
I’m not advocating that we use social media to give glory to the devil (bless his holy name!) I just think a little honesty would serve us all better than implying that EVERY Sunday is “Off the Chain!”
~ Pastor Ball
3 Comments
This was a great post, Pastor Ball! It’s nice to feel connected to FAC still, through the wonder of social media, or just plain old email. 🙂
well put! “you may be comparing your behind the scenes life to someones highlights” needs to be heard!!
but my faithbook tells me to speak things that are not as though they were! BTW did you hear about our 120 crowd on Sunday?
We’re less inclined to report on the sowing than we are the reaping. Thank you, Bro. Ball! You encouraged me.