Consider this a gentle pastoral reminder.

If you are debating one another online, ask yourself:

1. Can it wait?

Should it wait? Does it have to be right now and in this forum? Is it really that important?

The “spirit” of social media is not usually conducive to love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, all of which are characteristics of the Holy Sprit alive in you. If you insist on engaging in this topic with one another from Elim Grace, why not invite one another out for coffee and have a conversation face-to-face. If your online debate will make it difficult to see one another, to embrace one another, to pray for one another on Sunday or in your small group, you should reconsider and wait.

2. Will it be a stumbling block?

If you believe you have a “prophetic” gift for the upbuilding and encouragement and consolation of the congregation, will your online behavior, tone, and treatment of one another be an obstacle to others hearing from the Lord when/if He speaks through you? You and I have a higher calling and we cannot behave however we want online and then expect the Holy Spirit to use us for the edification of the Body.

3. Are you thinking well?

Remember, if your friends are always (only) right and your enemies are always (only) wrong, you put yourself in a difficult position to think well. If we think anyone who disagrees with us is less godly and Christ-like than us, we are in a dangerous position. Be the kind of person who always begins by asking, “What’s right with it (their opinion, viewpoint)?” not, “What’s wrong with it?”

Finally…

Dear Elim Grace, do we believe in the necessity of “one another”, really? Around 50 times in the New Testament, Jesus and the apostles give us an exhortation or command concerning “one another.” We are to care for one another and bear with one another, honor one another and sing to/for one another, do good to one another and forgive one another. And then there is the grand, overarching, most-repeated one-another, the command that “binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:14): “Love one another.”

Whatever we say and do online, we are a part of the body of Christ first. Christ has given you one to another in His wisdom, mercy, grace and love. Therefore, outdo one another in showing honor to one another.

Pastor Jonathan