Tag Archives: facebook

Why the Facebook “like” has contributed to a society in social & moral decline

If you find yourself posting material or sharing what’s on your mind, be very careful of your motive for doing so. Keeping family members and close friends abreast of things: great. Fueling the engine of “self”: very dangerous. The “like,” very unfortunately, has become a measuring stick for Facebook users. The more “likes”, shares and comments, the better they are doing. Do you see the reason for concern? We were all fashioned to have a measuring stick but it was never intended to be social media, it was supposed to be Jesus. Jesus and nothing shy or beyond Jesus, anything else that we give our time and devotion to would qualify as an idol. The “like” is symbolic, in a sense, of a broader cultural phenomenon; the phenomenon of social media, reality TV, sensationalized and agenda-driven, divisive news media, etc. These things have been both distracting and way too influential in defining who we are and what we believe. Let this serve as an urgent call for a spirit of discernment for the church in this age.

Cultural Relativism: redefining words at the expense of truth

1. It has redefined the meaning of the word ‘like’

Similar to that of ‘love,’ which is a word that’s been greatly weakened by American cultural syntax, the word ‘like’ has suffered the same fate. So much so that if it’s used in conversation it many times might need to be clarified; are you talking about actually liking something or are you talking about “liking” something, as in that thing you posted? Here is another example: if we knew that the word ‘Diva’ essentially means ‘female goddess,’ would we be so quick to label talented young singers as such? If you don’t believe God’s sovereignty is agreeable, than you’re probably more inclined to use this language, but to those of us who want to please God in word and deed, we should probably avoid considering entertainers as divine. The word ‘Diva’ is commonplace today in our culture, and we’re quick to dish it out to the independent and sassy girls out there like we’re paying them a compliment. But what are we really doing when we say that?

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