Virtual friendships: good, incomplete

Virtual friendships can be dangerous.

Our ability to instantly communicate with people on the web, regardless of their location, has changed the way we view and conduct relationships and, due to a technological advance known as social media, we now have many ways to communicate with different people without having to. leave our homes or invite someone to join us.

Facebook groups are a popular way to connect intimately with strangers on the Internet.
They can be some kind of secret underground world within the platform itself.
And if you’re not part of a group.
You may not even know it exists.
Are very light.
Focused on hobbies and specific interests.
Others are created as support groups.
Where participants are free to share very intimate and private details with people they may never have met in real life or who will probably never know.
Group of common interest.
I saw a man open his heart to the group.
Saying that he considered them his own family.
Because of the way they supported him while his father was sick.

I will be the first to admit that I am part of this new phenomenon of virtual friendship. I don’t even remember how many times in the past, when someone asked me how I had met someone, surprisingly, I responded awkwardly: “Actually, we met on Twitter. “The fact that Christian brothers who meet on the Internet and eventually become great friends after meeting in person can be a great gift.

So why would you think virtual friendships can be dangerous?Because they can easily seem like something they’re not. Although virtual friends are, in fact, real people for which we have true affection, it is essentially impossible for them to know reality. This does not mean that these friendships must be broken, but they must be controlled.

Virtual friendships can be great blessings when placed in their own perspective, but they can also be dangerous when they replace the local community and the church.

Real people, incomplete projections

You can learn a lot about a person by studying their online presence. No matter how much we try to hide our flaws or design a more refined version of ourselves, sooner or later we post enough on our page to reveal aspects of who we really are. On the other hand, even when we try to be authentic on the Internet, it’s hard to have a complete picture of ourselves.

One of the reasons our virtual self-portraits are so incomplete is that they are made by ourselves. Everything we project on ourselves is contaminated by self-perception. We are finished and fallen, and among us, even the ones who know each other the most. , to be known only partially. Next to the mirror of Scripture, the community aims to expose and help remove the stains and rays we all have in our eyes.

Besides, your true self was created for real-time two-way relationships. We were made not only to meet others, but also to be known to others. The truth is that you can’t really meet a person or be known through the inevitable firewall of social media.

Real-time relationships

For us to be truly known, we need real-time, space-related relationships. The only way to maintain truly authentic relationships is to risk letting people see filterless versions of who we really are. We welcome local believers to our real lives and let them see, expose and challenge our most authentic, messy and filter-free lives. Local believers also restore us with a love that manifests itself in tears, hugs, words of encouragement and accompaniment.

If someone scolds me on the Internet, I can become passive-aggressive, give a courteous response that does not reveal my heart and does not protect my virtual image, or avoid it completely with little or no consequence. virtual friendships, it’s very easy to leave them with a single click.

Deep down, we fear real-time relationships because they can get complicated. But, as my pastor has reminded me many times, although they are messy, they are definitely worth it. Once we recognize the value of local relationships, we are more willing to endure the pain, anguish, and tears they bring. When we experience the joy of friendships in real time and in real space, virtual relationships are comfortably welcomed in their secondary places.

Using clutter

The reason we are tempted to replace real-life relationships with distant and virtual partners is that these relationships can be messy and extremely demanding, even terrifying. How can we take the risk to reap the benefits?Do we drive our social anxieties, fears and anxieties about whoever is able to face all these problems: Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Do the walls have two purposes: to protect and hide? And that’s exactly why our flesh can love the wall of social media. We protect ourselves from people and hide our broken identities. But when we rest on the righteousness and power of Christ, he can tear down the wall and free us to love others and think less of them. We are able to love sinners because we recognize that we are the worst sinners we know. We do not complain when our rupture is exposed because our debt has been paid and our soul is being restored. We Christians do not need such walls, because we are covered and protected by the blood of Christ.

The local church and the brotherhood of the covenant we receive from it are essential to our Christian health and growth. The church is so vital that it must guide the work we occupy and the places where we choose to live. Unfortunately, many Christians rely on virtual friendships for emotional and spiritual support because they are isolated from a body of believers faithful to the gospel.

We must carefully take note of everything that threatens the vitality of the local church’s relations. For God’s good plan, we were not made to grow and thrive outside the community. Prioritize the church and consider anything that takes away your heart or be sure to replace it as a threat to your soul’s health.

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Real people, incomplete projections

Real-time relationships

Using clutter

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