They Think They Do the Lord’s Bidding

The Intersection of Christianity and Technology

Show 43L: They Think They Do the Lord’s Bidding

Like many of you I grew up in an age without much advanced technology. When Texas Instruments came out with a calculator that was big time. Or when dial phones became push button – look out, you were one modern family. Many people still only had black and white televisions when I was a kid and things were just a little bit slower, less invasive, and certainly more polite. Sure, the sixties introduced some resistance to the Man and all of that, but general decorum toward others lingered in my estimation – until the advent of the internet.

When our daughters were young it became a thing, with instant messaging making a home in the lives of the young. I recall a couple of visits to the girl’s school when boys wrote rude things online that were cutting and unkind toward their person. One time the police were even involved they got so threatening. You would think that the old bathroom stall graffiti would have served to warn us about our nature as human beings decades before, our need to defame people publicly but we pushed ahead anyway, and technology with all of its value, has come with a very high price. In 1930, Sigmund Freud penned a famous book that he titled, Civilization and its Discontents – and he touched on, even prophesied about, the disruption modern advances would have on our collective psyche.

I get it and to me I do not think it the fallout will get any better as I am certain that human beings will forever prey upon each other through mediums and technologies that could have and should be, only used for good.

Christianity in the Digital Age

This show isn’t too much interested in the world and its ways – they are a foregone conclusion in my book. But we are extremely interested in Christianity and Christians and how we ought to live, operate and engage with the world around us as such. I expect – fully – for people without God to be rude, crude and utterly merciless toward those they do not agree with online. It’s the perfect forum for frustrated souls to hide behind while they cast their stones. But believers?

Years ago – I am talking years – I saw the light, or should I say the darkness, of social media platforms like Facebook and renamed them Disgracebook, feeling that they lent to the opposite of true Christian traits like others, humility and contrition and couldn’t help but promote pride, gossip, bragging and self. And while realizing the value in being engaged with the platforms for promotion sake, we chose to bow out (after a few forays into the thing) because I discovered that my original assessment of it all was right – it’s a disgrace. Of course the freedom people have to involve themselves in these online exchanges is their own and I would never suggest that they are wrong by engaging in them, but I would like to speak tonight about Online Christianity, as it were, and how I think it ought to look and appear to the world.

The Christian Online Presence

Without exception and whenever possible, with God in our hearts, I think that anytime a Christian is online – making a comment, writing a block, engaging in chat, or even making a complaint, every word they type ought to be couched in twelve observable traits: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, longsuffering, mildness, faith, modesty, self-control, and purity.

I am the pot calling the kettle black here, folks, so I am not without blame in this. But I do know what is right, of God and of the Spirit and I do know what is not. I get the mindset of justifying rudeness, and down-right mean attitudes toward others in the name of God. It comes with the amalgam of attitudes that include piety, arrogance, the sincere believe that righteous indignation pleases God, and often a literal even zealot-like allegiance to God’s written word over God’s living Word.

I say this last part because those caught in this deceptive not at all Christian web of behaviors are always citing chapter and verse, chapter and verse, cut and paste, chapter and verse. Don’t get me wrong – I teach chapter and verse every week of my life and adore the written word. But like CS Lewis wrote so many years ago:

“It is Christ Himself, not the Bible, who is the true word of God. … We must not use the Bible as a sort of encyclopedia out of which texts can be taken for use.”

Christian Conduct and Online Interactions

Does God expect His children to run about rudely inflicting biblical opinions upon others who are not interested at all in hearing it? Is there honor in a Christian being obtuse, insulting, aggressive, rude or snippy in the cause of Christ? Does the Lord want, or need or even appreciate people who live their lives online being rude, unkind and sarcastic at every turn? Is it more important to be right on a subject relative to God and His word or to be loving to those who reject our views?

Our videos have a handful of people who, enjoying the freedom to say what they like, say things in ways that are so off-putting – even for me who is a believer. Don’t these people realize that they are only making the faith look it produces mean and ruthless souls? I mean these sorts have zero compunction when it comes to calling people heretics, unsaved, and even enemies of Christ! The irony is so disturbing to me but no surprising as I too once used the Bible as a weapon.

Reflection on Personal Experience

But isn’t it ironic that I teach the Bible verse by verseTGNN’s Bible teaching series—book-by-book, through the lens of fulfillment and spiritual liberty., I promote Christ as the sole source of salvation, I open our long show with prayer, and despite all of this people come in and write that I am deceived?

(beat)

I have long said that this attitude among believers is going to send true Christianity into hiding as the most vocal and rude will become the post-children for the faith. When the governments decide to step in and ramp up hate-speech laws these types will consider it a badge of honor to be tossed in jail for being rude which will further serve to divide the body into factions of wordy warmongers and warm welcomers.

A Call for Love and Unity

I prefer the latter. Perhaps you do as well. In the not to distant future something is coming that will be a refuge of peace and comfort for those who want to really actually love in Jesus name – within the next year I would say.

Watch for it – consider it. Until then, try and respond to those who claim Christ while being rude and mean and who use scripture to kill – with love. It's not easy – not even possible – without Him. So cling stronger to His life whenever you can. You are not alone.