After a decade-and-a-half of successful avoidance, I finally joined Twitter last month. Just a few weeks later and I’ve already seen and felt enough to make me want to delete my account. It isn’t just the way people talk, or the abuse they give so freely. It’s the fact that you feel yourself pulled into its world in strange ways.
For one thing, there’s the necessary investment in self-promotion. This seems essential, on some level, for anything to work on Twitter, yet it feels deeply sub-Christian in numerous ways. There are also all those many time-sapping “Twitter fights”, many of which might not be quite as worthwhile as they first seemed. It is a legitimate question to ask: is engaging in debates on social media even worth the hassle for Christians?
Are we aiming
to be passive
consumers or
active influencers?
In Or Out?
It seems far more straightforward to just stop caring about it, to back off, to delete, to ignore, to withdraw. Even just writing such words, a sense of peace rises up in my heart! What a pleasant thought, to cut off from the buzz, noise, and smog of the social media city. It feels idyllic to drift back into the rural valleys of non-digital interaction where life seems far less stressful. Indeed, people who take “sabbaticals” from social media almost always say it makes them happier and healthier as a result. Some certainly should step back from online interaction, for various reasons. But there are significant missional implications, either way. A key difference lies in our online posture: are we aiming to be passive consumers or active influencers?
Minimalism or Mission
I remain, more or less, a digital minimalist (at least in my head!). I don’t own a smartphone, which means I’m not perpetually connected to online platforms. This is very helpful. Thus, I tend to work in flurries of online activity from time to time, rather than consistently. In fact, I usually have to remind myself to be more proactive online, rather than cutting myself off from it. As pious as it probably sounds, I sometimes have to think of engaging more online as a “discipline”. This is especially the case when putting myself out there more than I’d normally want to.
This doesn’t mean I don’t fall prey to the same egotistical temptations as others, of course. I’m as addicted to the dopamine hit of notifications and likes as anyone else. So too the temptation to engage online to the neglect of those around me. Knowing our limits and boundaries remains key. What’s shifted for me more recently is an urgency to speak within social media environments for more pressing reasons. Namely, to counteract the more troubling opinion-shaping that’s causing all sorts of other problems.
Worldly Conformity
This fresh impetus to speak online is less to do with missional interaction with non-Christians (although this always remains important). It’s more to do with how the Church has become increasingly immersed in the ways this world operates. Christians don’t seem to realise just how conformable they’ve become (cf. Rom. 12:2). The powerful idols of our age have arisen as much within the Church’s walls as beyond them, and too few have been willing to challenge them. (And if your immediate reaction to that last sentence was to be concerned about the language of “walls”, “us-against-them”, etc., you’re probably part of the problem I’m referring to).
Christians don’t
seem to realise
just how
conformable
they’ve become
Wisdom for Fight-picking
Given this need to engage more proactively in such issues, this again raises many important questions I’ve been considering lately. What fights aren’t worth fighting? What debates aren’t worth getting drawn into? Which comments need to be deleted? Which threads need to be ignored? This is no easy feat. It requires discernment borne of Christian maturity, not reactionary pride.
However, the answer isn’t as simple as keeping quiet about those thornier issues which are more likely to cause trouble. This has been the mistake of many Church leaders in recent years, perhaps especially within Evangelicalism. Although we mustn’t become defined by negativity, I’m also becoming dubious of the perpetual positivity in public engagements with the world. Too often our litany of smiles and nods merely hide all that we’re too afraid to talk about.
The Flourishing of Cowardice
I’m sure there was once a time when mainstream Evangelicals used to go too far. No doubt many were guilty of judgemental or insensitive talk in their zeal to guard the Gospel. These ghosts continue to haunt us, but with opposite effects. Today, we seem to be willing to go to almost any length to avoid such negative charges being thrown at us. Evangelical leaders are often far more keen to protect institutional reputations and societal affiliations than to put themselves on the line. Staying out of the crucible either by not speaking about issues directly, or by avoiding them entirely, appears to be the game plan.
No doubt many believe they’re simply “biding their time”, “waiting for the right moment”, “seeing how things pan out first”. This may often be a wise approach. It certainly seems wiser than blasting in hotheadedly and regretting it afterwards. We can easily cause the wrong kinds of trouble, for us and for those around us. But I suspect that, more often than not, “the right moment”, the time to act, never happens to arrive. Or, by the time it would have done, most people no longer care. Such conditions become convenient for the flourishing of cowardice.
Fighting in Tweetland
In the space of a couple of days recently, I found myself embroiled in three different Twitter fights. I didn’t really intend to “get into” any of these debates all that deeply. They just came up on my feed and seemed the kind of issues where something ought to be said. So I said some things. That’s the problem with Twitter, of course, as the experienced Twitterers amongst you already know. A single Tweet isn’t the problem. It’s when people start responding that the trouble starts!
Opposed But Empowered
We are ambassadors
of Christ, empowered
by the Holy Spirit…
The world (online
and off) would be a
very different place
if more Christians
truly believed this.
I’m reminded of the famous quote from Sartre about football: “Everything is complicated by the presence of the opposite team.” As a lifelong footballer myself, I know only too well how many best-laid tactical plans can fall apart within seconds because of some random piece of brilliance (or thuggery!) by an opponent which can totally disrupt your best intentions, with or without the ball at your feet.
