Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 4:29-32
I have been writing and contributing to SBC Voices for a while and I keep up with a few other SBC and individual blogs as well as write one of my own. I have seen individuals with so much wisdom and great power to exegete say some of the meanest, cruelest and harshest things to other brothers and sisters on a blog. It blows my mind that we can exegete passages back to the original Greek but when James 1:26 says: If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. We can’t figure out that should also apply to things written in a blog.
Now I am no saint here either, and I need to be told this myself, that mocking, condemning and insulting someone on a blog was not what Christ has in mind when He told us to love one another. If the world will know we are His by our love, does the world see it? If the world had to judge us by our blog comments, what would they say? Most of those who write on these blogs are leaders, pastors, and are often the ones to set the example. What example does SBC Voices make? Write a blog about Calvinism, drinking, The Second Coming, have an opinion and see how long it takes to be called something pretty harsh. We can get nasty (yes, I confess I have and I am sorry for my words that have not built us but have torn down).
As I write this, I have no idea of the response. I suspect it will get a very low number of replies, since it’s not about a hot button issue. I may get some emails or some messages good and or bad, but I hope we all will at least think about it. I have been convicted that I have not glorified Christ in my speech (written in this case) on SBC Voices all the time. I ask for His forgiveness and for yours. I hope we can become a better example of Christ followers.