Slacktivist Thinking...

Timing is a fascinating thing. I've been working on an essay/paper looking at how the Doctrine of the Image of God might be grounds for working towards a theology and ethics of social media. While I've been doing so, in my social media channels (Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc) over the last few days there have been quite a few people sharing a video from a Ukranian woman, about the state of things in the capital, Kiev. You can watch it below.

It is short, she is easy to understand, and it sounds terrible. You should all do something about it. Like share it, like it, retweet it, G+ it, reblog it, you know the deal.

Shouldn't you?

I've been thinking and reflecting about so-called 'slacktivism' ever since the KONY2012 campaign, which I blogged about at the time, and more recently. I asked in a more recent post, 'Christian Conviction and Social Media', the following questions:

"Who Remembers #KONY2012?

Or "Love Jesus, Hate Religion?

Anyone still praying or tweeting about #Nadarkhani?"

I summed up with a challenge.

"to what extent are we (and I'd include myself in this) reducing our Christianity from a full-life pursuit of God's kingdom, into a sunday+social-media-when-its-convenient-Christianity?"

In the course of my reading/research for my essay/paper, I came across an interesting article, linking to a scholarly article, about 'slacktivism'. Read that here. The simple fact of the matter, according to that study, is that engaging with something on the internet acts as a kind of indulgence for modern Christians, and non-Christians, as something that assuages their conscience. I quote:

"the more public the token show of endorsement, the less likely participants are to provide meaningful support later"

Are you a 'slacktivist'? Riley (the above article's author) defines this as someone who chooses "to associate with a cause without committing resources to support it".

I think that is absolutely true. And it sits well with one of the strands I've been teasing out of my essay/paper reading, that everything done in the name of Jesus (be it worship, social justice, mission, evangelism, fellowship, pastoral care, etc) has to be local, contextual and grounded in the real world. 1000 likes equates to precisely zero actual support, unless some of those 'likes' quite literally put their money where their mouth is. I subscribe to the point of view that worship is the sum of our lives lived out before God, and Shane Hipps writes that "worship should give serious consideration to the context of the gathered community", which has a challenging implication for those of us who think that social media is a sufficient form of 'activism'.

Christian activisim, Christian mission, everything 'Christian' has to find its ground in the Incarnation, the coming of God in the man Jesus to earth to save sinners and reconcile them to God. God starts a relationship with us, as a relational God, through his embodiment, life and death as Jesus. Christians should resist easy 'slacktivism'. Instead, our approach to social justice, societal change, and the coming of the Kingdom of God must be real and embodied, and Philip Meadows identifies this as flowing out of the principle of love thy neighbour, "through tangible works of piety and mercy".

I know my limits. I can't solve the problem in Kiev. I can pray for it, for the individual image-bearers on both sides of the battle, for all the sinners and saints caught up in violence, corruption and injustice. I can do what I can do - and so can you. What 'tangible works of piety and mercy' can you do, in Jesus name? What can you to embody an online passion, to show the world that Jesus' name and his coming kingdom means more to you than 'likes' or 'comments' on Facebook?

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I realise that I've not exactly provided answers here, and that there is an irony, perhaps, in blogging about this. But consider going and reading Philip Meadows article (info here), Shane Hipps' "The Hidden Power of Electronic Cultre: How Media Shapes Faith, The Gospel, and Church", and my post on the aforementioned paper (and indeed the related conference!). One of the wonderful things about the internet is it makes it quite easy to actually do something, so consider supporting something like Theology on the Web, sponsoring a child with World Vision, or any of the myriad of wonderful opportunities that are available to anyone with an internet connection and a bank account. And as ever, please do leave comments and suggestions, nothing I write here should ever be seen as the final word!

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Regarding the Ukraine, do pray for the people in that country. But do some reading, some research, and then consider writing to a politician, thinking creatively about how to do some good, and be part of movements and institutions that call for good change, not just revolution or continued stagnation and corruption.