I’m pretty tired of social media right now. Can you relate? You go on to pass the time, catch up with friends, because you are bored. BOOM, 5 minutes later you’re angry or at least seriously annoyed. When did the world become such a harsh place? Even worse, sometimes I can’t distinguish between Christian friends and people who claim no religion. People get caught up in the frenzy and they just WON’T LET GO. Sometimes, I want to engage in word warfare too. When someone posts anti-Christian sentiments or rails against God. I want to defend God. You can’t talk about my best friend like that! I want to chastise the haters and set the misinformed straight. I have to stop and ask myself at what cost? A true atheist isn’t mad at God. They don’t believe He exists in any form. That would be like me going on Facebook to say crappy things about a unicorn. I don’t talk about unicorns because they aren’t real. So if someone is ranting about Christians and God on Facebook, I consider it a call to pray for them. You can’t be mad at someone who you truly think does not exist. Their raw and angry heart wants you to fight back to give them one more reason to be justified in their anger at Christians, God, religion.
I know a lady who is an agnostic. She does not know many Christians and some of the few she knows have left a bad taste in her mouth. Recently, a family member of hers who claims to be a Christian and who has many times over the years “witnessed” to her, got angry at her and posted a picture of an ugly animal with the caption “this is what I think of when I think of (insert the agnostic woman’s name here)”. Say it isn’t so. We are the light of the world and the World Wide Web. At least we are supposed to be. If we want people to come to know and love Jesus then every word counts. You can’t post “Praying for you” one minute and and insult someone the next. One Facebook rant can undo all that you’ve done to bring someone to Christ. She won’t remember what you said about Christ but she will never forget you comparing her to an ugly beast for all the world to see.
Can you imagine what the Pharisees would have written on Jesus’ Facebook wall? His Twitter? I imagine them sitting in the glow of their computer screen trying to craft a clever zing in Jesus’ direction. They would have tried to trap Him in word combat. 20,000,000 followers would wait, holding their breath to see what His response would be. E-magazines would be building up hype, people would be ready to take a side. Are willing to sacrifice their agnostic hearts to further your cause? Do we really need to make our opinions so known? I don’t think that is what Jesus would want. He alone knew the hearts of those He spoke to and the exact right thing to say. So how do we govern our responses?
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (ESV) The Way of Love 13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love. Humble, agape love. Paul said it best, if you don’t have love, you’ve got a whole bunch of nothing. When God first touched my heart with the knowledge of changing my speech, I thought the best way to tone it down was maybe not swear so much when I decimated someone with my words. I can actually remember feeling pretty proud that I fought with my husband and didn’t swear. No rocket scientist here. The swear words may have been gone but the intention was not. Jesus in His infinite kindness didn’t give up on me. First He taught me to curb my speech, then salt it a little, and years later I learned the best lesson of all. Silence(still practicing that one). I do not need to join the word combat army. There is a time and place for all things, but love is for all times and all places.
When I see posts that really get to me, I understand now that I am a warrior. A prayer warrior. Never praying that people change their minds to think like me but to know God’s love. Only He knows their business, their struggles and how their thoughts are formed. Let’s follow Jesus. Let’s go the way of love and bite our tongues and exercise our control muscles. Let’s set down our clanging cymbals and noisy gongs. That’s all words are when used against someone and not for them. I want to pray more and speak less. Words are God’s currency, a gift from Him and should flow through us and return to Him untarnished.
Bobbi Adams copyright 2017 ©
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An Imperfect Christian 