The Selfie Narrative
Genesis 11v1-8Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.” So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city…Picking Up Where They Left Off Since the Genesis narrative—and since the days of the tower of Babel recorded in Genesis 11 specifically—a lot has changed. Since then, cultures have exploded, languages have developed, world leaders have risen and fallen, etc.Yet through war and victory, tragedy and advancements, the world has learned better than to be ignorant to the fact that history repeats itself.There is something oddly familiar about the eight verses concerning humanity before the "great disperse" and language barriers. Something that echoes down the spine of Western culture like an old, broken tune ringing haunted melodies of our ancestor’s past.Those who gathered to build the tower of Babel used their current technologies and architecture to manifest the desire to promote themselves. In which case, we find in verses six and seven, that God is not pleased. The people of Genesis 11 used the technology of the time—the making and burning of bricks—to build an empire that would reflect an altar, a pedestal, in which they intended to exalt themselves.Yet, in the same way, the Western culture of the twenty-first century has been caught with eyes deteriorating from the blue light on their screens and exploiting the latest technology for seemingly similar purposes.In fact, how far off is the phrase, Let us make a name for ourselves from the current slogan of this generation, Living my best life. Or in other words, “Let us put our best foot forward to esteem ourselves, on our platform, in front of our peers.”Standing generations who have become comfortable with technologies such as computers, laptops, and smart phones are flooding into social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter with the intent to build their public profile both literally and figuratively.Though the citizens of Babel were building a quite literal platform for their name, it seems this present generation coddled in a culture slipping into the virtual, is picking up the digital pieces. Building where the generation of Genesis 11 left off.Let Us Make A Name For Ourselves An explosion of a new cultural identity is taking hold of the Western world. Social platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are upstaging a new Western thought and culture.As a result, the digital age has given way to a generation plagued with eyes and hearts turned in on themselves, immersed in what is known as the “selfie” culture.While our self-obsessed culture is compulsively captivated with self-exaltation and "making a name" for oneself (Gen 11:4), the Bible informs believers how to redeem their culture, turning the inward pull of sin to an outward exaltation of Christ.The invasion of the “selfie” into the Western world has even altered advancing technology so that most phones and laptops have a frontal camera lens. And while it has been an evidently delightful practice for many millennials, nonetheless it has also proven to be dangerous to affected generations.Detweiler reports in his book Selfies: Searching for the Image of God in a Digital Age that in the year 2015 it wasn’t uncommon to hear of reported deaths from taking selfies. In fact, more deaths occurred and were caused by selfies than shark attacks.This became an issue with the introduction to the selfie phenomenon, as undivided attention was given to one's phone screen rather than to one's surroundings. As Detweiler states, “The blind pursuit of the perfect image, ignoring our surroundings and context, can have grave consequences” (10).However, the more profound consequence may not be committed against our physical bodies due to an inclination to unawareness, but our very souls.Although the definition of the “selfie” seems to be confined to someone taking a photo of themself, the “spirit of the selfie” has become the underlying focal point between Western culture and technology, namely rising social platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.This can appear in various forms such as only posting the positives and highlights of one’s life or using one’s social profile to feed self-esteem and identity. We are in essence, looking at mirror images of ourselves and allowing the name we’ve bolstered on social platforms to be our source of identity.Christian Relationships with FB, TW, & IG So what kind of relationship does the Western Christian have with social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram? And more importantly, does it look any different than the rest of the Western world’s relationship? While I am not saying the following example represents every Christian on social media, it is safe to say that many Christian “profiles” do not look much different than the average non-believer’s profile.In a recent conversation with my roommate, I asked her why she had deactivated her Instagram. She replied with saying, “Honestly, I’ve been thinking a lot about what beauty looks like through the lens of technology and one day I went on my profile and realized that my feed did not look any different than anyone else’s. Yeah, I might have great content that points to Jesus and Scripture and stuff. But like everyone else, my images all consist of pictures of the city and the occasional selfie.”As I continued to listen she explained, “I have been thinking so much about beauty and our corruption of it the moment we try to capture it in an image,” she sighed, “And I couldn’t help but think what my social media was defining as beauty.” My roommate told me that she did not feel she quite knew how to define or communicate true beauty through her social media and for that reason she was taking a break from it.If we as Christians are true to the faith, we must also burden over our “digital extensions” of the self, as Marshall McLuhan would call it, and invite the weight of what exactly Christian culture is communicating through its social platforms.What We Communicate If we take a quick glimpse of history within the last few years, we find that social media is much more powerful than we could ever imagine. It has in fact become more than just the apparent social platform, but a platform and source for identity.For