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Instagram started in 2010. For most of human history, people lived without it. You could say they were missing nothing, except that instagram isn’t nothing. In general, I’d say that it causes problems. In and of itself it’s not wrong, like a piece of paper isn’t wrong—it depends on how it is used. Social networking sites like Instagram have become little Towers of Babel, bringing people together very often in a bad way. In 2012 Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg paid $1,000,000,000 for Instagram, which amounted to 25% of Facebook’s cash at hand. In 2013, Instagram grew by 23%, while it’s parent company, Facebook, grew by only 3%. It has grown to 150 million users. Like anything else, the morality of Instagram depends on its user. Like what scripture tells us, if it isn’t about Jesus Christ, then it is about Satan. There is no middle ground. There is no neutrality. You either love or hate Jesus with anything in your life, as far as He is concerned. And what He says is the truth.
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What’s the main point of the Bible? This is a common discussion among Christians, church leaders, and theologians. The Bible has a unified meaning if it is not a hodge-podge of literature culled from disparate sources, and it is not. It has a central theme, unified around its one Author, God Himself. Nothing in scripture contradicts anything else in it. As you read it, you see an ultimate end to which subordinate ends serve to highlight. Judgment is a theme. Salvation or redemption is a theme. The end is the glory of God. God will be glorified through salvation, which comes by means of judgment. Everyone is judged by His standard and those who are saved are those who submit to His judgment. God will judge sin. When we stand before God, justice must be done. Jesus died for us so that justice for sin would be done and redemption still could be paid. He receives the glory through this in many different ways, but in general for His holiness and for His love.
I was listening to a question and answer with prominent conservative pundit, Ben Shapiro. He is an orthodox Jew. He was asked a question about religious freedom. In talking about the attack on religion in America today, he said the following, word for word, in his answer to a question: “When they say that you are a fool for believing in God, the truth is that belief in God is belief. Right? You have to take a leap of faith. It can’t be proved. It’s not something you can make a scientific hypothesis and then fulfill that hypothesis. But atheism can’t be proved either. There’s no way to prove these sorts of intangibles.” I’m writing this short essay, because he is so wrong. Faith is not the absence of proof. Faith is scientific. Hebrews 11:1 says that “faith is the evidence of things not seen.” The Bible does not describe faith as a leap. Scripture is certain, having itself been proven to be true. Our faith comes from scripture. We believe it, because it is true, so we are certain. It isn’t a leap.
The English word, “worship,” in its various forms occurs over 198 times in the King James Version. It’s obviously a theme of scripture, something important. Everyone worships something. If you are not worshiping the true God, it doesn’t mean that you are worshiping nothing. You are still worshiping. Exodus 34:14 is the first time the English word appears, and it says, “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” God is jealous if something or someone is worshiped beside Himself. Romans 1:25 says that you worship and serve the creature, if not the Creator. In the same context of Romans 1 and then in the epistle of 2 Peter, we see people want what they want. They don’t want a boss. They don’t want anyone telling them what to do. In the word “worship” is the word, “worth.” God is not being valued. He is not being feared. He is not being recognized for the goodness He supplies. All of that relates to not giving God what He wants and deserves
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