March 14th, 2024
by Dr. Josh Franklin
by Dr. Josh Franklin
Social media is often praised for its ability to connect people, but it also comes with its own set of dangers. Despite the fact that we identify with each other in social communities, we often become confined to our own little groups and aren't exposed to different perspectives. In 2017, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg highlighted the potential of social media to bring people together during a speech in Chicago. He presented Facebook's plans to broaden its platform and connect people with each other. Zuckerberg believed that this would not only reverse the decline in community membership but also strengthen our social fabric and bring the world closer together.
And, of course, we can see some of the strengths of social media. We can see how it connects people virtually who are not able to connect physically. It's a great way to reconnect with old friends you may have lost touch with over the years or get to know new people. However, he took it one step further, and this is what really grabbed my attention. He claimed that Facebook was becoming the new church[1] in light of recent national declines in church attendance. He highlighted how Facebook is forming new communities.
In Analog Church, Jay Kim shared this story and also provided a rebuttal from Peter Ormerod, a journalist writing an article entitled “Mark Zuckerberg, the Church of Facebook Can Never Be. Here’s Why”[2]:
“[A]t their best, churches offer a perspective on life fundamentally opposed to the culture Facebook encourages and upon which it feeds…
“For one, churches are messy. They are not organised by any algorithm or tailored to the individual end user. Far from it: a church service is not made for any one person…
“We can’t just flick past the bits we don’t like: we are confronted with discomfiting Bible passages, impenetrable mysteries, harrowing truths. Unlike Facebook, a church tells us that we are not at the centre of the world.
“Rather than encouraging us to show off our best side at all times, a church compels us to examine ourselves in the round, to face up to those things about ourselves that we would like to pretend aren’t there…
“Facebook meanwhile presents us with impoverished, narrowed versions of ourselves – the version we think most of our friends think we are, all the better for those likes and shares. And churches, at their best, bring us into contact with people we would never think of as friends. There are cliques, of course. But we all come to the same table and drink from the same cup and sing the same songs and say the same prayers…
“It’s a breaking down of barriers, an awareness of mutual responsibility and dependence, a celebration of brokenness. It’s an unsanitised experience of humanity, and all the healthier for it…
“[A] good church is more than just a social network: it’s a place of transcendence, space, silence, peace, devotion, richness and depth. No matter how grand Zuckerberg’s visions may be, they will never compete.”
He is essentially saying that a good church is so much more than just a social network, and because of that, the church will never have to compete with the likes of Facebook or other social media platforms. Scot McKnight writes, “The church is God’s grand experiment, in which differents get connected, unlikes form a fellowship, and the formerly segregated are integrated. They are to be one.”
When I'm using social media or any other online platform, I often find myself interacting only with people who share my beliefs and values. This creates an echo chamber where we only hear our own opinions and perspectives. Meanwhile, other groups are isolated in their own echo chambers, leading to division when we finally come together. Social media platforms unintentionally (or maybe intentionally) cause unnecessary division among people. However, God's grand experiment called the church was designed to bring together people from all backgrounds under one roof. The church unites us under the banner of Jesus Christ, recognizing that His blood was shed for all of us, giving every single person the opportunity to have a relationship with God.
It's important to understand that as followers of Christ, we are not only related to God, but we are also related to one another. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we become brothers and sisters in Christ. It doesn't matter if we have never met in person; if we share the same faith in Jesus Christ, we are family. These are relationships that will last throughout eternity.
In Ephesians 2:14, Paul explains that Jesus breaks down the barriers that exist in our society.
Ephesians 2:14–18 (NKJV)
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,
16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.
18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
Ephesians 2:19, in the Living Bible, adds, “Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God’s very own family, citizens of God’s country, and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.”
He brings together people who come from different backgrounds, whether they are Jewish or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised. Jesus is our peace, and he has broken down the walls of separation between us and God, as well as the walls that separate us from each other.
The blood of Jesus reconciles us to God, bringing together sinful man and holy God. But it also brings us together as a community of believers. There are no longer "uss" and "thems." Instead, we are all one family, united by our faith in Jesus. We may be different from one another, but instead of being separated, we are brought together by the blood of Jesus. If we have given our life to Jesus and said, "Jesus, be my Lord and be my Savior," we are family.
