Love thy Followers
It is week 2 of our series Influencer focusing on the ways we live as followers of Jesus in a digital age. Tonight we are looking at 1 John 4: 7-21 and what it tells us about living in a technological world.
Our world is a cold place, According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted April 14-May 4, 2022, nearly half of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 (46%) report ever experiencing at least one of six cyberbullying behaviors presented to them by researchers.
This was multiplied for students of racial minorities who report having been targeted for cyberbullying because of their race at alarming rates. “Some 21% of Black teens report being made a target because of their race or ethnicity, compared with 11% of Hispanic teens and an even smaller share of White teens (4%).”
A study by the Annapolis Maryland Police department found nearly 42% of kids have been bullied online and almost one in four have had it happen more than once.
Additionally nine out of 10 middle school students have had their feelings hurt online. This problem is multiplied for young women who are about twice as likely to perpetrate and be victims of cyberbullying.
In one of the most clear and concise places in scripture, the Apostle John makes it clear, those who love God, love others. No qualifiers, no ifs, and, or buts. This is not effected by political opinion, school affiliation, or even what they might have said about us or someone we love. The call of a Christian is to love people as God does.
As our world is increasingly more digitized, we have to understand that our lives are under more and more weight to be influenced by technology. As followers of Jesus, however, we should not be influenced by our culture but instead influence the world around us. I believe when we understand the motivation and the commission of love by God, our digital and physical lives should be marked by authentic love
First we consider the Christian motivation for love. 1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.” Why should we be people who live lives marked by love? Simply, God loved us first. (Romans 5:8)
This love is not motivated by our own self interest. Growing up near the beach, often we would joke that you don’t want to own a boat, but instead you want to have a friend who owns a boat. So often I think we love people in this way. We love people as it benefits us, or is motivated by our own self interest.
As children of God (1 John 3:1) we should love people because we have experienced God’s great love and just as when we experience a great movie, game or song we should want to pass that love on to others around us. We should give others in our coldhearted world Christlike love as defined in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.
We also see here the clear motivation for our love as Jesus’ followers. (1 John 4:20-21) We read here that loving others is a command! This is not optional for us as Christians. If we are not loving, it should cause us to look at ourselves and our own relationship with God.
Before we text, post, share or chat we should ask if we are doing what we are doing in love. In an angry culture where so many are looking to send the next angry tweet, we should see the love of God as our greatest weapon against keyboard warriors.
Questions to go deeper
What was something that stood out to you from the message, or your small group tonight?
What are ways that you have seen people be treated unlovingly online? Has that ever happened to you?
What are ways we can treat others with love, but also remove ourselves from unsafe situations both digitally and physically.
Who are some people in your life that you could do a better job showing love toward?
If people looked at all of our families social media profiles, would they think our family was loving? Why or Why not?
