A Hashtag Won’t Save America
Since the explosion of Twitter a few years ago, the social media world has become enamored with hashtags. Events, groups, and even major movements all try to come up with a hashtag that can be used to spread the word on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and elsewhere.
Some of these hashtags have become very well-known and have helped build movements through the use of social media.
As with anything else in social media, it is easy to try to reduce a major philosophy, movement, or belief to something extremely short. Twitter allows a little over 100 characters; not exactly the type of space needed to discuss a strong ideal. Instagram is based upon pictures, and most people post a very short caption that takes a second or two to read. It’s hard to imagine that changing many minds.
The hashtag is even shorter. In a little symbol (#) and usually 20 letters or less, supposedly a “statement” is made. Articles are shared with nothing but the hashtag as the reason for sharing them. A photo is posted on Instagram with just the hashtag as “commentary.” And so on.
I fear that there are people who really believe that, should enough people catch on to what some particular hashtag means, they are changing America. Yes, I use social media, and at times, I use hashtags. However, I realize that this alone is not enough to change minds.
America will not be changed by hashtags.
It will not be changed by tweets.
Our nation will not be changed by Instagram posts.
It won’t even be changed by sharing news articles on Facebook.
America will only be changed when people step away from the short, pithy, 140-character limits of social media and read, discuss, believe, and follow a book that has 3,566,480 characters.
Scripture–the divine Word of God–continues to be the only answer for America, or for any other nation, for that matter.
I will say this, however. The hashtag is close. You see, if you remove two lines from that little symbol (#), you are left with the only hope for mankind.
(+)
A cross.
When you are ready to discuss more than a tweet, and something far larger than a hashtag, it’s time to open Scripture and find our answer. Jesus has been, is, and always will be the only solution for any problem we face…
…if we are willing to actually seek His will, and move beyond a mere hashtag to carrying our own cross of Calvary.
“His divine power as granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.”
(2 Peter 1:3)
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AUTHOR: Adam Faughn