“Dear Lord, thank You for bringing me close to You through what Jesus did on the Cross. Thank You also for bringing me into Your family. I belong with You for eternity, and I belong with my brothers and sisters as well. I pray I never take Your church for granted. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
[1] https://nypost.com/2017/06/29/mark-zuckerberg-says-facebook-is-the-new-church/
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/29/mark-zuckerberg-church-facebook-social-network
And, of course, we can see some of the strengths of social media. We can see how it connects people virtually who are not able to connect physically. It's a great way to reconnect with old friends you may have lost touch with over the years or get to know new people. However, he took it one step further, and this is what really grabbed my attention. He claimed that Facebook was becoming the new church[1] in light of recent national declines in church attendance. He highlighted how Facebook is forming new communities.
In Analog Church, Jay Kim shared this story and also provided a rebuttal from Peter Ormerod, a journalist writing an article entitled “Mark Zuckerberg, the Church of Facebook Can Never Be. Here’s Why”[2]:
“[A]t their best, churches offer a perspective on life fundamentally opposed to the culture Facebook encourages and upon which it feeds…
“For one, churches are messy. They are not organised by any algorithm or tailored to the individual end user. Far from it: a church service is not made for any one person…
“We can’t just flick past the bits we don’t like: we are confronted with discomfiting Bible passages, impenetrable mysteries, harrowing truths. Unlike Facebook, a church tells us that we are not at the centre of the world.
“Rather than encouraging us to show off our best side at all times, a church compels us to examine ourselves in the round, to face up to those things about ourselves that we would like to pretend aren’t there…
“Facebook meanwhile presents us with impoverished, narrowed versions of ourselves – the version we think most of our friends think we are, all the better for those likes and shares. And churches, at their best, bring us into contact with people we would never think of as friends. There are cliques, of course. But we all come to the same table and drink from the same cup and sing the same songs and say the same prayers…
“It’s a breaking down of barriers, an awareness of mutual responsibility and dependence, a celebration of brokenness. It’s an unsanitised experience of humanity, and all the healthier for it…
“[A] good church is more than just a social network: it’s a place of transcendence, space, silence, peace, devotion, richness and depth. No matter how grand Zuckerberg’s visions may be, they will never compete.”
He is essentially saying that a good church is so much more than just a social network, and because of that, the church will never have to compete with the likes of Facebook or other social media platforms. Scot McKnight writes, “The church is God’s grand experiment, in which differents get connected, unlikes form a fellowship, and the formerly segregated are integrated. They are to be one.”
When I'm using social media or any other online platform, I often find myself interacting only with people who share my beliefs and values. This creates an echo chamber where we only hear our own opinions and perspectives. Meanwhile, other groups are isolated in their own echo chambers, leading to division when we finally come together. Social media platforms unintentionally (or maybe intentionally) cause unnecessary division among people. However, God's grand experiment called the church was designed to bring together people from all backgrounds under one roof. The church unites us under the banner of Jesus Christ, recognizing that His blood was shed for all of us, giving every single person the opportunity to have a relationship with God.
It's important to understand that as followers of Christ, we are not only related to God, but we are also related to one another. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we become brothers and sisters in Christ. It doesn't matter if we have never met in person; if we share the same faith in Jesus Christ, we are family. These are relationships that will last throughout eternity.
In Ephesians 2:14, Paul explains that Jesus breaks down the barriers that exist in our society.
Ephesians 2:14–18 (NKJV)
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,
16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.
18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
Ephesians 2:19, in the Living Bible, adds, “Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God’s very own family, citizens of God’s country, and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.”
He brings together people who come from different backgrounds, whether they are Jewish or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised. Jesus is our peace, and he has broken down the walls of separation between us and God, as well as the walls that separate us from each other.
The blood of Jesus reconciles us to God, bringing together sinful man and holy God. But it also brings us together as a community of believers. There are no longer "uss" and "thems." Instead, we are all one family, united by our faith in Jesus. We may be different from one another, but instead of being separated, we are brought together by the blood of Jesus. If we have given our life to Jesus and said, "Jesus, be my Lord and be my Savior," we are family.
“Dear Lord, thank You for bringing me close to You through what Jesus did on the Cross. Thank You also for bringing me into Your family. I belong with You for eternity, and I belong with my brothers and sisters as well. I pray I never take Your church for granted. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
[1] https://nypost.com/2017/06/29/mark-zuckerberg-says-facebook-is-the-new-church/
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/29/mark-zuckerberg-church-facebook-social-network
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