And yet, I think Sartre’s adage could be countered by a similar-sounding phrase from Martyn Lloyd-Jones about preaching: “You may go into the pulpit with what you think is an excellent sermon, but you never know what is going to happen to it until you start preaching.” For Christians, it’s important to remember that we’re not merely at the mercy of “the game”. We’re not merely waiting on the chaos of our opponents’ responses. We are ambassadors of Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit. This is no insignificant thing. The world (online and off) would be a very different place if more Christians truly believed this.
Losing our Reputation
The three debates I happened to get involved in were on gender roles, spiritual abuse, and gay conversion therapy. Nice, straightforward, uncontroversial topics! Naturally, I was deemed “the crazy one” in each of these debates. Yet as I responded to various counter-comments, I thought how odd it might seem to other people observing my responses as random Tweets appearing in their newsfeeds. “Why is he getting involved in this!? Aren’t there more fruitful things to be doing!? I thought he had 5 kids!?” Such thoughts, of course, are also part of the aforementioned pathology of reputational self-obsession that feeds off social media presence.
Nonetheless, there clearly are many fights which truly aren’t worth our time. Sometimes the topics are stupid, sometimes the opponents are stupid, and sometimes we are stupid. Once you’re “in”, it can seem hard to get out, hard to walk away, hard to lose face.
All these things must be borne in mind if we want to witness well within this crucible, without losing our sanity in the process. But as foolish as it may often look, we mustn’t get too comfortable with shirking back, nor too judgemental about others who find themselves in different fights to our own.
In a social media
world which
becomes more
unreasonable by
the day, we have
a duty to “let our
reasonableness
be known to
everyone”
(Phil. 4:5).
Persistence and Encouragement
Like Paul’s persistence in the Athenian marketplace, we mustn’t stop speaking, proclaiming, and reasoning “with those who happen to be there” (Acts 17:7). Paul had more reasons than most to hold off and hold back. Everywhere he went, every time he spoke, trouble seemed to arise. Who does this guy think he is? Isn’t he bringing the Gospel into disrepute? Yet God regularly sends him encouragements to keep going: “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent” (Acts 18:9). Though Paul had no Twitter handle, his mission remains precisely the same as ours. We mustn’t forget this. Our commission hasn’t somehow changed (Matt. 28), nor has our commissioner (Heb. 13:8).
Emboldening the Watchers
In a social media world which becomes more unreasonable by the day, Christians have a duty to “let our reasonableness be known to everyone” (Phil. 4:5). This often means more than just responding to the person you happen to be speaking to. Many others could be watching from the shadows. After lengthy Facebook discussions over the years, I’ve often been surprised to receive private encouragements from people, despite seeing no “visible” supporters within the comment threads themselves.
Online battlefields can be lonely places. There often won’t be too many likes or friendly “amens” at hand, especially if the issues being discussed are more controversial. But you never know who might be encouraged to see your witness. What you say (and how you say it) might just enable someone to share their faith at work the next day, or to stop believing something untrue/unfaithful, or to stand up and say ‘no’ to something that’s wrong which is being called right.
We mustn’t underestimate the power of the Spirit to use our words to make things happen in people’s lives. This could mean affecting the thought-patterns of unbelievers in ways we may never know about. It could also mean emboldening or challenging our brothers and sisters where they’ve been entertaining subtly packaged half-truths which will cause even more trouble in the long run.
The Fight Within Our Ranks
What you say (and
how you say it)
might just enable
someone to share
their faith at work
the next day…or to
stand up and say
‘no’ to something
wrong which is
being called right.
My reading of the times in which we live would suggest that the Church should be fighting the kind of issues which will affect its freedom to live and speak out the Gospel within our generation. We’re also fighting for the next generation too, who will inherit tomorrow the results of our cowardice today. This means we must be prepared to speak truth against the immersive lies in which our society swims, particularly where such lies have begun to seep into our own pews and pulpits.
The Costs of Compromise
Sometimes we might despair at seeing Christians in vehement public disagreement. It can seem like “friendly fire” at a time when we ought to be pulling together to engage the enemy beyond. But it’s especially difficult to engage the enemy “out there” if our own walls have been breached by our own men. At times, this could be outright false teaching. But it could also just be a kind of sleepy agreement with the world on all sorts of little issues, none of which seem all that big a deal on their own. Such subtle compromises gradually erode the ramparts and allow unfaithfulness to creep in over time.
We are called at all times to be vigilant (1Pet. 5:8). Paul told the Ephesian elders to watch out for the wolves who would spring up from within their own ranks to devour the flock, “speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” (Acts 20:29-30). Smiles and nods come at a cost.
Ready, Willing, Tweeting
I believe the Church in the west is in the kind of moment where our saturation in the ways of the world is nigh-on comprehensive. In many cases, we don’t yet fully realise the extent to which we’ve been substantially “mentored” by the world in significant ways. If the way we spend our thoughts, time, money, and words has more in common with the non-Christians of our present generation than the Christians of previous generations, then we probably have a problem. But it’s not a helpless problem. We can do something about this, with God’s help. We just need to be ready and willing to keep speaking up in the right ways, at the right times, with the right hearts.
Twitter fights and other online skirmishes might seem like a waste of time. Some of the time it probably will be. But don’t underestimate the value of faithfulness, reasonableness, courage, and persistence. Such witness will continue to remind the world – within and beyond the Church – that there’s another king in Tweetland, and his name isn’t Caesar.
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