Social media has come a long way. YouTube and Facebook were founded around 2003, and no one could have guessed where it would be in 2021! There are literally hundreds of social media platforms. Celebrities and performers have built up huge followings of people who are in for their next post. Users can personalize their feeds and decide what content is viewed while scrolling through a favorite app through some simple choices: Like, Follow, Subscribe. Every platform has its own way of saying it. YouTube is all about ringing that bell, Twitter is about “retweeting” what another little birdy has to say, and Pinterest is about “pinning” favorite posts. In the end though there is not much difference. When you “like” something you express interest, and the app shows you more things “like” that content. When you “follow” something it guarantees that what you follow will show up in your feed, and since you also “like” it the app will find more content like what you follow. “Subscribing” to content is an even higher level of dedication. There are options for notifications to be sent directly to you, some platforms reward their content makers based on the number of subscriptions, and in some cases “subscribing” costs money for you and I.
I am sure you knew all of this but what you “like, follow, subscribe” not only says a lot about you, but your choices in these areas will influence your future. It is without fail that when I buy something on Amazon I will see ads for it on my Facebook for weeks. You understand why. What I “like, follow, subscribe” is used by social media to personalize my feed. So the big question is, what’s feeding you? If you click on worldly content, then you will be eating more worldly content in the near future. Paul tells Timothy some important things to follow: 1 Timothy 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
1. Notice Paul Told Timothy To “Flee These Things.”
Paul meant flee the love of money (v10), flee discontentment (v8), flee supposing that gain is godliness (v5), flee pride, strife, envy, and also evil surmising (v4). As a Christian, I can not have both a godly feed and a worldly feed. The things that I like will determine what scrolls up, the things I follow determine my future content, and the things I subscribe to will be in my inbox until I FLEE these things. As a bus teen, I had to make some decisions to FLEE some things. Leave them completely behind, because as long as I am clicking on them they’ll keep popping up.
2. Secondly, I Can Not Just Flee.
I have never opened a social media app, and there was just no content for me. My social media feed is not just waiting on me to start interacting with it. It will choose how to fill my feed if I do not. Most of the time what the world chooses to feed me with will be even worse than what I was feeding myself already.
3. Last Of All, I Need To Follow Some Good Things.
I need to follow righteousness. Godliness. Faith, love, patience, and meekness. These are all characteristics people want, but there needs to be a conscious effort to “like, follow, subscribe”.
Sometimes you have to search for good content. It is not always the easy way, but if it were easy then everyone would be doing it. Why does this all matter? This is not just a devotional on how your Twitter feed ought to look. This is not just advice on how to overcome your addiction to filth on the internet. Your life, real and online, is determined by what you like, what you follow, and what you subscribe to. The people you hang around will introduce you to more people like those people. The books you read will lead you to know more about books like those books. Games, sports, conversations, and real life all follow the same rules as social media. Your feed will be determined by what you are already feeding yourself.
Pastor Jesse McCammon
Calvary Baptist Church | Flora, IL
