Obviously I’m not going to say “Yes!” because here I am on WordPress, and WordPress is part of the social media. But–
I like to think that we’ve created a Christian fellowship here on this blog, open to Christians all over the world. (See our Mission Statement.) I love hearing from my Christian friends from Japan, Trinidad, India, Kenya, and all points in between.
To be sure, there are certain aspects of the social media that a Christian ought to shun. Gossip, tittle-tattle, rumor-mongering. Anonymous sniping and trolling of people you disagree with. You can find all that on Facebook, and plenty of it. Here at WordPress I can at least delete that stuff.
But why should a church, or a Christian school, or a Christian fishing club forbid its members to use the social media? Why would a church want to break up an online Christian fellowship? Okay, if there’s something unseemly going on, on the website, then you’ll want people to steer clear of it. But if not…? Is this one of those churches that declares “Only our denomination is the true Christian church! All the rest are saracens”?
Starting in the 18th century, Christians have written off great chunks of the culture, resigning it to the enemies of Christ’s Kingdom. This ought not to be. We ought to be striving for the expansion of His Kingdom, and reclaiming ground we’ve lost. So it seems foolish to surrender the social media to the ungodly, instead of learning to use it as a powerful tool for carrying out the Great Commission. There’s something to be said for believers at the opposite ends of the earth being able to comfort and encourage one another.
I don’t care much for that denominational insularity. That’s not how Christ’s Kingdom grows. How many times does the Bible exhort God’s people to stick together? And not just in the New Testament, either.
Christians need more fellowship, not less.