TEEN COLUMN: The Toll of TikTok on our Thoughts

By Jessica Greer

The twenty-first century has been characterized by rapidly changing and evolving technologies. Advancements and conveniences have crept their way into our lives beginning as mere novelties or entertainment and ending as daily necessities.

First-world human appetites have taken shape, our desires lit by the quest for a virtual escape from the mundane realities that humanity was previously forced to cope with. As a result, the algorithm-centered world itself has gotten noisier and more sensory driven and image consumed, as the information overload creates a chasm of chaos within our own minds.

In 2018, a poll taken by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) found that Americans were 40% more anxious than they had been during the previous year. Most were concerned for their health, safety, and finances. Fast forward to May 2020, when the Washington Post reported that a third of all Americans had been diagnosed with clinical anxiety. One section of the article (titled It’s not normal for this many Americans to feel depressed) identified an increase in positive COVID screenings after Americans admitted to feeling “down, depressed, and hopeless.”

On the surface, this spike has an obvious correlation to the impact of Covid-19, but the actual causation factors are far more complex. Western societies had already been grappling with their younger generations battling anxiety and depression disorders prior to the global pandemic.

Although the dramatic shifts that have taken place since March 2020 may have rocked the world into a state of upheaval and uncertainty, they also served to exacerbate and expose underlying fears and feelings that already existed.

When we consider the worries that we face, they are generally about basic human needs. Health, safety, and finances are considered primitive necessities. Yet, even in wealthy democratic countries in which most of the population has unlimited access to medical care, where law and order commonly prevail, and where the citizens live lives of luxury compared to most of the rest of the world – there continues to be a relentless gnawing on our mental state.

“Instead of a controlled and intentional thought process, we indulge in shallow, reactionary, chaotic thinking.”

As Christians, we recite verses that encourage us not to worry; not to fear. Why? Because “Greater is he that is in you” (I John 4:4). However, even inside the church, the reality of daily anxieties that range from typical modern worry to debilitating mental illness has only become a more common imprint on our collective psyche.

When we read scriptures about faith, they carry with them the one oppositional counterweight, and that is sight! 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” Hebrews 11:1-3 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”

Living in a world that appeals first and foremost to our senses pulls us into dependence on the flesh. Information bombarding our smart phones with “breaking news,” buzzing us to let us know that Kim and Kanye are in Twitter war! SIGHT!

TIKTOK reminding us of the latest dance trend! SIGHT! Algorithms popping up an infinite amount of ads after an inquiry in a Google search! SIGHT!

This is what it means to fight for our faith in the modern world. This is what we are fighting against! There are politics, agendas, cultural beliefs... and then, there is just the constant tapping of our thoughts.

All of Hebrews chapter 11 is dedicated to a discussion of the faith that Christians place in an eternal hope and purpose that completes that faith. The New Testament describes our hope using words like invisible, unseen, eternal. As Christians, we are not only participating in the earthly present, but investing our energy, our mindset, and our worldview in what is yet to come by faith.

The earthly state of materialism draws us into the values and ethics of a worldly code. Women living in free societies are encouraged to be “boss babes,” pushing for influencer accounts and contending for that side hustle. After all, the Proverbs 31 virtuous woman was also a businesswoman!

Obviously, there is great incredible purpose that God gives women to pursue the marketplace. However, all of it falls squarely in the middle of a culture of distraction.

Take the classic scenario of Martha and Mary in Luke 10:38-42: “As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’ ‘Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, ‘You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’”

Jesus poignantly identifies what causes worry and prioritizes the things that can be easily taken from us. The distractions within our culture and our dependence on outside views take up the space in our minds that should be producing new ideas, new solutions, and spiritual inspirations.

We replace deep thinking with overthinking. Instead of having a controlled and intentional thought process, we indulge in shallow, reactionary, chaotic thinking. Philippians 4:8 says: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

God has spoken to our spiritual appetite for thought, supplying us with intellectual nourishment. We live in a century that keeps us supplied with endless activities that lead to a state of burnout. Our physical senses are constantly being heightened by technology, contributing to living a life by sight instead of faith... resulting in doubt and fear.

Couple this with constant distractions and the buzzing of our brains into hyper-emotional thinking. The things of this world are loud and bright. I cannot help but think of the advice offered in the old hymn: Turn your eyes upon Jesus; Look full in His wonderful face, and the things of Earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

The opposite of doubt and distraction is faith and focus. While we are constantly being dragged into the present – even with the best of intentions – we must be diligent to focus on Jesus so that the material and cultural goals around us will fade in the light of His glory and grace.