Sponsored Content

In social media, there is something called “sponsored content”. Sponsored content is advertisement space a person or business purchases to push a product or a video repeatedly before a select audience. It is an attraction device. I have come to not like sponsored content because of the clutter it creates. It clutters my social media feed with clickbait ads that make me not trust the product being offered. At times these ads can be just an innocent attempt to honestly push a product, but for the most part, the abundance and repetition of this form of advertising are annoying. 

On my Yahoo news feed, the word “sponsored” appears in small print just below the larger bold title and accompanying photograph. We can miss the sponsored ad announcement if we are not looking. The title and the image catch our attention and we dive in unaware. Most of these flashy titles are nothing more than a multipage “ad” that never gets to the point. As you click page after page you rarely get to the core of the promised content – you simply subject yourself to more ads for a wide variety of products, which was the goal of the sponsored content in the first place. The initial ad was crafted based on data created about you and your buying habits and past activity on the platform.

As it is with clever advertising so it is with life. We need to be able to discern the difference between something legit and something sponsored that uses our relationship to promote an agenda or a way of thinking. 

Who or what is framing your spiritual worldview and your response to life? If it's not the Scripture, the Spirit and a community of faith you are in trouble because someone or something else has created a form of spiritual clickbait that is drawing you into a pre-packaged worldview and response to life. It is subtle and many times it remains unnoticed until we find our selves in a place of jeopardy.

You are a consumer, both spiritually and commercially. The enemy of your soul knows how you live your life and even some things you think he could not know. He is prowling about looking for those places in our lives where a lack of wisdom and discernment has created a portal of spiritual naivety.  He has prepared just the right clickbait to draw you into a subtle presentation of a lie that will ring with enough truth that you will feel OK clicking its first attraction and step deeper and deeper into a place of well-crafted deception.  

There is a solution to cleaning up the newsfeed of your life. Ask God for help. He will be faithful to help you navigate through al the clutter. God's wisdom and discernment will let you know when you are being offered sponsored content.