Who Do You Follow?
Deuteronomy 13:4
"It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him."
I came across this verse in my reading this morning and it occurred to me that we talk a lot about 'following' in this day and age of social media.
What blogs do you follow?
Who do you follow on Twitter?
Who are your facebook friends?
Actually, I'm a big fan of social media. I firmly believe that, as leaders in the church, we are ignoring an entire demographic of our congregations if we choose not to participate. It can be a great tool for keeping people informed, inspired and involved.
But it does have it's influence. Who we follow and what we read online becomes part of the greater influences that shape us. And potentially, those same influences will influence many others who are our facebook friends, who follow our blogs, or who follow us on Twitter. That's why every wall post, every blog, and every tweet and retweet should be carefully considered before being sent off into cyber space...and who we follow should also be carefully selected. Our sphere of influence is now much greater than ever before.
That's also why we need to be considered followers of Jesus first and foremost. There are a lot of great Christian leaders out there who we can gain insight and inspiration from...even some who aren't Christians that we learn from. But let's be careful not to to tip the scales in the wrong direction when it comes to who we follow and revere. Too many people in the past have gone down a wrong and very dangerous path when they chose to follow a personality first and God second...and ultimately took many down with them. With social media, that potential influence get's multiplied exponentially.
So let's follow and revere Jesus first and suggest that others follow Him as well. Because when Jesus get's that email that says "Joe Smith is now following you", that's what kicks off the party in heaven. Then, like Paul, we can suggest that they follow us as we follow Christ. That works!
"It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him."
I came across this verse in my reading this morning and it occurred to me that we talk a lot about 'following' in this day and age of social media.
What blogs do you follow?
Who do you follow on Twitter?
Who are your facebook friends?
Actually, I'm a big fan of social media. I firmly believe that, as leaders in the church, we are ignoring an entire demographic of our congregations if we choose not to participate. It can be a great tool for keeping people informed, inspired and involved.
But it does have it's influence. Who we follow and what we read online becomes part of the greater influences that shape us. And potentially, those same influences will influence many others who are our facebook friends, who follow our blogs, or who follow us on Twitter. That's why every wall post, every blog, and every tweet and retweet should be carefully considered before being sent off into cyber space...and who we follow should also be carefully selected. Our sphere of influence is now much greater than ever before.
That's also why we need to be considered followers of Jesus first and foremost. There are a lot of great Christian leaders out there who we can gain insight and inspiration from...even some who aren't Christians that we learn from. But let's be careful not to to tip the scales in the wrong direction when it comes to who we follow and revere. Too many people in the past have gone down a wrong and very dangerous path when they chose to follow a personality first and God second...and ultimately took many down with them. With social media, that potential influence get's multiplied exponentially.
So let's follow and revere Jesus first and suggest that others follow Him as well. Because when Jesus get's that email that says "Joe Smith is now following you", that's what kicks off the party in heaven. Then, like Paul, we can suggest that they follow us as we follow Christ. That works!
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