Beautiful Privacy

We live in interesting times. We live in a time where we can broadcast any detail, any event, any accomplishment to the world with a few taps of a thumb. We live in a world where we can correspondingly observe every detail, event, accomplishment of our “friends” with the passive dragging of the same thumb.

Social Media is a powerful platform, there is no doubt. Never before in the history of the world could information be received and broadcasted in such speeds. To be sure, there are positive uses for social media, just as there are positive uses for any medium. The medium is not necessarily “good” nor is it necessarily “bad”. There are good ways to use the medium, just as there are self-serving ways to use the medium.

But it is so difficult to keep powerful tools in their proper places. They have a tendency to intrude on our life, to rebel against their original functions. One of the things that I have observed through spending significant time on social media platforms is it is exacerbating our desire for social recognition. Where previous generations would be content to enjoy a meal in the privacy of their home, and leave that enjoyment within those four walls—we now have a need to share pictures of foods we are eating, quotes from members of the family, a description of the evening—all with the online world. Where a romantic night out would previously be enjoyed between the two exclusively, we now feel the need to invite 100s of social media guests to our activities. “Look what happened.” “Look at how I look.”

Why though? It’s not as if the likes or the comments that celebrate our every day events provide us with substantive gain. I mean, is there anything more meaningless than a “like”? All that a “like” means is that another person took half a second to click “like” on your photo. It means nothing. It contributes nothing. A comment full of “emojis” and ecstatic admiration don’t give you anything you can hold in your hand or carry with you in the future.

But it does give us a sense of social recognition. And that is what I think is the problem. Social media is transforming our world into a “hey, look at me” world. A world where we enjoy things not because they are enjoyable or meaningful in themselves; but where we enjoy things in the hope that we may receive some social recognition through the sharing of those things. Like four year olds in between summersaults on the carpet floor, we too shout, “Hey, Dad, did you see what I did?! Aren’t you proud of me?” We are starving for some sort of social validation, and unfortunately social media caters to these weaknesses.

How to cut the cord

Our generation is not the only generation that has been massively insecure. Our generation is not the only one that has cried out for some sort of recognition. These are human desires that Jesus speaks to. And while he is speaking against the overtly public Spirituality of the religious class—its application does not have to remain there alone.

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” – Matthew 6:5-6

Jesus is denunciating outward religiosity. Pomp and show in the very sacred act of prayer. He says “they have received their reward in full.” They have received the admiring gaze, they have received the sufficient social recognition for their theatrics.  

Jesus then calls us to pray in secret. To close the door behind us in beautiful privacy. For your heavenly Father, “who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

There is an interesting principle here: God sees what is done in secret. God rewards deeds done in anonymity, deeds where the left hand does not know what the right is doing. God admires works, services, disciplines done before Him—He  admires a life lived before Him. Coram Deo, is the Latin phrase Luther used to describe the sacredness of the every day. We are everyday living before the presence of God, a reality that should overwhelm us with its implications. There is no deed that is insignificant, there is no moment too small, if all is lived before God’s presence. Similarly, the need for recognition, the desire for validation through likes and retweets can be seen for what it is against the background of heavenly light: meaningless vanity.

To sever the cord between us and the temptations of social media, let’s learn to live how Jesus told us to pray. What if we developed a few really incredible habits, and kept it a secret? What if we reached a great personal milestone, and told no one else? What if God used us in a unique way, and instead of broadcasting it to the interwebs, we simply treasured it in our hearts? What if we could learn to live our life in beautiful privacy before our God, because that alone is more than enough?

Obviously, there are times, moments, victories—that we must broadcast. There are certain things that should have no business remaining unspoken. For this we need wisdom and a sincere desire that God would check our hearts and reveal to us our motivations.

Only let our greatest heart’s desire be to bring glory and honor to God, and not ourselves.

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“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you…” 1Thess 4:11