Biblical Relationships vs. Social Media Relationships
Biblical Relationships vs. Social Media Relationships
The Three Types of Relationship with God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit:
Believe (30-Fold) Follow (60-Fold) Disciple (100-Fold)
The Bible defines the word love in four different ways with the Greek descriptive words; Eros, Storge, Philia and Agape.
The Greeks understood that there are many different types of love and came up with at least four different words to describe it. At the time of Jesus, the area of Judea, three languages were prevalent- Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. The Greek language would typically be used to bring a greater descriptive analysis that the Hebrew words may lack.
Since the New Testament is primarily mixed, Hebrew and Greek, Biblical Scholars have collaborated on summarizing the four different words used to show how God has designed and dispersed His love throughout time.
“Eros” is the Greek word that is used to describe the romantic love.
“Storge” is the Greek word used to describe the natural, overflowing love that family members have for one another.
“Philia” is the Greek word used to describe deep, meaningful friendships.
“Agape” is the Greek word for sacrificial, self-giving love that is primarily concerned with the good of someone else.
The stages of different love that we may give to Jesus and into others is walked out in a daily relationship with Him. This is how the Parable of the Sower explains this process. The farmer diligently goes out each day and plants seeds. Then in the following days he cultivates and protects the crop. Eventually, it yields a harvest and the following process repeats.
Believe (30-Fold) Follow (60-Fold) Disciple (100-Fold)
Mark 4:20, the Parable of the Sower. Fruit(s) of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
God the Father is a Fruit inspector. Our belief in Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit will bring light, truth, and freedom to ourselves and into others. This powerful parable shows us a responsibility to abide in the Vine, to allow for His living word to renew us each day, so that our FRUIT, it yields a harvest.
Believer- You have said yes, “I do,” to a belief in Jesus and now your walk with Him begins.
Follower- Now as you are walking out your salvation and allowing sanctification, you become more like Christ and start to yield a richer production of fruit, and more fruits of the spirit will exude out of us.
Disciple- You are 100% in and sprinting with Jesus, flowing an abundance of Living Water into the Vineyard and allowing more production for the entire grove, which is the Body of Christ.
Regarding how Social Media platforms define love and a type of relationship, for example Facebook, there are Friends, Followers and Fans.
A Friend would be someone who knows me, and I know them, they are my friends. Followers are those that follow my page, but they are not necessarily one of my friends. A fan is someone that likes what my page does or represents and now follows that page.
These types of relationships tend to be artificial. They typically produce only what I or the other person using these platforms would want people to see of me. My real, genuine friends and family members have seen me fail, lie, cheat, etc. and cause many problems with my selfishness and bad choices throughout my life.
The good news is that they have also seen how I said, “I do,” to Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit, that old life has been rescued, redeemed and is in continual restoration.
This is the difference between love and relationships in the Bible and Social Media platforms.
By Ryan Shankles
2/23/2024
