When I first started writing here, blogging was “the thing”. But that has slowly waned in popularity until, today, few people are reading anything. It went from blogging to Twitter (reading short sentences) to, finally, not reading at all. We live in a world where shorts and reels (short videos) have taken over the world of social media.
And I have to wonder: What is this doing to our brains?
In the midst of that concern are the content creators who will do almost anything to get noticed. With the birth of social media came a reality perhaps none of us expected: Anyone can become famous.
When I was a kid, this was simply not possible. It would take a lot of connections and a good dose of luck (to put it in worldly terms) to become a household name.
But that is not the case any longer. Now anyone can be famous through YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.
Of course, there are some very sincere content creators who are not out for the fame. But the siren song* of fame will call out to anyone who puts themselves online.
After I was writing for a few years, I almost followed that song myself. I started following a social media influencer who gave me “rules” to follow that would increase my popularity. Interestingly enough, this “Christian” told me why I could freely boast on myself and put myself out there as something special as I tried to gain likes and followers.
It did not sit well with me. And I waffled. What was I doing?
Finally, one day I heard a pastor say that he leaves his sermons in the hands of the Lord. He trusts God to get them to the ears of the people that need to hear them. His desire is to simply be faithful.
As always, God’s timing is perfect. It was exactly what I needed to hear as I struggled with that siren song.
I am no pastor, but I took on that same philosophy for this ministry. I stopped trying to gain followers and simply wrote what I hoped and prayed was faithful to the Word of God.
A few years later, God totally surprised me when one of my posts went viral (I wonder if any of you are around here long enough to remember that? Perhaps some of you found me during that time?) It was completely unexpected. And threw me for a bit of a loop, if I am honest.
Nothing like that has ever happened again. And I am okay with that. It was a such a good lesson for me to learn. God will bring to the blog (and the Facebook page) whoever belongs there. My job is to just be faithful to His Word.
As I experienced, the siren song of fame and popularity can call loud. Even if we are not on social media, this can be a temptation for so many of us…at work, in our families, in our churches. We want to be popular. We want to be liked.
As believers, we have to remember that “we have died and our life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3); that we “are crucified with Christ, and therefore we no longer live” (Galatians 2:20).
Instead of drawing people to ourselves and all that we have done or accomplished, we want to draw people to Christ and what He has done.
I know there are believers with a social media presence that have nothing to do with the Bible. They are teaching people to cook or fish or use the computer. These are good things. I have learned a lot from people online and I am thankful for it.
But, at the end of the day…whether we are online or aren’t…whether we are in a career or ministry that is focused on temporal things or eternal…we believers need to keep our mind set on things above (Colossians 3:1-2).
And, while none of us will do that perfectly, I am so thankful for the Bible that, if we are faithfully reading and studying it, will help us do just that.
*Siren song—A pleasant or beautiful song that lures people into danger. In this case, spiritual danger.