Do you get sucked into social media comments or the news? I’m guilty. I try not to get swayed by what people are fearlessly spewing from the safety of their keyboards, but most of the time it seems like a bad accident that I can’t look away from. It always amazes me how cruel people are to each other when they aren’t face to face. I am much too timid to participate in angry altrications on-line (or in person), but I am embarrassed to admit I am sucked into watching the drama much too easily. But why?

Proverbs 15 definitely brings into perspective where our values should be in these crazy times of keyboard jockeys ruling internet content. There doesn’t seem to be much calm, discerning wisdom to be had a lot of the time. Why is this? “Bad news sells” is what we have been told, but is it really true? During this time of shut in due to Covid19, I have seen a lot of creative ways that people have tried to share good news, encouragement and humor, from both the Christian and secular circles. I think people crave happiness more than the national media would like us to believe.

It doesn’t matter how other people respond or what is being said around you. Honestly, I need to ban myself from social media or news for periods of time. The anxiety it brings me is just not healthy. How about you? I am not saying that you should be uninformed, but I do believe that we need not contribute to the wrath that is so easily spread through the typed and recorded word. Today I was listening to Pastor Craig Groeschel who said that he had made a conscious choice to only view 30 minutes of news each day. That is a worthy idea that I am going to begin. I challenge you to do the same. Let’s be the soothing tongue that is a tree of life, not the perverse tongue that crushes the spirit. We need to bring refreshing to people, not frustration and despair. We don’t have to agree with every word said or typed. There is never going to be a day where we agree with everything that is said, so let’s figure out how to disagree BETTER.

There have been many instances where the secular world is watching Christians tear each other apart on social media. This is not the example we are here to deliver. It only feeds into the narrative that Christians are hypocrits. I have seen more than one person write how they received the worst criticism from “friendly fire” within their Christian communities. How can this be happening? I understand that right now there is a level of unparallelled stress for some people (myself included), but we cannot stoop to this level. A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. This is God’s standard for us, we cannot respond how the world responds. I challenge you to not react harshly to others whether on social media or otherwise; let’s set a new standard for how we treat each other in the world. As Christians we need to be a light of peace for those surrounding us who are desperate for something different than what they see around them. We are supposed to have a peace that is not common to this world, if we are just part of the problem then we are no better than those who don’t know Jesus! That is the true sadness here and should bring us to immediate repentence. Repentence! Not guilt! I don’t believe changes made out of shame or guilt will be long lasting, but we need to ask God’s forgiveness and operate under his strength in the future not our own understanding.

When we put all our emotions into the things going on in the world and being shared by media, we are clearly choosing to take our eyes off of God. What if we try to keep in perspective that unbelievers are reading every word we write or say and are judging whether our faith is worthy by how we are reacting to the current circumstances. If we are just as stressed out as they are then we don’t have anything worthy of them pursuing!! I am not suggesting in any way that we lose our ability to show our emotions through a struggle, but we should always be pointing our trust back to Jesus! When we succumb to the black hole of a social media storm we have given away the God ordained power that Jesus died for. We are mighty in his name! We are not of this world! Let’s remember this always! Don’t let the world dim the light of Jesus within you.

I’m going to switch this scripture around a bit and only write out the positive aspects. I’m going to print this out for myself and hang it near my laptop to remind myself always. A gentle answer turns away wrath. The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge. The soothing tongue is a tree of life. I think literally in this time of increasing anxiety and depression, that the Bible telling us that our “tongue is a tree of life” is VERY accurate. Our encouraging words may very well sustain a life. Suicide rates are consistently increasing; imagine the peace you could share with someone today. The world is DESPERATE for peace, let’s not get sucked into the despair of the words of the world. I challenge you to start today! Are you in? Let people be so curious about what is within you that they can’t stand but to approach you about your faith. I don’t think any of us are doing this perfectly, but we can aspire to do better EACH day.