“Life and
death are in the power of the tongue.” – Proverbs 18:21
Words matter. They always
have. Take social media for instance.
A woman lamented, “We have never been so wounded
and hurt by anything…ever."
She and her family recently lived through a social
media “beating.”
To be fair, social media has some upsides. But, the downsides are destructive to say the
least.
One of the things that is often overlooked in the angst
about social media is the connection between ethics and speech. To be short….there is one!
Our culture’s penchant for drama and our unwillingness to
self-regulate has turned everything from twitter, to yik yak, to texting to
facebook into a Darwinian jungle. Only
the fittest survive! Unfortunately, the casualty rate is climbing especially among teenagers. Adults are a close second.
What's happening? In a nutshell, there is no recognition of boundaries. Human dignity is being abandoned in a window of literally seconds in
favor of "my freedom" to say whatever I want to say or text or tweet. Don’t
like it. Don’t read it. Is it that simple? I don’t think so.
If you are mad, spray a page, a tweet or a text with
rancorous speech. Don’t worry. You can re-tweet it later.
Don’t like something down at church…vomit on facebook. If you have screened your friends just right,
there is a strong probability you will get some “likes.”
But, there is a big difference - albeit a fine line - between “expressing
a viewpoint” and attacking people and groups in the name of free speech.
In fact, free speech can become a cover for hateful
discourse and slander of every kind. Speech
and expressing yourself still matters on an ethical level. Jesus said so.
So did Paul. Ephesians 4:30 says
that words can grieve the Holy Spirit regardless of the disclaimers and
emoticons that enclose what is said.
Much more could be said. But think about the following:
- You are free but not really.
1 Peter 2:16 says, "Act as free men but do not use your freedom as
a covering for evil, but use it as bond slaves of Jesus Christ." We
are free in
- Think! Think before you write, post, tweet, text, and speak. Proverbs 12:18 says, “There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”
- Haste makes waste! If you are angry it’s better to get control of your emotions before you say something that is way off the mark! James says the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God (James 1:20). He says in verse 19, "Be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger."
- Is this helpful? Ask yourself, "How am I helping "good" (whatever it is) move forward in this conversation or with this person? Hebrews 10:24 says we should "consider how to stir one another to love and good works." In other words, "think on it...deliberate it." How does this honor what the Spirit is trying to do in this moment? If you have a taste for drama Hebrews 10:24 could be just what the doctor ordered!
“He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed”
(Proverbs 11:25). Imagine a week of
social media governed by those words. What
a blessing!
Father, may the words of our mouth and the meditation of our
hearts be acceptable in your sight, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Randy Daugherty
