What Christians can learn from The Social Network
By Joel A Moroney and Edwin Tomlins
Joel A Moroney:
The Social Network is a gold mine for Christian illustrations. There’s so much packed in here that you can have fun for weeks pulling apart everything. Here’s two things that I think are particularly noteworthy for the Christian.
First, there’s a reminder that we have a responsibility to live a life online that honours God. The Zuckerberg in the movie begins the spiral of betrayal and broken friendships because he was “drunk and angry and stupid and blogging.” He didn’t think before he blogged and ended up saying some things that he really shouldn’t have. It’s very easy to post things online that you’ll later regret. And once it’s there, it’s there forever. As Christians we need to think hard about our online behaviour. There’s not an online ‘you’ and a real life ‘you’ – they’re the same person. And you need to act in a way that is worthy of Christ. James writes “with the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?” (James 3:9-11) The same thing applies to the written word.
The second thing to note is the desire to be popular. What would you do to be part of the popular group? Is being popular more important to you than your current friends? More important than your committment to God? There’s something in all of us that wants to be popular. That wants to be loved and adored. To belong. And sometimes we can do some pretty stupid and pretty selfish things to achieve it. No one wants to be forgotten. No one wants to be left out. But the desire for popularity can easily be an idol. When it becomes the driving force for what you do, when it becomes all consuming, you need to step back and say no. You have been chosen. You do belong. In the eyes of God you are special and loved. “He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things– and the things that are not– to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God– that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” (1 Corinthians 1:28-30)
There’s much more I can say about The Social Network but really, this is a movie you need to see for yourself. Not only is it a very watchable movie, it will be a great source for discussions for months to come.
Edwin Tomlins:
One can really only guess at Mark Zuckerberg’s intentions after watching The Social Network, as the full story is still yet to be revealed. But it is often intentions which matter most to God.
Jesus pointed out that “…from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’” (Mark 7 and Matthew 15)
Sadly, many of these intentions are clear or implied in The Social Network: Zuckerberg seems driven by a need for fame or popularity with little care for friends or feelings; Eduardo Saverin, Zuckerberg’s friend and Facebook’s initial financier, is driven by the need to make money in whatever he does; the Winklevoss twins (and in fact all males in the film) seem driven by the idea that the Internet is all about the conquest of women; while Sean Parker, Internet entrepreneur, creator of Napster and Zuckerberg’s mentor, seems to thrive on all of the above. Add to this the haziness of thought caused by copious drinking and suggested drug taking and one has something to be concerned about.
As far as I know, none of the founders of Facebook claim to be Christian and therefore they cannot be held to God’s exacting standards. If true, however, these intentions should be concerning for Facebook users; especially in light of the way in which the website has appeared to play fast and loose with users’ privacy in the past. Greed and a desire for popularity often have the ability to trump concerns such as others’ privacy, or, as seen in the film, friendship and respect for others.
Don’t get me wrong – I think Facebook is a great tool and I rely on it daily. The question for Christians must be how to use Facebook with the most Godly intentions, avoiding the evils from within, to make real relationships with others for the advance of the Gospel.
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