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.
Intoxication with our own opinion is a worse mocker than wine or beer?
when a comment stream leaves the ‘issue’ and enters into ‘lashon hara’, the conversation is no longer about the issue itself . . .
Greg, yes our pride and need to be right often drives us to post harsh and hateful things. We often care more and building ourselves up. It’s pride and its divisive.
You are right, Dan. Many here may not even comment or accept any form of responsibility. I decided to be an onlooker on the last post. Until one’s heart is full of forgiveness before the confrontation they are seldom kind and tenderhearted towards anyone, especially those of his own household.
Reminds me of the quote I tweeted earlier which may be applied to either side of whatever is being debated.
“Vice does not lose its character by becoming fashionable.” ~ John Wesley
Dan – It’s a tough balance to hit … contending for the faith without being contentious. May God give us all the wisdom to know the difference … when to bridle the tongue, lest our religion be judged worthless. May He give us discernment to know when to stand and when to sit … when it’s time to be silent and time to speak.
I always try to repeat this question to myself when I communicate: “What if this is EXACTLY what God had in mind for you to hear/see/read today?” If that’s really the case, then how I respond is far more important, IMO, than what I write.
We’re simply called to tell the truth. Perhaps some may be required to judge, correct, chastise, etc, in their positions with (and in the context of) their church, but that seldom has anything to do with blogging.
There is a prof at Univ. of Houston who wrote a piece for “Engines of our Ingenuity” a few years ago (John Lienhard, and probably 15 years now). He said that his observation was that if we put the most benign interpretation that we could on what someone said and then made the most positive response that we could to their words, that things worked out about right. I have found this to be true. It is not scripture but it sure is good advice.
What I see in blogging comments is failure to put a benign interpretation on the initial words and then making an aggressive response to that (likely inaccurate) interpretation. Of course “group truth” comes into play sometimes and we try to look good to our buddies.
That sounds like a pretty decent starting point for learning to listen well.
As we learned from Jesus and Paul, sometimes harsh rebuke is necessary for building up. However, we should also understand that it cuts both ways. As sinners, we cannot rebuke without exposing ourselves. Too often, I’m afraid, we issue rebuke pretentiously and it only results in a weak brother being torn down. We are responsible for each other and it’s a weight that we should bear soberly.