Challenging You to Reconnect
“What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.” (Ephesians 4:25, MSG)
Millennials, we’ve all heard it before: in a world of constant connection, we’re disconnected, we’re transient, and we’re disjointed. And those that are looking to hurl the first stone resoundingly blame technology. But here’s the thing, it’s not just millennials. The struggle to connect seems to be the common theme for all of us.
Trust me, I get it. There’s not a day that goes by that I can avoid the newsfeeds; especially when most of my young career has centered around social media and new tactics to be seen in a world of endless content. You’ve done it, too. You’ve scrolled through your favorite site and double-tapped your heart out, admiring that celebrity’s outfit, that influencer’s body, that friend’s fiance, and that relative’s awesome vacation to some faraway destination. And whether you’re my generation or not, you’re probably familiar with the way social media has a way of taking the wind out of your sails.
Because when everyone has this vibrant-looking, filter-laden life, it’s easy to forget that your online life tells a different story than your real one. Here’s the easy truth that we all seem to forget: social media is yet another way of masking how we really feel. It’s an excuse to hide behind flimsy excuses and not say what we are struggling to emotionally carry.
I’ve bought into that lie, too. I’ve believed that no one wants to hear about my grief or my heartbreak. No one wants to see my dry seasons. They’d much rather see my technicolor adventures and the bright, sunny parts of my life. Why would anyone want to peek in on the dark and the twisty corners? And these lies are really just well-placed diversions from the enemy meant to isolate and disconnect us from the greater body of Christ; because divided, we can be conquered.
Instead of focusing on encouraging our neighbor and rejoicing in their personal successes, we get caught up in envying them.
Instead of sharing our heartaches and weariness as testimony with each other, we hide it away and struggle alone.
Instead of walking boldly in the freedom found in Christ, we lie to ourselves and resign our lives to continuous patterns of anxiety, depression, and comparison.
“Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.” (Ephesians 4:25b)
We’re not called to live this way. Just like it says in our key verse today, we’re supposed to live lives of transparency, because transparency and truth create connections. And I’m not talking about airing absolutely everything from a soapbox at church this Sunday. I’m talking about just being real with the Godly people around you. Because you might find that when you reach out, you’ll get the answers you were wrestling for all along by way of prayer, wisdom, and community.
So yeah, here’s your wake up call. Stop hiding screens and filters. By all means, feel free to post about your mountaintops, but don’t let that be an excuse to hide in your valleys. The Lord always intended for his sons and daughters to interact face-to-face, so don’t let the enemy lie to you. Once we start living transparently, we just might find that a little bit of bravery and vulnerability goes a long way.
