Why I'm Taking a Social Media Sabbatical

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Today marked the beginning of my church’s annual 21 Days of Prayer – a time of intensive prayer and fasting. While the word fasting may to some of you only mean giving up food, our pastor also encourages us to abstain from anything that may be a hindrance to our relationship with God or others.  

This morning I went to church with my mind made up to give up meat for the next three weeks in hopes that this would force me to make healthier choices in my diet. A month or so ago I had considered also giving up social media – including Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Pinterest, and even blogging. But I later decided against it, mainly for the sake of GeorgiaMae.com and my goal of growing this blog.

Then Pastor Chris began his sermon for today and started talking about idolatry, which simply means putting other things before God. “Have you made social media an idol?” Pastor Chris asked. “Of course not,” I thought to myself. Suddenly I felt something inside say, “Really?”

Uh oh. Then I remembered all those nights when I was up late reading through my Twitter feed and browsing my favorite blogs for post ideas when I should have been using that time to pray or study the Bible or I should have gone to sleep so I could wake up early the next day and have a longer morning devotion. These thoughts would even go through my mind as I surfed the web, but I would rationalize my choices saying I was too tired to do something like read the Bible because that would take so much concentration; on the other hand clicking through a few links wouldn’t require much brainpower.

But the bottom line is even though I’m not one of those people who update their Facebook statuses constantly and tweet every five minutes, I was putting social media before God. And I have been for quite some time.  

So for the next three weeks I’m taking a social media sabbatical. Don’t worry; Edd will hold down the fort at GeorgiaMae.com and I am confident I will return with lots of energy and ideas that I will pour into this blog. If you need me, you can always reach me via e-mail. And if the Lord’s willing and the creek don’t rise, as the old folks say, I’ll be back Sunday, Jan. 29.  

xo,

j.