Hey! Can You Send Me Some Good Vibes?

As I scroll past countless manicured photos, I stop on one with the caption,

“Hey everyone! I know this isn’t my usual content, but I just wanted to let everyone know my mom is currently in the hospital. If everyone could take a minute, send her some good vibes, and just keep her in your thoughts, that would be really appreciated. Thank you so much.”

Because this isn’t an uncommon phrase, “good vibes,” in culture today, I didn’t think much of it immediately. But when I reread the caption, my heart started breaking for that person. By all things shared online, she is not a Christ-follower, yet some part of her is seeking something as she grieves her mother’s hospitalization.

It got me thinking about these overused phrases; “send good vibes,” “good vibes only,” or “spread good vibes.” The whole idea of a “vibe” is energy or short for vibrations that we subconsciously perceive around us, may they be positive or negative. I looked it up because I had a hard time finding a definition of what a “good vibe” truly was, and the most common answer I found was:

This person I follow isn’t alone. I’ve frequently heard this saying or have read it throughout social media. Many people are searching for this feeling of safety and peace and even asking others to send it to them.

From a Christian viewpoint, I can’t help but notice that they’re seeking something — or better yet, someone who could give them that ultimate sense of ease and trustworthiness. Which only comes from the perfect fellowship found in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit [1 John 1:1–3]! Only through the salvation of Jesus Christ can we find that ultimate peace that can only come from a perfect, loving God! It seems that even non-Christians are looking for it but are searching in all the wrong places. They might not even realize it, but that request for “vibes” to be sent to them sounds eerily similar to asking for prayer.

Christians are not the only humans made in the image of God. All humans were created to reflect who God is. As we read from Genesis 1:27, “so God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” God, three Persons in one Being, are in community with each other; the deepest and most fulfilling relationship. Because we are made in His image, we also need not only relationships with our fellow humans but a deep relationship with God.

At the beginning of creation, Adam and Eve knew a true and perfect relationship with God, but sin shoved a wedge between them and God. It’s something we were made for, but our brokenness has corrupted it. Thanks to God for creating a way to restore this relationship with him! In Ephesians 2:4–5, Paul writes,

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace, you have been saved.”

God created a way — through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ — so that longing can be satisfied and fulfilled!

But without God, the world and our own sin consumes us and we’re left with a sub-satisfying version of what real hope and comfort truly is. Again, when I read someone asking for “good vibes” to be sent their way or for a loved one to help in a difficult situation, my heart breaks. Because ultimately, I know not a single one of those “vibes” is doing anything. They are desperately seeking help and encouragement from their online community, yet a community separated from the goodness of God is also ultimately unsatisfying. “Good vibes” can’t heal what’s broken — the perfect Creator God can. And the world can see that through our example, our portrayal of the Christian life!

We were made for so much more than “good vibes only.” We were made for community with the triune God!