Two Or More Shall Gather

We need community. We were not created to live alone and no matter how busy, occupied or important you may feel you are, God’s people were designed for people. Communitas is the Latin term for a gathering of believers, and currently, social media is the mechanism for achieving that need.

In today’s toxic social media environment, I prayed about the types of engagements we should pursue. Not everyone logged in is suitable for your feed. But, how do we go about making that determination? I went to the beginning for an answer.

By beginning, I mean all the way back to the very creation of existence when God said it wasn’t good for man to be alone. While this example is popular for marriage lessons, I want to expand it, and apply the same principles to social media.

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” ~ Genesis 2:18

Community

Just to set the table as I connect Genesis 2 to social media 1.0, God is the God of order and structure. There was structure in His creation and there remains the need yet lack of application of order across all social platforms. Since this is based on lessons learned from the Garden of Eden, it’s useful to understand that it too was orderly.

God even set Adam (in Hebrew means mankind) in charge of His creation for the purpose of setting it in order. Can you imagine naming everything. I mean literally everything? Within Eden, which is a slice of heaven on earth, Adam lived in perfect unity with God.

How’d it get jacked up? Sin!

Simply put; Adam and Eve broke the rules set by God intended to maintain unity, harmony and order. Social media is a minefield, and one way to avoid the bad fruit is by following God’s example.

Choose Wisely

Before God created woman as man’s suitable helper (…allowed Adam to log onto social media), he was developed for a positive purpose. We should also access our social media use with a similar purposeful approach. Chasing rabbit holes, click baits and engaging in toxic arguments are not productive.

Just like creation, social media connections have an order to the chaos. Before investing your precious life’s time on others in the 3rd space, use the example of Adam to decide if those being social are a good fit for connecting within your Eden.

Be this type of person and pursue these types of people for social media engagements.

• Person who walks with God – Adam walked with God in the cool of the day.
• Person who works – Adam was given a job as the earth’s project manager.
• Person who cultivates – Adam was told to nurture and grow his atmosphere.
• Person who protects – Adam was responsible for guarding and caring for God’s creation.
• Person knows God’s Word – God gave Adam specific instructions about life in His creation.

While you should not engage with everyone on social media, by using this example to vet others as well as making sure you also live out these same biblical qualities, you will avoid the toxicity of social media, and possibly discover positive and purposeful Christian connections within the digital realm. Choose wisely.