Putting Faith “Out There”
These weekly articles appear in reverse chronological order (newest on top).
Can Social Media and Christianity even Co-Exist???!
I must confess, the weather got nice and I got busy. Writing took a back seat this week.
In the past few weeks, I spent plenty of time complaining about problems I see with the presentation of Christianity on social media. It might leave someone thinking that I believe that the 2 things should be kept apart. That’s actually the opposite of true. Social media has become a vital part of how we connect and relate with each other. If we were to completely avoid bringing our faith onto social media, we would be ‘hiding our light’ and failing to invite everyone to hear the good news.
Here are some things I think we should be mindful of when approaching social media with our faith:
1/ Know your audience. Is this a private message from a good friend? Or a post visible to all your contacts? Or a comment on a group page with thousands of strangers? Where is that friend, acquaintance or group of strangers coming from? What are they coming to social media for? How well do they know where you are coming from?
2/ Be aware of context. So much of social media is in-jokes and shorthand commentary. It’s part of the fun, but it also leaves lots of room for misinterpretation. If you want to repost a meme, consider adding a caption that adds context. If someone is asking for advice on riding their horse, or washing their car, ask yourself if referring them to a bible verse actually answers their question.
3/ Invest in relationship. Your relationship will affect what someone is and isn’t comfortable talking about. Your relationship will affect how a person interprets your interaction. Relationships take investment in time and learning. Better to invest in developing a few relationships than to gloss over an ever increasing number of acquaintances.
3/ Remember your calling. Love your neighbor, that’s the person next to you. All people are Children of God, we are to love them as such, especially if they are lost. We are to share the good news, yes. I believe that news is best shared in the context of relationship. It is so much greater than any meme or offhand comment can ever express
So, the season of Lent and soul searching begins to blossom into Easter’s forgiveness and hope. We’ve talked about our shortcomings as magnified by social media. Now is the time to repent and “return to the Lord your God. For he is gracious and merciful.” We can set aside the times we went astray and weave what we’ve learned into our new and improved 2021. ????????????????⛪✝️????????
This Little Light of Mine
So here I am scrolling through Facebook….
- News
- Funny pets
- Meditation advice
- Ad for interesting new product
- Pretty pictures of natural parks
- Pretty pictures of night skies
- High School friend’s kid doing something cute
- Request to donate money to charity
- Videos of cool horses
- Another ad for some weird product I can’t believe someone actually made
Is somebody earning points in a game that I don’t know anything about? Like 1 point for randomly announcing your interpretation of Christian philosophy. 1 point for mentioning Jesus somewhere that no one expects to talk about Jesus. 2 points if you get someone to repost your meme about Jesus. 3 points if you get them to repost because you guilted them into it, or threatened them on Jesus’ behalf. Does the person with the highest point total win something, or is there a quota I need to meet to avoid losing my ‘Christian Card’?
I don’t know exactly why these posts annoy me, but they really do. I do know that I am not alone in being annoyed. Kendra asked me to write about how she sees plenty of backlash against pushy, hypocritical Christians.
I’ve written previously that we need to remember who our audience is when we post things, it’s any and all of your hundreds of ‘friends’ or followers on social media. Would you stand up on a platform in front of all those people and randomly shout some of these statements, like Christian Tourettes? If so, then have at it. But what are you hoping to accomplish? Will this post inspire other Christians? Does it invite the curious into conversation about your faith? Will it actually convince sinners of their wrongful ways and get them to repent? Or does that post simply make you feel good?
But what about that song? “Hide it under a bushel? NO! I’m gonna let it shine,” I can’t hide my faith just because it might make someone uncomfortable.
What is the purpose of the light of our faith, though? Do we shine to draw attention to ourselves? Or worse yet, to earn points in the “Christian Card” game? The song doesn’t talk about us being a stick to beat anyone with, or a scale to weigh faith in. It certainly doesn’t talk about sharing posts that drive knee jerk reactions and build up the popularity of particular pages which are then sold with massive followerships for top dollar….(yeah, that’s what most of those “I bet I won’t get even one share” posts are about). The song talks about us being a light on the path, so others can see the way.
So, if you want to keep from annoying me, before you like, or comment ‘Amen!’, or repost a meme because it told you to, here are some questions to consider:
- Who’s going to actually see this post, is this a conversation you would actually have with them?
