PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: SOCIAL MEDIA

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, LOVE THAT CROSS: SIN IN OUR LIVING ROOMS

Years after Reverend David Wilkerson preached that the Internet was a distraction and a means to separate families, that television was becoming too violent for children to watch unsupervised, Pastor John Collins emphasizes that social media has become a means for separating families, promoting violence and bullying, and creating secrets.

Pastor John Collins, evangelist and head pastor of Love That Cross Ministries, cautions that social media has been given too much control over our lives.  The amount of time that children spend on social media is detrimental to their development and to their socialization.  It separates us from our friends and our families, and children are being exposed to too much, too early.  Children are not being allowed to be children, are not being given the opportunity to grow through play, and adults are not taking the responsibility of teaching them about the Bible, God and Jesus.

Pastor John Collins cautions that content is provocative, negative, promotes vanity, and the medium itself takes away from the personal interactions that create relationships.  Look around the family room, if anyone is there as a family, and you will see that if someone speaks, others are engrossed in whatever is happening on a screen.  Multitasking is not the way to develop relationships.

“As convenient as the Internet is, it is necessary to remember the danger of it as well. Children need to be children, have fun and play with other children. Kids should be educated about God and Jesus Christ and should be kept close and safe and surrounded by love. Be aware of what your children are doing and be aware of the example that you are setting.” ~ Pastor John Collins

Pastor John Collins writes:

“Having many things to write to you, I did not wish to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.” 2 John 1:12 (NKJV).

“Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.” 3 John 1:11 (NKJV).

Communication has changed with the invention of technology that supports the World Wide Web with a push of a button. People all over the world use their phones and computers to express themselves on their social media and even our advertising has changed to accommodate your preferences all determined by your browsing history. There are apps for this and apps for that. Photos and videos are uploaded by the millions each day. Over 40 billion photos and videos have been shared on Instagram since its inception. And for all of the viewing capabilities and communicating capabilities that we have there is a breakdown in basic relationships that should sadden each and every one of us. Families aren’t talking at the dinner table, children are keeping secrets from their parents and parents are living secret lives that are created via the Internet. Gossip has exploded and bullies have new platforms and the levels of violence have escalated. Crime has increased with trafficking of victims, drugs and arms.

Betrayal comes cheap and easy for too many. Social media has created the ruination of many people and has even been the impetus for the suicide of many. We have become too obsessed with the Internet and given it too much power over us.

Photographs were not invented until 1826 and the first photo uploaded to the web was in 1992. Now, kids are obsessed with selfies and videos and that is truly a problem in our society. It just makes people more aware of their looks and it creates an obsession with vanity that is anti-biblical. Children are bombarded with technology here in America and in many countries around the world. The need to feed the social frenzy is all consuming and destructive. It is too easy to get bullied by others for looks, for weight, for clothes and for any other nonsense that seems relevant for the day. Too many pictures are too provocative and children seem to be wearing less and less as their ages creep up year by year. People are devoted to their appearances and to chronicle their lives through social media. It is ridiculous and it takes away from genuine interaction and genuinely valuable relationships that should be built. 

Children learn from watching their parents and they are also guided by their parents. What happens when the parents are also consumed with social media, taking photos of themselves and their lives and uploading every moment onto the web? Technology has become a weakness for people and it has become a doorway to sin. The Internet has brought sin directly into our homes and our hands and we just can’t seem to put it down. It is not only the picture and video taking, the constant commenting and obsessive watching of others and what they do and say but it is not bringing out the best in people and it is not increasing the quality of relationships with people. As convenient as the Internet is, it is necessary to remember the danger of it as well. Children need to be children, have fun and play with other children. Kids should be educated about God and Jesus Christ and should be kept close and safe and surrounded by love. Be aware of what your children are doing and be aware of the example that you are setting. Children grow up too fast as it is and we need to be proactive by preparing them to know the difference between good and evil and to teach them to choose the good. We need to protect them and protect ourselves by creating a wholesome and loving home that is safe from the outside world and influences and acknowledge the superficiality of all that can be found in the pictures, videos and words that are uploaded by the millions each and every day. Get grounded in the truth of God and hold on to that.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN COLLINS