Watch what you say

Last week I posted an article on this site about Christians using social media in ways that bring damage to their testimony and the Christian faith. Specifically, I wrote about how Christians are as guilty of posting inaccurate information and slandering those who disagree with us as non-christians. Today I want to address another issue that concerns me about Christians and social media.

The next day I unfriended two Christians on Facebook because of vile language that was contained on a post they shared. This was not their writing, but it was a post they had seen somewhere and felt the need to share it with their friends. The post contained a word that has no place in Christian dialogue. This was not the first time these two individuals had shared questionable material, but this one went over the line of acceptability. I had been uncomfortable with some of their posts before, but this one was the final straw for me. I immediately unfriended them.

Some Christians have no problem with using profane language. I do. It's not that I am shocked by it. As a young man I cursed a lot before becoming a Christian. I've had unbelievers intentionally curse in front of me looking for a reaction. They never got one. But, when Christians are unable to express themselves without using profanity it does bother me. I also do not want it on my social media pages because I don't want anyone thinking that I condone it.

As Christians we are to reflect the person of Jesus Christ in all we say and do. I realize that we all fail to do this as we should. I am certainly not pretending to be perfect in this endeavor either. But, it seems that it should be a simple thing to control the words that come out of our mouths or the ones we write for all the world to see.

Non-christians judge the gospel we proclaim based in large part on the lives of those who claim to believe it. They are quick to point out any inconsistencies they think they find. It may not always be fair, but it is a fact. It should be noted that this is not only true for Christians but for anyone in the public eye. In recent weeks there have been numerous social media posts made by entertainers and politicians that have been removed but not before someone got a screen shot. Critics of these entertainers and politicians used these posts to attack them and their views. Non-christians do the same with the things we post, and just because we remove the post doesn't mean that it goes away. There's always a chance that someone has taken a screen shot of something we post before we can remove it.

Is it really that difficult for Christians to communicate without using profane language? The answer is no, if we care what others think about the things we say and write. I encourage you to think about who will read what you post on social media and what they will think about you after they read it. If you still want to use profane language I guess you're free to do so. Just don't send it to me. If you do I'll feel the same freedom to not receive anything else from you.