Different is more than okay; it is God’s purpose for your life. Joyce Meyer, Quiet Times with God 
Unless you’ve been living on another planet for a couple of decades, you may have noticed that there’s a whole generation of older teens and young adults who appear to be perpetually attached to their phones. Gen Z individuals are those born between the late 1990s up until around 2012, depending on which study you’re looking at. This group of “young adults” typically spends several hours a day scrolling through social media sites. They meet friends, observe all the latest fashions, and are exposed to the news and politics that mold their identity. Because they have never known life without the electronic connection, it is a central component of their daily lives, influencing communication, learning, and entertainment.
The cellphone became a mainstay of their lives before they could walk or talk. We often see babies in shopping carts drooling on their parents’ phones to keep themselves entertained, and they quickly learn to tap the pretty icons. Before we know it, they’ve advanced to simple video games, and then in the teen years, or maybe earlier, they’ve discovered that thing called social media.
Originally launched to Harvard University students by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004, Facebook was opened to the public in 2006, and has since developed into a worldwide phenomenon. Along the way, it has also made Mr. Zuckerberg one of the wealthiest men in the world. The highly recognizable “Like” icon, introduced by Zuckerberg in 2009, has become a measure of how popular or attractive a person feels. Social media has become the idol of our young people, and they haven’t yet achieved the life experience or maturity required to separate fact from fantasy. It’s a very lonely world when you believe yourself to be unliked. And, by the way, feeling unliked is not reserved only for the Gen Zers.
I’ve got a major flash for you….Jesus was disliked or even hated by many more people than those who liked him. But he didn’t let public opinion change who he was, the Son of God. We’re dropping the ball if we let our Gen Z generation believe all the things they see or hear on their phones. We have to take the time to share with them the stories of Jesus and his gift to us. We have to point them toward the only words that really matter, those of God. If they don’t hear those words from us, who or what is going to have all their attention? You guessed it, social media!
If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. John 15:18
Being different from the crowd is not a bad thing, and we will be different when we accept the reality of Jesus, the life he lived, and the death he bore. Yes, we live in a society that convinces us we have to be beautiful, whatever it takes, and popular even when the road to popularity is not one that leads to eternity. But here’s a thought for each of us to digest…We don’t need to be liked by everyone! We don’t have to follow the crowd! And being “liked” on any online site really is overrated!
God is going to call you to do some unpopular things, and you won’t be liked by everyone. Tim Tebow, Mission Possible One Year Devotional
We need to ask ourselves, “Who am I really?” Am I the person who takes too many selfies? Did I say something unkind in a social media post? Did I post something that was not entirely truthful just to make myself look better? And more importantly, who am I when no one, except God, is watching?
Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you. But remember that they will have to face God…. I Peter 4:4-5a
