Everyday Encouragement and Social Media

"But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today’, so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." Hebrews 3:13

A lot of people have been posting articles on how using social media ruins your life. They've been quoting researches promoted in the newspaper saying how our attention spans are shorter, how constantly multi-tasking is going to ruin our results, and how generally, as a society, we're going down the toilet.

Other researchers are saying some different things, however...  here are some other articles which discuss the new social media with a bit more positivity:

1. Teach to the Text Message 
2. National Poetry Day with Twitter
3. Self-Esteem... You'll notice, social media ISN'T the suspected cause in the fluctuation in Self-Esteem. 
4. Using your brain while reading research... 
5. Matter over Mind in Behavioural Research

But these articles about how society is changing is really beside the point. What I really wanna get down to, is encouragement and support in an increasingly "isolated" society. 

Vicar Nicky Gumble said in a sermon a few years ago that people report feeling lonelier despite increasing ways to "connect" across the world. 

The world has become small, as some people have put it. Years ago, one would have to send photos to see a beloved's face if they were away. Now skype lets your loved ones video call. Google and facebook are also working on voice and video chat platforms. 

Facebook is a world of information, both social and newsworthy. So are other information sharing platforms like the new google+, twitter, etc. I may get this wrong, but I believe one researcher reported that one New York Times has more information than someone in the 17th century would encounter in his/her entire lifetime. This article also talks about the history of information. (This is why I feel stupid so much... there's just SO much information out there). 

Let's backtrack to the time of Hebrews when (Paul?) wrote Hebrews... Generally, one lived with one's entire family compound. Even if you married, you just added extensions on the family compound. Generally one didn't move to different cities, although it wasn't entirely unheard of. You were surrounded by your family, your cousins, your close friends all the time. You didn't go off to work far away or study abroad and if you did, you probably didn't come back, but made a new life there. 

Basically, you were surrounded by love and encouragement all the time, and at the least, people who knew you really well and could call you out on your Sh**. 

Fortunately and Unfortunately for me, I moved to another continent, and all the people who know and love me really well are a few thousand miles away. No one knows that even though I seem really confident, I get my feelings hurt easily. No one knows that I'm sensitive about my crooked fingers and that I love cooking for people. No one knows that I have an issue with wanting to be smarter than others and that sometimes I need to lovingly be knocked down a peg or two. No one knows... 

So essentially I can "get away with" things here... but I also don't get the encouragement or love (or sometimes censure) that I also need. I'm building those kinds of friendships, but those relationships take time to build... so in the meantime, my besties and my family is still really important to me. 

The writer of Hebrews seemed to understand that as humans, we mess up. Even saved under the grace of the Savior, if left unchecked, we can slide into sin. We have to be vigilant. We have to be loved out of sin everyday. We need to encourage (not attack) each other everyday. We need encouragement everyday. Probably several times a day... 

We need the people who can tell us "umm that's a bit crazy, I think you need to calm down." And we need the people who say "I'll be praying for you." And the people who say "You look fabulous!" And the people who say "How are you?" And WAIT for a real response instead of a rushed "I'm fine, you?" as you run down a corridor. You need the people who know you well enough that when you say "AH I WANT A PEPSI!" They can say... "NO!!!" or sometimes "Let me get one for you..." Depending on the day... (I even read a study a few years ago that said that if you have a minimum of 4 hugs a day you are significantly less likely to develop depression... if this is the case, I need about a million hugs to make up for the days I've gone without :)) 

Skype, Facebook, Gmail Chat, and Email let me connect with those people everyday so that I can be encouraged everyday, so that I can encourage everyday. So that I can cry on skype with my best friends when I've had enough, and they can see my face. 

While I don't use facebook to have random people like my stuff and give me a lil boost, (although it's a temptation), I do use it to connect with the people who I would be spending time with anyway if I were home. 

Our relationship with God is paramount in our battle against bad self-esteem and doing the right thing and fighting temptation, but the Body of Christ is often the tool or place where those battles and opportunities get lived out. Whether we like it or not, we need one another, and if we're using facebook or gmail or blogs or twitter, we can be using them to love and encourage one another, to pray for one another, and to show people what Jesus is like and why He's awesome. 

In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell discusses the 10,000 hours of practice rule (to become a world-famous something)... the more we do something, the more those movements or ways of thinking or skills get programmed into our brains. My students listen to earphones a lot. Music is constantly in the background for them. Studies have shown that soft music (unfortunately not rock), actually helps people learn... so instead of fighting them and trying to untrain their brains to want music, I just put on some soft music in the classroom. They focus right down into the task... I can see some of them literally writhing in the silence, and settle when the music comes on. 

The point is, if social media is in our society (and it seems it is), then instead of vilifying it, we can use it for God's purposes. Of course, if you notice negative behaviours linked to social media, you are free to ban yourself from it, but with the mind that you are the one who needs to learn, needs to train, needs freedom... Social media is a great tool, but like the earlier bloggers mentioned, and I totally agree, hugs, voice calls, and meeting up with people is SO much better if you have the opportunity. Tools are just that, things that can be used in powerful ways for good and for evil... so lets all encourage one another to use them for good, and... let's just encourage one another. (HUG)