Social Media, You and Your Family

Probe Ministries hosted a presentation by Kerby Anderson on “Social Media, You and Your Family” on October 16, 2018 at the Hope Center in Plano, Texas. All attendees received a free copy of the new book Arts, Media, and Culture: A Biblical Point of View. (You can order it from our online store here.)

You can download a recording of Kerby’s message here.

We are all the beneficiaries of the information on the Internet. But scientists have also been able to document that our digital devices and social media are altering the way we think and altering our ability to concentrate.

As one psychologist at Tufts University explains, “We are not only what we read. We are how we read.” The style of reading on the Internet is different and profoundly changing the way we read and acquire information. Our brains are able to reprogram themselves on the fly through a process called “neuroplasticity.”

There is a crucial need for Christians to evaluate the impact of media in their lives. We need to develop discernment and pass those biblical principles to our children and grandchildren.

The new media represents an even greater threat to our discernment processes and can easily conform us to the world (Romans 12:2). Media is powerful tool to conform us to group think and thus to a secular worldview taking us captive to the false philosophies of the world (Colossians 2:8).

Let’s look at how we can harness social media to use for good while, at the same time, protecting ourselves and our children from potentially harmful effects.