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Satan And Facebook
4 Ways Satan Tries to Devour Us through
Facebook
.
Topher Haddox
Crosswalk.com Contributing Writer
Social media has no
doubt changed the way we think and live, but how beneficial is that for those
in Christ?
I believe that
social media can be an effective platform for the spread of the gospel.
There are plenty of
Christ-centered resources in the online community that I use on a daily basis
to help me grow spiritually.
But if we’re
honest, we probably spend a small portion of our time advancing our spiritual
growth, while the rest is spent on aimless scrolling.
We spend hours a
day consuming endless information, pictures, and videos without any safeguard
for our minds.
For Christians,
I’ve found that this is dangerous territory.
This potentially
turns the mind into an open plain, with Satan prowling through the grass like a
lion, waiting to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)
Here are four ways
the enemy tries to devour you through social media:
1. Satan wants your marriage.
It starts with a like here, and a like there.
She’s only a friend.
You justify the innocent interaction of the like button
because it doesn’t cross any solid lines.
You gradually push the boundary line further and further back.
Maybe the likes and comments lead to private conversations.
Remember, sin is never satisfied with the amount of you it has.
Sooner or later you are hiding conversations from your spouse.
Before you know it, you’re involved in a mental, perhaps even a physical
affair.
Many studies show that Facebook is the most common place that an
affair starts.
I’ve seen it happen to close godly friends that thought they
would never get to that point. Unless you have safeguards in place, it can
happen to you.
I used to roll my eyes when I saw couples with joint Facebook
accounts, or shared passwords.
But now I get why most of them do it. Those couples realize the
dangers. Those couples are fighting for what they have.
Give your spouse access to your social media. Believe me, having
that accountability is absolutely necessary.
You are far less tempted to hide anything. And if you have
anything to hide from your spouse, it is more than likely sinful.
“Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the
vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.” (Song of Solomon 2:15)
2. Satan wants your pure thoughts.
If you are fighting the sin of lust, I suggest taking a break
from social media, perhaps even indefinitely.
Your relationship with God is infinitely more valuable than
Facebook.
Aimlessly scrolling through the mind-numbing newsfeed is one of
the most dangerous things a Christian can do.
In my experience, that’s where pure thoughts go to die.
We live in a pornographic culture and
it is almost impossible to avoid while scrolling.
Couple that with the ease of giving into lustful thoughts and
it’s a disaster for holy living.
The temptation to scroll back up for one more look is even more
dangerous because its privately done.
Satan will whisper that it’s okay to look because there’s no
harm. Who’s going to know?
It can be your little pet sin. But just like I mentioned in the
previous section, it won’t stop there.
Unfollow, unfriend, or delete your account if you have to.
Remember the areas that caused you to stumble before and run the
other way.
But don’t merely run from them, run to the open arms of Christ
Jesus. Run to the promises of His Word.
Matthew 5:8 tells us that the pure in
heart will see God!
Keep your heart pure and fixed on the Father.
Get rid of anything that might hinder that. It’s absolutely
worth it, and absolutely deadly if you don’t.
“The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled
and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.” (1 Peter 4:7)
3. Satan wants your time.
Social media is a very handy tool that Satan uses to rip your
attention and affection from God.
John Piper quips, “One of the great uses of Twitter and
Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not from lack
of time.”
Ouch.
If you compare your daily amount of time spent on Facebook to
prayer, how does it measure up? If the former is greater, I wouldn’t simply
shrug that off.
Psalm 1 tells us the blessed man
meditates day and night on the Word of God.
How can we know what to pray unless we meditate on His Word?
How can we read the Word, much less meditate on it day and night
if we’re constantly scrolling through social media?
We’re simply choosing the pleasures of this world rather than
spending time with the God of the universe. It’s that simple.
Because we’re not pursuing God like we should, we get bored and
are attempting to fill the void with constant entertainment.
I’m guilty of pulling up Facebook at the slightest bit of
boredom. It's almost second nature to us now.
But what if God is wanting to meet you in your boredom to reveal
His purpose to you?
Get away from the constant newsfeed noise that the enemy wants
to use to fog your mind.
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be
acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)
4. Satan wants your worship.
I don’t mean devil-worshiping as in pentagrams, black robes, or
any of that garbage. What I’m talking about is much more subtle and
inward-focused.
Social media can train us to worship the idol of self. We
essentially create mini shrines of ourselves, striving for praise via the
almighty like.
Satan wants you focused on yourself. If you’re inward-focused,
you won’t be focused on Jesus.
You can’t be self-absorbed and have compassion
for others.
If the enemy can keep us distracted by keeping our faces buried
in a screen, then we won’t be able to see the hurting world around us.
We certainly won’t be missions-minded if we’re consumed
with our own lives.
“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility
of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3)
In 1 Corinthians 10:31, Paul tells us to glorify
God in whatever we do. This includes social media. We can either wield Facebook
for God’s glory, or Satan’s.
Topher Lee Haddox is a caffeine-addicted husband,
daddy, and drummer. Born and raised in Louisiana, Topher enjoys the great
outdoors and his new-found fascination with hiking. He can usually be found
swinging in his hammock, coffee in hand, or pecking away at his next article.
He has a deeply ingrained passion for worship and feeding others the Word of
God. His work appears regularly on Crosswalk. Visit his blog at https://topherhaddox.wordpress.com/.
https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/4-ways-satan-tries-to-devour-us-through-facebook.html
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