Our ministry, like most, has a FaceBook page. That page has many purposes, chief of which is disseminating our online content, articles and videos. So, we have these platforms available to us that no generation has had before, which makes it possible to spread the gospel and train people to be true disciples of Christ on a scale never possible before. However, using these ministry tools isn’t nearly as easy as it once was for organizations like ours, ministries which are boldly and unapologetically Christian. The companies which run these platforms are becoming less and less accommodating of us using them to help us to fulfill our mission. Is that frustrating? Yes, incredibly. But we need not fear this latest example of the world hating us (John 15:18-21). I would like to raise awareness of but also decrease fretfulness concerning this issue of censorship of Christian content by social media. In so doing, I want to also address the broader issue of things generally getting harder for us as servants of Christ in a world that is not friendly to us.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
This is the first amendment to the United States Constitution. Proposed on 9/15/1789 and ratified on 12/15/1791, it guarantees, among other things, what we now call “freedom of religion” and “freedom of speech”. As they relate to Christianity, these two things are both recently coming under attack but, from my prospective, not so much by the government, at least not yet. However, the media has been bias against us for years and we are starting to see active censorship in the area of social media.
Let’s talk about our “rights” and social media. As Christians, we are getting understandably frustrated at our increasing inability to boldly proclaim the Word of God on social media with no restrictions or censorship. However, I think some of us are getting a bit too much of an attitude of entitlement about this and wasting a lot of effort trying to make the social media platforms do what we want, a losing battle. Freedom of religion means that the government cannot single us out for persecution. Freedom of speech means that the government cannot try to muzzle us when we want to have our say. It does not mean that the social media platforms cannot do these things. They are for profit companies who are providing us a service and who most likely do not receive any government funding. We do not have “rights” when it comes to them. They can do basically whatever they want.
Some people are quick to say something like “If I post it on my page then it belongs to me”. I suppose that is true but I’m not sure that really has much to do with the issue at hand. I wrote this article and so it is my content. When I post it on the ministry website, the website host has an obligation to show it to everybody who logs onto the ministry page. We pay for services with the web hosting provider and, as part of that arrangement, there are obligations that they are contractually obligated to honor. This is not so with FaceBook. They are providing a free service and, when you join FaceBook, you pretty much agree for them to be in the driver’s seat. I will post a link to this article on FaceBook. It is still my content and so FaceBook cannot legally copy it and disseminate it outside of FaceBook or sell it to someone without my permission. Then again, I don’t copyright the articles so maybe they could. I’m not really sure about that. In any case, I am sure that FaceBook has no obligation to show it to everybody. Just about any FaceBook post you make is seen by only a fraction of your followers and FaceBook, through various means, controls who sees it. If they want, they can block it entirely, going by standards that they set. Frustrating? Yes, very. Illegal? No, I don’t think so.
Think about it this way. The next time I stand in a pulpit and preach a sermon, the government cannot say that they don’t like Christianity and so I can’t do that. They cannot say that they don’t like the particular message I’m bringing and so I can’t say that. The government cannot legally do that and they haven’t tried to, at least not to me. What about the people in the pews? I have the legal right to say what I want but does freedom of speech and freedom of religion mean that people have to come to listen to what I have to say? Does it mean that they have to go tell other people about it? No, although I suppose that would make certain aspects of ministry much easier, that would be the opposite of freedom of religion. Now, let’s take it a step further. How about CNN? Does freedom of religion and freedom of speech mean that they have to send a camera crew to air my message? No, of course not. The government does have to let me say what I want but people do not have to listen to it and CNN does not have to broadcast it. Now, in principle, what’s the difference between CNN and FaceBook and the people in the pews? There is none that I can see. I think we sometimes forget that freedom goes both ways. I have the freedom to say what I want but the people and the social media platforms and the news networks have the freedom to do or not do what they want with it. We cannot litigate them into submission, we cannot argue them into submission, and, in an increasingly secular world, we cannot pressure them into submission.
I am not immune to the frustration. I don’t like that social media does this, not at all. Especially with our speaking schedule severely decreased at the moment because of COVID, social media has been one big alternative way for our ministry to still reach people for Christ. However, posts about what someone had for dinner will often reach more people than one of our articles or videos, if we don’t pay to boost it, and FaceBook has even begun to refuse some of our boosts, saying that they violate their advertising standards. They are very vague about how the posts are in violation. It appears that FB doesn’t like dirty words, like “God” and “discipleship”. People say that you can just change your message so that it doesn’t violate FaceBooks terms but, if doing that means watering it down to the point that God’s Word is no longer really conveyed, then I cannot and will not do that.
Does social media discriminate against Christians and, in particular, producers of Christian content? Yes, I believe that they absolutely do and, I fear that as time goes on, they will do that more and more. Unfortunately, they do have the right to do that. Especially if they don’t make it really obvious that is what they are doing, then they can legally get away with it. In today’s increasingly secular world, even if they do make it obvious, they can still get away with it because no one cares except the Christians who are actually trying to proclaim His Word and having their message suppressed and, let’s face it, we are now in the minority.
Partly because of this, our ministry is looking into potentially using other media, in order to bypass the discriminatory practices of social media, in order to help to get the word out. At least for now, many radio and TV stations and print publications do not discriminate against Christian ministries, as long as we can pay for the copy space or air time. However, these forms of outreach are much more expensive and our available funds are very limited. Also, in a world that is increasingly hostile to Christ and His followers, the day may well be quickly coming when these other forms of media will also widely discriminate against Christian organizations. There may quickly come a day when no form of media is friendly to us. We have to be prepared for that.
This is not a battle that can be won in the court room and not even in the court of public opinion. This is a battle that can only be won on our knees before the Thrown. So, when it comes to this issue of social media discriminating against Christians, I certainly do understand the frustration but we may as well stop complaining about social media on social media and start talking to God about the problem because He is the only one who can actually do anything about it.
We also need to be prepared if His answer isn’t what we have in mind. I do believe that another great revival is possible in this nation. I also am increasingly coming to believe that we may well be living in the latter part of the last days. We are living in a world that is increasingly hostile to Christ and to us, His followers. Bringing about that revival is going to get harder and harder. If enough of us get on our knees before Him, God very well may respond by lessening some of this discrimination we are facing. Then again, He very well may not. After all, the ultimate goal is bringing revival, not ease for us, and the Christian Church has historically flourished most in times of persecution. If He does allow things to keep getting harder and harder, will He find us up to the challenge?
Think about something. The resources that we so fear losing were not even available to most of those who came before us. When I became a Christian, in the late 1980s, the internet did not yet exist and I wasn’t reached by a YouTube video or a blog post. I was reached by sitting under the teaching of a man of God who faithfully preached the Word and, as with all who come to Christ, it was ultimately the Holy Spirit that drew me. Barely over a century ago, radio and television was not even available, and yet the Gospel spread. The Spirit does not have to have social media or any kind of other media to do His work. There have been people coming to Christ and times of revival and people engaged in discipling believers for two thousand years, long before the internet or TV or radio and even before the printed word was widely available. These resources are a blessing from God and, as we seek to reach the world for Him, we should work hard to make good use of them for as long as we can. However, there may come a day when these resources are not as easily available to us or when they are even denied to us entirely. We need not fear that. God has given us the power to reach the world for Him (acts 1:8) and that power comes from Him alone, not from any worldly resource.
God does not do things without purpose. When He allows hardship, He always uses that hardship. Brothers and sisters, guess what, things are getting harder. Let’s seek to let Him use it for His glory.
