Episode #73 - The Day Social Media Went Down

Maybe it happened to you just like it did to me yesterday. You picked up your phone to open Facebook or Instagram...and nothing worked. In a rare, still unexplained event, these social media platforms went down globally! But you know what? For one whole day, no one was fighting with each other on Facebook. Well...whether it's up and running or not, Christians are called not to be quarrelsome. We are to distance ourselves from foolish, ingorant controversies. I think we all must strive to do better with how we engage on social media. 

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Transcript

Welcome back to all of our listeners! I’m BJ Sipe, and you’re listening to the Set Your Mind Above podcast – where everyday ordinary events teach us extraordinary eternal truths. I’m so glad that you’ve tuned in today, I am excited to share my life and my faith with you, and I sure hope that you’ll do the same with me along the way. 

As most of you know, Monday’s are one of my very favorite days of the week because we have designated every Monday as a family day. I don’t get to see much of my wife or kids on Sundays to be honest because of how busy they are, especially with preaching, so having that day of recovery is so important. Yesterday was fantastic – we spent the day doing not much of anything; we wrestled, played outside, watched movies, and then made homemade pizzas for dinner all together as a family. But something happened yesterday that was also out of the ordinary. I recently had to get a new phone last week because my old one finally bit the dust, and so I’ve been learning to use it and still am not 100% comfortable with it yet. As I was sitting and enjoying a mid-morning cup of coffee, I was trying to message a friend of mine on Facebook Messenger but it simply wasn’t loading. I thought it was odd, and I chalked it up to an issue with my new phone or something that I was doing wrong. So I restarted my phone and tried again. Nothing. I opened up google to see if my phone was just simply not connecting to the internet, but it opened up just fine and I have high speed internet connection. I decided to try other apps that were connected with Messenger like Facebook & Instagram…and none of them were working either. I decided to uninstall all of them from my phone, and then reinstall them – but when I went to sign back in, nothing was working. That’s when the notification came across my phone screen from a news source: Facebook & all corresponding apps associated with the company were down globally. Not just regionally, globally. For reference to how significant this is, Facebook is the third most visited website & app in the world, behind only Google & YouTube. In June of 2021 alone, Facebook had 20 billion visits, with 2.4 billion unique log ins and an average of 22 minutes and 43 seconds spent on their platform per visit. That’s 2.4 billion individual people that regularly look down at their phone and interact with others that suddenly went dark for an entire day. Initially I was bummed because on my day off I often enjoy using these platforms to catch up on sports news, interact with friends, or just veg out. But as they day went on, I actually enjoyed the social media fast. Instead of spending any time on my phone, I devoted that time solely to my children and my wife – and I was all the better for it. I started thinking about other benefits of Facebook & Instagram being down globally, when suddenly this realization came to mind: there was nobody fighting today. Far too often, social media has become a place where people come to debate, bicker, and bite at each other. It doesn’t matter what it is – it could be matters of religion, politics, sports, education – if there is a post on social media, it is only a matter of time before people start waging war in the comment section. But for a whole day at least, there was no fighting. No bickering. No debating. People just went about their own business and kept to themselves. I had to give my friend Edwin Crozier a hard time. Over the weekend he commented on one of my posts that he wanted world peace, and then suddenly on Monday all of Facebook goes down. Coincidence? I think not. Mission accomplished, well done Edwin! All jokes aside, I know there are some listening to this who probably didn’t even notice all of this yesterday before it was back online, and good for you! But for the rest of you who noticed, I’d love to hear from you, what good things did you take away from the social media silence? 

All of this got me thinking about some advice that was given to me from a good friend Scott Hafer years ago. In my earlier days, it was not uncommon for me to get involved in many debates on social media. In the name of righteousness, I would become one of those keyboard warriors and get involved in all kinds of long, drawn out threads that quite frankly were not all that edifying. In fact, I cannot think of a single time where someone’s mind was changed over a quarrel on Facebook. While there is a place for disagreement and cordial discussion online, that is generally not how it goes. So what Scott told me years ago was to read 2 Timothy 2:23-26, and then ask myself how I am not practicing these instructions through my social media use. Here is what the text says, “Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” Let’s work through this together – the very first thing that Paul says is that Christians are to have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies that only result in fighting back & forth. Now lets stop and think about what kind of debates take place on social media: how many of them would you say fall into foolish, ignorant controversies? It happens all the time. People will cuss other people out or say the most atrocious things because they have a different opinion about predictions in sports or rankings.   I’ve seen someone threatened online because they dared say they liked a movie that others did not enjoy. Are you serious? Is this what we’ve become as people made in the image of God? That we verbally assault and threaten one another over the most absurd things, matters of opinion that carry not importance or weight? Paul would continue to say the following: the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone. There is much more to unpack in this text, but let’s simply focus on this for today’s podcast. If you want to be a true servant of Christ, then Christians you must realize that we have no business bickering and fighting with one another on social media, especially in matters that don’t make a difference. Think about your interactions online: can I say with honesty that I am kind to everyone? Or do I fall under the category of being quarrelsome? Am I quick to jump in and be a keyboard warrior, leaving passive aggressive & ignorant comments, or am I quick to dismiss myself from such matters? My friends look at the text, even in matters that are serious regarding truth where we must speak up, how we do that is very important. Christians do not engage in verbal blows back and forth, they do not fight and quarrel with others. They are to be kind. Patience. Willing to take a hit by showing forbearance and realizing who the real enemy is – it’s Satan. We live in a culture and time that makes anyone with an opinion different than your own an enemy – when we act in this way, we do great harm to the Kingdom of God. If you want to be a servant of Jesus, it starts with this: stop fighting. Stop engaging and jumping into every argument and disagreement, especially online via different forms of social media. Maybe instead of fighting with others, you can find a better way to process a debate or conflict. Consider what Paul says in his first letter to Timothy in chapter 2:8, “I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling.” When you feel tempted to get upset and fight, put the phone down and raise your hands up. Pray and talk to God instead of lashing out at others. We must do better. I must do better. Stop using social media to fight and bicker, and we’ll be better equipped and ready to act as true servants of God. 

Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. Tune in, Tuesday-Fridays, as a new podcast episode will be uploaded each day. Also, be sure to follow the Facebook page for the Set Your Mind Above podcast for future announcements and video sessions. As you have the opportunity, share these thoughts with your friends and family, and share with me what important lessons you are learning from every day, ordinary events. Until next time know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.