Be Digitally Holy
Everything that is hidden will become clear, and every secret thing will be made known~ Luke 8:17 NCV
I don’t mean to sound paranoid. I promise that I’m not a tinfoil-hat-wearing-bomb-shelter-building-the-end-is-near-so-max-out-the-credit-cards-and-move-to-the-mountains-type of person. But, I’m a little concerned that we don’t quite understand the lifespan of the things we say.
Recent reports have surfaced of a security program called PRISM, which appears to give the government access to the servers of private companies in the interest of national security. It’s nothing major. It just seems that several smaller companies like Google, Skype, Microsoft, Yahoo, Facebook, YouTube, Verizon, AOL, and Apple are allowing others access to your information. This may or not be true. It’s too soon to say.
This isn’t just about PRISM keeping records. God has an eternal record in heaven, and now we have one here too.
Remind your kids that Facebook is forever. Google genius Eric Schmidt warns that today’s teenagers will be the first generation that will never be allowed to forget their mistakes. It’s bad enough looking at old yearbook photos. Imagine what it will feel like when 2,500 videos of everything you did during high school and college are all online for anyone to see, forever.
Our lives are digital, and Digital Holiness is a must. Every phone call, web-search, picture, video, credit card purchase, status update, bank-draft, text message, sermon, tweet, “like” and private conversation is fair game. Records you didn’t know existed of things you forgot about will one day appear.
Imagine if those text messages a pastor sent his wife during their last argument were posted online. What if an MP3 of that joke you told went viral? Would it be funny then? What if your search history was made public?
This is nothing new for believers. The standard hasn’t changed. We’ve always been called to live honest, loving, holy, and pure lives. Nothing’s changed. Everything we do or say has always been fair game.
In case anyone is reading this, “I love the IRS. The NSA, FBI, and CIA are the best ever!! FEMA is my BFF!! What would I do with out without congress? And, long live the USA.
May we reflect Christ in everything we do and say~ Amen
