A little over a week ago, I published a daily bread devotional about the “tool” of the internet, and how it can be used for tremendous good or terrible evil. It was running a little long so I chopped it into two parts. Last time was the set-up; here is the conclusion…
Maybe it’s just because the internet makes it easy to be a semi-anonymous jerk, but I’ve noticed a lot more casual dismissing of other people’s ideas, casual rejecting of other people’s beliefs, and casual belittling of other people based on what they say or think. You see this come up a lot when it comes to spiritual matters. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of cases where false teaching needs to be corrected and false teachers need to be rebuked. There are also a lot of cases where we may have disagreement about the meaning of a verse, or about the proper way to apply a Bible text. It’s not always necessary to sharpen the pitchforks and light the torches whenever we hear something we don’t agree with.
So, before you jump down someone’s throat. Ask yourself: “Is this worth fighting over…?” Here are six things to think about, but you may have more to add. These are questions to ask ourselves before we respond to something we might disagree with, spiritually:
“Does it denigrate the character of any part of the Godhead?”
“Does it make the cross null and void?”
“Does it make trivial the terrible cost of sin?”
“Does it contradict the Gospel or make God a liar?
“Does it neuter a person’s reason or need to turn to God for salvation?”
“Does it change what the Bible says about salvation or about faithfulness after salvation?”
Again, I may have left something important out (unintentionally) but I think that summarizes it well enough. And that’s just talking about spiritual things; I didn’t even get into the petty squabbles we are sometimes compelled to wade into. People say things. It happens. Sometimes they want to hurt your feelings. Sometimes they’re just clumsy talkers and what comes out of their mouth isn’t what was intended. I don’t even have a list to help you in those circumstances; I just have one single command: Give the benefit of the doubt. That’s it. Just do that, and this world will be so much better off.
It doesn’t matter if you’re eighteen or eighty-one, common courtesy and respect are still good virtues to have with people, whether they’re eighty-one or eighteen. I pray we all think before we speak, and if what we hear isn’t worth arguing over, I pray we simply don’t argue about it. And if what we hear rubs us the wrong way, I pray we give the benefit of the doubt.
The internet has made it very easy for us to share our opinions and our complaints. Unfortunately, that has allowed us to believe anyone cares to hear them. I’m sorry to tell you… no one does, at least not in public (and the internet is very much a public forum). We used to be a meek and quiet society. Let’s try that again, for a change. Who knows, some good may come from it.
~ Matthew