Not So Social Media

Daniel

Daniel, of Jewish royalty, was exiled to and raised in Babylon, and chosen to be schooled in its language and literature.  In other words, Daniel was steeped in Babylonian culture: he was adept at their cultural, moral and philosophical structures, which, at points were anathema to his monotheistic heritage.  

Early on in his education, he forced a point of difference, and in so doing proved the wisdom, the observable difference of his separation, when he refused the rich fare from the king’s table.  He was applauded for this.  

Later he came into life threatening conflict with the powers when refusing to obey the King’s edict about whom one could pray to.  His disobedience was almost the occasion of his demise.  He was thrown to the lions for this.  

Admired and despised, loved and hated.   

And yet, remarkably, he out-lasted the suzerainty of four Kings.  

Daniel is a remarkable example of being culturally aufait and counter cultural.  He understood and utilized the culture, but he was not captive to it.  Where needed he faced into the raging wind of Babylonian power, and where required he worked within it.

Us

Social media is a tsunami of facts, opinions, misinformation, vitriol, and accusation without defence.  It assumes to be judge, jury and executioner.  Its damage ranges from being a nuisance to a cause of suicide.  Any appeal to impartiality is a lost cause, as Facebook is currently discovering with massive losses of advertising revenue over its seeming inability to cull hate-speech invective. 

On the other hand, social media can be social - it can be used to inform, entertain, and delight.  It depends on who wields the s/word or the picture.  And as with any tool, it quickly loses its neutrality in the hands of the aggrieved, the thoughtless, and the malcontent.  

But for many, it is a way to keep in touch, to foster connections.  Fun and beauty can be mediated by social media, along with thoughtfulness, kindness and truth.  

This is all obvious though - nothing new here.  

Daniel

Of greater concern is not its use, but that it may be using us.  We need the dexterity of Daniel in being able to weave our way between employing and being employed by, between mastering and being mastered by.

The easy option is to simply condemn it - avoid at all costs.  But this is problematic as it is a tool that wielded correctly has positive benefit – even in our Babylon.  Daniel didn’t fail to employ his knowledge of the “language and literature” of Babylon with acuity.  Much of his task was a human/creational endeavour as much as a Babylonian/fallen perspective.  Administration of a kingdom is still administration; of itself, administration is a noble task. 

But where Babylon defied Jerusalem, Daniel was no longer carried along with the tide.  At great personal cost he swam upstream.  He would not become the mindless pawn of the powers that demand fawning obsequiousness.  His failure to bow was their opportunity to crucify him, but his resolution shut the mouths of lions.

Us

Vortex’s of opinion agitate and swirl around social media.  We must take care we don’t become a repeating station of ill-informed and spiteful words.  

Jesus can be proclaimed on social media, but Jesus can as easily be defamed on social media.  How?  By God’s people reacting, retweeting, entering slanging matches, picking up on point-proving diatribe, all of which does little to advance the kingdom of God and the cause of Christ’s love.  Not for no reason did Jesus teach in the Lord’s prayer – “Hallowed be your name,” or make your name holy in your people, juxtaposed to God’s people bringing into ill repute to his holy name. 

Daniel got it right.