- What are you hoping to accomplish with this post? Is this post actually the best, or even a good way to accomplish that goal?
- Is this post guilting or threatening anyone?
- Am I enriching shadowy internet bad guys by blindly reposting?
I’m not trying to say you should never bring up your faith, or repost a meme. I’m simply saying that putting a little thought into the process may save all of us a little aggravation and perhaps shine a friendlier light into the world.
Halftime Report
First off, a short review and update.
- My goal is to talk about the reality of being a Christian online – check.
- Can I talk to God the same way that I send a text or tag on a post? I find myself saying lots of little prayers during the day, a quick thanks, a pointed request for help, a shared moment of amusement. – So far, so good.
- Be a loving neighbor to a few instead of a self-righteousness acquaintance to many. Before I comment, I consider who I’m talking to and how close to them I am. Would I be talking to this person at the grocery store? At a party? In my living room? Then I decide if my comment is appropriate to that conversation. – I’m still working on this one, half a check.
Finally we get to today, Jesus calls me to love my neighbor. Part of love is really understanding that person. But sometimes understanding is really hard. Here’s an example:
I searched for Christian memes and found this one:
Then I searched Anti-Christian memes and found exactly the same meme. What is going on? How can this one image with a handful of words superimposed on it get on two completely opposite lists. It must be a mistake. This is so obvious, how could someone get it so wrong? They must be an idiot.
Does this condemnation fulfill my instruction to love, though? Are insults actual understanding?
Have you ever seen The Dress?
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If you see a blue and black dress you probably can’t believe the person next to you sees a white and gold dress. What is going on? You can click on the picture for the whole Wikipedia story. But here’s the very shortened version. Because of the conditions under which this picture was taken, it lacks many of the clues that our brains use to determine color. If your brain assumes the picture was taken in sunlight you see a white and gold dress. Your brain assumes artificial light? You see a blue and black dress. Your neighbor isn’t wrong, they actually see a different color than you do.
So the old adage “understand where they’re coming from” has even greater meaning online. This requires that time that I talked about last week. Time spent realizing that my initial, gut instinct probably isn’t the only valid interpretation. Time working to shift my perspective enough to glance at the truth behind another person’s reality.
A while ago it was all the rage to ask What Would Jesus Do? (WWJD?) That’s worth pondering when someone interprets your post in a wildly different way than you intended. WWJD when an acquaintance posts something upsetting? WWJD if confronted with a tweet that causes you to doubt what you previously held true? WWJD when feeling attacked by someone else’s unthinking comment?
That seems like plenty to ponder this week. You all are reading my thoughts, feel free to get in touch with yours!
Civilizing Your Inner Troll
Ever gotten really mad at someone on social media? Ever experienced that feeling of injustice, like someone kicked your dog, over a meme or a chance comment? Did that feeling affect your actual life: change a relationship with a friend, cause you to rant and rave at your family, increase your blood pressure, affect your sleep? If you believe that online interactions aren’t really real, you might not be paying enough attention to the really real effects on you and those around you.
In my Bible reading today, this verse from James stood out to me: You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness.
James 1:19-20 NRSV
“Your anger does not produce God’s righteousness” That’s not how it feels in the moment, though, is it? In the moment, we feel not just indignation, but righteous indignation. As though we are the only and ultimate judge. No other opinion or interpretation is important or valid or even true. We are free to dispense our own justice as we see fit. We type in ALL CAPS. We tap that angry face. We share a mocking or belittling comment. We unfollow, and unfriend. In this verse, Paul points out that while an argument built of our righteous indignation can fill us with a sense of importance and certainty and power, it doesn’t put us in line with what God considers right.
Clearly this is not new human behavior. The bible was written down a very long time before the internet came to be. We humans are made in God’s image, but we are at best a weak reflection. We are chosen heirs, but we are often insecure, grasping for power and standing. We have enough difficulty being generous when we stand face to face with another person. Put a layer of electronics and software between us and somehow our desperate need for importance and power breaks free. Like a driver with road rage, sitting in our own isolated world (our car) allows us to forget the humanity of the person next to us in their own isolated world. We can then paint that not-a-human with whatever intentions and motivations occur to us. We can attack ‘them’ and still be safe in our isolation. If just sitting in a car can do this, imagine what this year of pandemic has done. Online we don’t interact with people, we interact with representations of people. Our brains crave completeness, so when we are faced with this incomplete avatar, our brains fill in the blanks. Once that happens, why wouldn’t we consider ourselves superior? We are complete and ‘they’ are only partly real and partly fabricated and then represented only by a teeny picture or cartoon character. Plus,we can turn them on and off with a swipe or a tap.
