We recently published an article interviewing Paula, our CBN Europe Social Media Manager. If you missed it, you can catch up here but I want to go into detail on something really significant that she said.

Here’s the quote I’d love to focus on:

“How can Christians use their social media in a way that brings glory to God?

Well… The same as they can in their offline live: by reflecting a life dedicated to God where Jesus can be seen. That applies to what you share, what you post, what you click on. It’s a good tool for sharing the word and encouraging people.”

We can often make distinctions between our online and our offline lives and selves. There are behaviours and actions that we do online that we’d NEVER consider doing offline. Things that we click on. Things that we say and the way that we say them. The thoughts that we would never say out loud to people’s faces but that we have no problem subtweeting.

Have you ever met someone and then seen them on social media and there’s a HUGE discrepancy? Or vice versa, you were connected online first and then met them in real life – and they’re nothing like they were over the internet?!

One of the ways that we can “reflect a life dedicated to God, where Jesus can be seen” is by being the same person online as we are offline. So many of us put a tremendous amount of effort into creating a ‘Christian’ image only to show our true colours when someone posts something on Facebook that we don’t agree with. This damages our credibility as Christians.

The word for this is “integrity”. Whilst we often think that this means someone who is just ‘trustworthy’, it’s actually more than that. It’s about being a consistent person, whatever situation you’re in: a person of honour and wholeness. Being a person of integrity is a powerful witness to others about what being a Christian means. How we behave on social media is just one of the places for us to have integrity but it’s a fantastic place to start.