Curated Lifestyle
Never in history has life been so curated for so many people. Surely royalty and the wealthy have been able to have life just the way they want it—surrounding themselves with people who would tell them everything they want to hear—but now with social media, everyone can curate their life experience. Don’t like one person’s opinion? Block them! One friend challenges your way of life? Unfriend! Tired of this person’s constant posting? Unfollow! Finally found someone whose opinion justifies your lifestyle? Follow immediately! We live in a society where 90% of people in America are on social media, living the curated social media lifestyle to see, hear, and experience only what they want to see, hear, and experience. Living this curated lifestyle where all opposition is simply blocked or unfollowed will only build emotionally weak people incapable of dealing with and handling opposing views and difficulties.
“At the foot of the mountain, a large crowd was waiting for them. A man came and knelt before Jesus and said, ‘Lord, have mercy on my son. He has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. So I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.’ Jesus said, ‘You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.’ Then Jesus rebuked the demon in the boy, and it left him. From that moment the boy was well.
Afterward the disciples asked Jesus privately, ‘Why couldn’t we cast out that demon?’
’You don’t have enough faith,’ Jesus told them. ‘I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.’” (Matthew 17:14-20)
Jesus didn’t surround Himself with people who thought the way He did. Those around Him had their doubts and lack of faith. It was obviously frustrating for Jesus at times, as in this instance when Jesus asked, “How long must I put up with you?” But Jesus didn’t block His followers or unfriend them or give them the cold shoulder. He was patient with them and He continued to teach and educate. The curated lifestyle of social media says that friends should think the exact way you think and all differing viewpoints should be blocked. What happens if a friend in the real world has a different opinion than you? Do you discuss it? Do you accept that not everyone has to agree with you? Or do you simply block, unfollow, or unfriend? That isn’t the lifestyle that Jesus modeled for His followers.
“As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside privately and told them what was going to happen to him. ‘Listen,’ he said, ‘we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die. Then they will hand him over to the Romans to be mocked, flogged with a whip, and crucified. But on the third day he will be raised from the dead.’” (Matthew 20:17-19)
As His time was drawing near, Jesus consistently prepared His disciples for what was to come. There is a kindness in this approach: that Jesus would tell His disciples what would happen. He’s not doing this for His sake, but for theirs. Do you think it was easy for Jesus to talk about His betrayal at the hands of a friend, His arrest, His sentencing to death—death on a cross? This couldn’t have been easy for Jesus to talk about but He was willing to have many difficult conversations. When the Pharisees questioned Him and challenged His divinity as He taught in the temple, did Jesus then avoid the temple and anywhere the Pharisees would be? No! He kept showing up, He didn’t shy away from tough questions and challenges, He rose to them and He had the difficult conversations. Jesus didn’t fear difficult conversations because He knew the Truth was on His side and when the truth is on your side, you needn’t be afraid of a difficult conversation. But for many people in our world today, the Truth is not on their side. They live lives in opposition to the Truth, so when those life choices are challenged, they don’t rise to the challenge; they instead go the curated social media route of unfriending and unfollowing because a difficult conversation might lead to even more difficult realization.
“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.” (Philippians 2:3-5)
Jesus didn’t curate His life to suit His desires. He lived a humble life with a servant’s attitude, a life of obedience to God the Father, obedience even to death on a cross. May we as Christ-followers live humble, servant-hearted lives, making allowance for each other’s faults. Social media might want you to curate your life, but Jesus wants you to live a life focused on Him, on serving the Father, and loving others. Life isn’t about us—it’s about Jesus and when we can align our focus on that, we won’t even desire to have a curated lifestyle.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