example, reflect on the "Me Too" movement. Almost spontaneously over night the identity of millions of women who have and were exploited, taken advantage of, and sexually harassed all communicated, identified with, and resonated their identity consistently throughout every social network. The heart breaking stories of the girls who resonated with "Me Too" movement needed the attention of the world. But though their message was seen, it fell on the eyes locked with a screen and not found face to face with the woman herself.The issue this creates is now the world if left to associate the identity of women all over the world with an identity manufactured in a hashtag, rather than seeing the human. One image, displayed through a screen, is the man-made image—it can be stripped of all humanness until only digital flesh is left if chosen. And the other is a face, God-made and displays more than the person, but the Creator as well. The identity of that person can be defined beyond a virtual voice or image.Ultimately, the Christian culture intermingling with such online platforms creates an unintentional meaning. And the power of self-made identity in the digital world is born. We have the power to edit, Photoshop, network, and distort all within our fingertips. And while American Christians have utilized the “selfie” mentality to catapult one’s achievements, capture the perfect image, and cultivate one’s identity—our society's devastations are rising to the surface.Relevant Magazine reported in an article called Searching for the Image of God in the Age of Selfies that researchers have discovered the perfectionist tendencies spurred by in Instagram has made it the worst app for the millennial’s mental health.Ultimately, there is a constant striving in our culture to claim and perfect our identity and social platforms have only exploited that—festering and infecting our souls on the blue light surface of our technology screens.Is it safe to say the Western world has grown to parallel the “selfie” culture of our biblical ancestors? Are we using social platforms just as the citizens of Babel used architecture to exalt the self? I say, absolutely.Genesis 11:4a says, ‘Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves” (ESV). Both cultures exploited the current technology for the same devious desire to glorify the self.Yet we know Jesus Christ to be our redeemer. But have we or can we become biblically equipped and called to redeem the digital world by Christ?The Questions We Should Be Asking A question seems to loom over the generations of old and present. We all have asked it, “Who am I?” Craig Detweiler hits it right on the head when he says, “When we need perspective, let us look toward God rather than our smartphones.”So if the believer were to open the Bible to the very first page of Scripture, this being the beginning of Genesis, the very first question the Bible addresses is “Who is God?”First off, it is God who is the main character, the consistent focal point throughout the Bible. It is His glory that is imagined in the beginning and end. This alone should inform the way a Christian gives focal reign and glory to with their life—whether displayed in deed or Facebook post.The very next way the Bible informs the believer on who he or she is can be found in Genesis 1:26 which says, ‘Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”’ This means the believer simply cannot define him or herself, but the character and identity of God must absolutely and essentially be known before the identity of the believer can be known.Meaning that the Christian can not turn from either intentionally or unintentionally creating and communicating his identity within our culture’s trending social platforms until the Christian truly seeks out God in personal relationship. This is the critical step in which leads the Christian man or woman into further action. But does the Bible inform us of what this action looks like?Let us not forget that we are not the first to get caught in the rituals of glorifying the self in the heat of rising technology. When we look back upon our Genesis narrative we find that God speaks to a man named Abram in the very next chapter.Now check this out, God calls Abram to walk by His leading and says this, “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing (Genesis 12:2).This shows us that are action should not be to shun the “making of a name.” Building a tower in a city and setting up a Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram account is not inherently evil. But it becomes clear by following the Genesis narrative that it was the practice of making the name for themselves that was found displeasing in the eyes of God.We see that God offered—better yet, promised to make Abram, later to be known as Abraham’s name great.So far we know that all in all, both the Christian culture and individual should not engage with social platforms or everyday technologies as the rest of culture engages with such. Though it is not the technologies themselves that are the problem, rather than the sinful habits it draws out.A Reversal of BabelChristians consumed in the Western "selfie" culture have voiced feeling trapped, and in many ways, hopeless in the face of their social media platforms. Some of my peers have even commented when I've presented "The Selfie Narrative" within the classroom that it seems the best way to maintain focus and their Christian image is to abstain from social platforms all together.However, if we dig deep into the Scriptures, we find that the Bible actually speaks on the work of redemption related to our Genesis narrative.The account of Pentecost records a breaking of barriers and the coming of a new creation within humanity that is still building momentum today. This contrasts and cancels out the affects of Babel entirely. Therefore the Christian has hope.Ajith Fernando explains it best when he says in his application commentary,
People no longer need to build up to the heavens in search of the significance they lost when they were thrown out of the garden of Eden. God has now sent his Spirit down to us and lifted our experience to a new level of significance. "Babel and Eden are not 'undone' as much as they are redeemed and their negative effects nullified" (91).
