Why I Decided Not To Tweet on Good Friday

“How in the world is this happening?” I thought as I look at the social medial likes, shares, comments, and RTs come in. What was driving all this traffic? Is it because of the fact that it is Easter weekend? I’ll go ahead and say that I don’ think it was because my content was necessarily better than others.

I wasn’t sure what was going on. But I decided to stay engaged and serve others as much as I could. If God had decided to bless us and others in this way during Easter weekend, He must have a reason and I didn’t want to “slow Him down.”

This occurred on one Good Friday a few years back. I sat back that day and watched picture quotes, scripture, and other things shared get incredible traction online to the point that I found myself focusing more on managing social media on Easter weekend than focusing on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Bad move. I’m not proud of it. It is not who I am. It isn’t who I wanted to be. It definitely isn’t who I want to become.

Have you ever done this? Have you ever gotten caught up in something that mattered very little in the big scheme of things only to forget about what really mattered?

So this year I took a decidedly different approach on Good Friday.

Why I Decided Not To Tweet On Good Friday - BradBridges.net

To be clear, I’m not saying that your approach needs to be exactly like mine in the future. I’m not saying that I did things perfectly. I’m not saying that I have it all together. I’m not saying that a person can’t share on social media and still faithfully engage in community and worship the risen Jesus on Easter weekend.

I am saying that I saw a need for me to change. I saw a lopsided approach to my faith in the past that needed improvement. I saw an opportunity shepherd my family towards increased focus on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. I saw the cross and the empty tomb and became convicted of my need to lean into it rather than social media.

So if I haven’t made it painfully clear yet, here are a few of the reasons…

Why I Decided Not to Tweet on Good Friday

  1. To resist the temptation to focus more on social media than on Good Friday.
  2. To find ways to intentionally clear blocks of time for my wife and kids.
  3. To help others focus more on the cross and the empty tomb than on social media.
  4. To guard against the possibility of negative distractions that would block our family’s focus on the cross and empty tomb.
  5. To give myself additional time to sit under the teaching of gifted pastors and teachers.

As you think about not only Good Friday and Easter, but the rest of the year ahead, how are you making intentional decisions to prioritize your on spiritual growth, your family’s, your church’s?

Who could help you to ensure you stay focused on what really matters not matter what the implications are for other areas?

How will you prioritize the results God wants to see in your heart and life lived on mission over what the world and others around you say should be the priority?

You will never get this right 100% of the time but you will rarely see tangible improvement without intentionality and attention to results. I may not even take the same approach in years to come. But I will ask myself, my family, and others how they are taking intentional steps to grow and live out their faith more consistently.