The only thing that holds people together is their respect for authority and for one another. When that is gone, there are nothing left. A government will allow full anarchy or will go to dictatorship to try to regain control.
The Global Power Shift
In 2004 a major shift in power around the world took place. Social media was born. It did good things and it did bad things, but mainly what it did was give power to the people.
Media could spin things how they wanted but anybody with a cell phone or camera could tell the other side of the picture. People could mobilize very quickly and regroup as we saw in the Arab Spring, especially in Egypt. If a business did wrong on a consistent basis reviews could be posted online. A person can be destroyed literally overnight by a single video or bad moment.
It’s good. It’s bad. And it’s why violence is more than likely coming to a city near you regardless of the country. Why? Because the power is now in the hands of the crowd.
The problem is that crowds are fickle. They can turn on a dime to love or to hate. And while 90% in a crowd may have self-control and restraint, the 10% do not and can cause great harm, nullifying the actions of the 90%. Typically crowds default to the lowest common denominator.
Now that social media has made it so that the crowd is the judge and the jury, it will continue to be dangerous times. In all of history in the past a people were kept together because they trusted the judgment of the leaders for the most part. But now, the power is in the hands of the people. Once a people understand that power, the government and leadership are very limited.
And that’s where chaos can erupt.
Once people understand their power, what can a government do? In the past as we’ve seen, it means anarchy or dictatorship. Because when people don’t listen and the people have the power, leading them becomes almost impossible. And now with social media and spins in every angle, everyone becomes the judge and jury.
The Anarchy in Judges
In the book of Judges there is a recurring phrase: “The people did what was right in their own eyes.”
When nations reject God and do not have that internal authority, and when nations unite together via social media and decide what is right in their own eyes, then trouble is brewing in catastrophic ways.
The Scripture says that in the last days “there will be terrible times” (2 Tim 3:1). I’m afraid we haven’t seen nothing yet.
So what can be done?
The reality is that social media is bad and good, and one that shows us often the true colors of our leaders. That can be challenging at times.
First of all if a nation doesn’t have God in the center of it, by the lack of internal authority, chaos is just a ticking time clock away. When people, even God’s people, “do what is right in their own eyes,” we cannot escape the consequences of those choices both individually and nationally.
Second, I don’t know. Honestly, social media makes many false claims that are received as truth. Mob mentality forms very quickly and anarchy lurks nearby. Social media is a part of our lives and it helps us and it destroys us at the same time.
Honestly once a people understand that they have the power, what’s to stop them? What’s to stop the 10% from rising up?
I think, and I’m not trying to spiritualize this, but it comes down to revival or bust. And that’s true not just for the USA.
Maranatha.