This means that hope awaits the believer struggling to utilize social platforms to display the face of Christ in a digital world. On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God gave those in the upper room an utterance of other tongues in which men of every nation could understand.Now if we are led and indwelled by the same Spirit, we know that His utterance transcends all language barriers and His presence reaches all people. Who says the Holy Spirit can't reach beyond the digital barrier?Building Something New When Jesus lifted His eyes to heaven and cried His high priestly prayer in John 17, He gave believers the concept of being in the world and not of the world. Today and in the presence of new technologies we must apply the same principles.On our smart phones, digital apps, television shows, computers we have all seen it. Our technologies and social networks are beckoning us to claim friend groups, political parties, anything you can think of for the purposes of building the self.Social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram want us to digitally claim an identity. But for the Christian, our identity is not for us to build or create. The Christian person is identified and dignified by Christ, not the trending hashtag.McLuhan states this, “Jesus was clear that to be great in the kingdom of God one must become a servant (Matthew 23:11). His life was the antithesis of the selfie culture’s obsession with self.” Yet, just because Jesus’ life did not promote the culture’s obsession with self did not mean He withdrew from His culture completely.For the Christian this looks like either using social platforms as a window for engaging with the nations or as a mirror, not to shine light on the self, but the God image within us. Every follower of Christ is equipped biblically and relationally with the Spirit to share the image of God to the world.We need only to be weary of the deception our social platforms create. As John Dyer, author of From the Garden to the City: The Redeeming and Corrupting Power of Technology, says in his work,
Today our technological creations still honor God, and they are still a reflection of his creativity. But we must be careful not to believe the lie that the right tools will enable us to live independent from our Creator, the sustainer of life (73, 74).
Is it not already our calling in everything that we do, in every aspect of living, to look beyond the “self” and to the Creator? Pointing the world to His love, creativity, and passion? To do this excellently, it requires only the trust and faith of one created in the image of God.Let us not allow our interactions with social platforms on our trending technologies become us—fueling our source of identity, purpose, and promotion. Instead, let us stay true to our biblical and relational grounding in Christ, looking to Jesus for these things.Let us strip our profiles of the "perfect man-made image." Rather, as creators, let us utilize our public platforms for our art, theology, and passions. Redemption of the digital complexities and social schemes hidden in our Facebook and Instagram accounts can be as easy as that.No matter whether you are a Christian engaging or abstaining from the social platforms, may your spiritual expressions (whether digital or physical) push beyond the exalting of the man-made image, but further into the building of His Kingdom and His glory. Redeeming Social Platforms on Biteable.
Sources
Detweiler, Craig. Selfies: Searching for the Image of God in a Digital Age. Brazos Press a Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2018. Print.Dyer, John. From the Garden to the City: The Redeeming and Corrupting Power of Technology. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2011. Print.Fernando, Ajith. The NIV Application Commentary: From Biblical Text...To Contemporary Life. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998. Print.McLuhan, Marshall, Quentin Flore, and Jerome Agel. The Medium Is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects. Corte Madera, CA: Gingko, 2001. Print.Searching for the Image of God in the Age of Selfies. Relevant Magazine. 2 April 2018.What Does the Bible Say That Would Apply to Selfie Culture? GotQuestions.org, 21 Feb. 2018.