More Than a Click to Follow

​Young at Heart Message

Today, I’m not just going to open a can of worms – I’m going to pop the top right off the can.

Let’s talk about social media.
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Britannica defines social media as “a form of mass media communications on the Internet (such as on websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos).” 
 
Examples of social media sites include: Facebook, Twitter (or X), Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Snapchap, LinkedIn, YouTube, and probably several others I’m not even aware of.
 
Who here uses some form of social media at least some of the time?
 
Who knows someone who uses some form of social media at least some of the time?
 
Social media is pervasive in our society today.
 
At the start of 2025, 73% of Americans (about 253 million people) used social media.
 
I’m just going to venture a guess that numbers in Canada are quite similar.
 
Now, Britannica goes on to offer some pro’s and con’s of social media.
 
Those pro’s and con’s include:

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And, I’m sure many of you could think of other pro’s or con’s that aren’t listed on Britannica’s website.
 
Social media certainly has some good qualities. It allows us to stay connected to friends and family across countries.
 
It allows us to share life events widely and keep people updated on our lives.
 
And, it can cultivate community through discussion groups and forums.
 
On the other hand, we can sometimes be almost too involved in other people’s lives.
 
Or, we can be too consumed by our own lives.
 
The perception can also be that everyone else’s life is awesome, and ours isn’t.
 
Why? Because most people only share the good parts of life on their social media. It can give the perception that life is rainbows and butterflies all the time.
 
But the other major thing about social media is our ability to feel like we are connected to other people – often to people we don’t even know – by simply clicking the “like” or “follow” button.
 
All the sudden, our social media apps are showing us videos and posts from the people we’ve liked or followed.
 
At the click of a button, we can be thrust into another person’s online world. We can almost feel like we know that person through their media platforms.
 
It is easy to get so caught up in the lives of others that we lose sight of the reality of our own lives.
 
People can quite literally get lost in the world of social media.
 
Following someone online is incredibly easy. Which also makes it incredibly easy for online personas to manipulate us into thinking  things that may not be true.
 
It requires nothing from us beyond a click to follow, and we suddenly feel like we are a part of a stranger’s life.
 
And, we don’t have to lift a finger or even leave our couch.
 
We can feel connected to these online personas without putting any of our own emotional effort into the relationship.
 
A relationship that’s easy, drama-free, and I don’t have to put any emotional, physical, or spiritual energy into it? Sign me up!
 
But, what do we really get out of a relationship like that?
 
The Message
 
We’ll come back to that question later. For now, this week’s Gospel passage begins in a Samaritan village.
 
We know that tensions existed between Jewish and Samaritan communities.
 
Jesus sent people ahead of their party to see if there could be a place prepared for them in the village.
 
However, they do not receive the welcome he expected.
 
It is tempting for us to assume that this Samaritan village was in the “wrong” for not welcoming Jesus into their community.
 
However, focusing on that assumption distracts from the deeper message in this story.
 
We are really being invited to observe how Jesus responds, even when he is inconvenienced.
 
Jesus recognized that the village was setting a boundary. He gave them a choice to say no, and they exercised their choice.
 
Immediately, two of his disciples get angry and ask him if he wants them to “command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”
 
This question is pretty extreme, admittedly.
 
I imagine that if Jesus wanted that, he could have made it happen pretty easily on his own.
 
But more importantly, it’s worth noting that their immediate reply was to commit violence against an entire town for setting a boundary.
 
Jesus’ response, however, invites us to recognize that allowing others to have agency is an act of love.
 
Jesus does not punish the village’s “no” response.
 
Jesus reminds us that allowing agency and choice is a crucial practice of love.
 
The text then continues into a series of back-and-forth conversations of people naming something about how they want to follow Jesus.
 
Jesus responds to each inquiry by declaring that following him will cost them something.
 
While following someone on social media is as easy as clicking the “like” or “follow” button, following Jesus is not a spectator sport.
 
Following Jesus requires more than clicking and scrolling. It requires more than viewing his life from afar – from our couch or our chair.
 
Now, Jesus could of course let these people do the things they’re requesting that feel so crucial and necessary.
 
I would also want to bury my parent or tell my people at home that I was leaving.
 
However, the reason these were recorded was to show that following Jesus is costly and time-sensitive.
 
Jesus is saying, “Do you truly want to follow me in practice, or do you want to be seen following me as perception?”
 
In our social media context, it is the difference between sharing something with your online community, and sharing something with someone in real-life.
 
During COVID, we all were forced into a way of life that involved a lot of isolation.
 
One of the ways we combatted that isolation was through connection on social media.
 
At first, I found the social media connections comforting. I felt like I was in solidarity with everyone else who was struggling with the same things I was.
 
But eventually, I started to see the “underbelly” of social media, if you will.
 
People became nasty to one another. When we aren’t face-to-face with other people, we are far more comfortable saying unkind things that we would likely never say to someone’s face.
 
I became disgusted with social media to the point where I left it all entirely for a year. I removed the apps from my phone and stopped checking in on things completely.
 
I just let it rest. And I discovered a whole world of real people, believe it or not!
 
While in theory, my world got a lot smaller because I was only interacting with people I had direct connections to, my actual world got a lot more expansive.
 
My perceptions of others were no longer skewed because I was only seeing them through a social media lens.
 
And, likewise, people’s perceptions of me were no longer skewed, either.
 
And, perhaps most interestingly, no one seemed to miss me on social media at all.
 
So, when I said that Jesus was saying “Do you truly want to follow me in practice, or do you want to be seen following me as perception,” this is what I’m talking about.
 
Jesus wanted people to understand that following him meant giving themselves to him completely.
 
Not merely managing perceptions to make it seem like they were following Jesus without doing any of the actual work.
 
Jesus required they do the work to follow him.
 
And, Jesus requires the same from us.
 
Following Jesus is not just a simple click.
 
We have to put some skin in the game. He says, “No one who puts their hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
 
This is an invitation to remember that when your hand is on the plow, it’s time to work.
 
In other words, it is not enough to simply hold the tools. We must be willing to use those tools to move ourselves forward.
 
Just like it takes more than a click to follow, so it takes more than holding the tools to do the work.
 
So, may we be willing to pick up our tools and do the work of following Jesus.
 
And, may we be willing to make the sacrifices required to fully be part of the community of Christ followers. Amen.

Let us pray:

God, there are so many things we are grateful for in today’s world - technology advancements that have made our lives easier, have improved our health and our lifespans, and have allowed us to live safe and comfortable lives.

But in that technology, we have created problems for ourselves too, God. We often want quick fixes and instant gratification. Our patience is short and we want things right now.

We know, though, that when it comes to following Jesus, there are no quick or easy answers. There isn’t a quick fix or instant gratification - at least not in the way our society has led us to expect.
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God, help us to listen for your ever-present voice. Help us to slow down, to be patient, and to settle in to your love and your grace. In your loving name we pray. Amen.