Paul tells James “be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger”. Good advice, to be sure, but it lacks a clear strategy. HOW do we get ourselves to the place where we are quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger?
Here is my 2 step plan for combating combat online:
First, I must remember that I am a child if God, bought by Christ’s blood, baptised by water, heir to the kingdom and loved by God. I shall not be in want. If I am needy and grasping for power, I have not connected with God enough. I will spend intentional time with my God and my faith through worship, fellowship (I miss you all so much), study and prayer.
Second, I will recognize, investigate and build up the very real and complete humanity of everyone I am next to online. They are all my neighbors. This will take time and practice. Time to practice curiosity about the other person’s reality. Time to practice interacting in a more complete way, via private message, e-mail or phone call. Time to practice seeing a very real human being, loved by God, on the other side of the internet divide. If all that practice seems too great a task, perhaps I need to narrow my network.
Jesus calls us to love our neighbors, the people we are next to. In real life, I am next to a limited number of people. Why would I expect that I could maintain ‘friendships’ with hundreds of people online? I don’t need to cut casual acquaintances off, but I can become aware of who is actually an important part of my day to day and choose to be a loving neighbor to them, rather than a self-righteous acquaintance to hundreds more.
So that’s all a pretty tall order; accept that God loves me, and treat people online as very real and complete people that God also loves. Check in next week and I’ll let you know how it’s going for me. Feel free to get in touch and let me know how it’s going for you.
I’m Tagging God on this….
Well, I discovered some things about myself trying to write this week’s essay. I am sick of my own brain. I don’t want to think about my own thoughts. I’ve spent too much time with them already.
It doesn’t help that I started a new Bible reading plan recently and right now the readings are a mix of Job (pronounced like robe) and Revelations (the fever dream style description of the end of the world). Not warm, fuzzy, happy stuff.
But let me get back to the point of Lent and dealing with faith as filtered through our internet existence. Job certainly had problems, but he talked to God the same way he talked to his friends. We ‘talk’ to our friends via short electronic bursts of text, images and emoji. Does God have push notifications set up so he receives our messages immediately? Or do we need to put aside our new electronic language and speak to God in an old fashioned way? How old fashioned do we have to be? Praying in a church building during a formal service? Illuminating texts with quill and ink? Chanting in Latin? Crying out in Hebrew?
Saying it that way makes that very worry feel a little silly. God split apart language at the tower of Babel. The apostles, when blessed with the Holy Spirit, spoke to everyone in the market in their own tongues. I think God has this language thing covered, because we give God a direct line to our hearts. So I don’t think God cares about the lingo, as long as we send the message.
Prayer can seem like an old fashioned thing, like writing a letter and putting it in an actual USPS mail box. I think, this coming week, I’ll consider how I would interact with God if I had a cell#, or was friends on Facebook. Would I tag God on this post? Forward that article? Send a text asking for advice? I bet God can understand any emoji.
Let me know if you decide to try this new way of thinking about prayer, too. I’ll keep you updated on my end.
Trish’s Lent Writing Theme Reveal!
Once again we are in the midst of a long, cold, winter, hoping for spring. Once again we wait between the beginning of Christmas and the new beginning of Easter. Once again we are staring at the reality of a worldwide pandemic and we continue to deal with it’s effect on our lives and our church. Once again I’m ready to jump in at the deep end and write for Lent.
Last year we were at the beginning of this time of social distancing, masks, and restrictions. I pray that this year we are nearing the end, or at least the “turning the corner” phase of this Covid crisis. We’ve spent plenty of time with things that separate us, physical distance, political ideals, economic disparities. With common ways of connecting unsafe, we try Zoom conventions, birthday party parades, outdoor dining, curbside pickup, and social media as ways to fill the gap. Some work better than others, but they all have their pitfalls.
Every Lent I spend some time discussing connecting with God and with our Church. This year I also want to think on the very real difficulties involved with connecting with those outside our Faith, especially when done through the lens of cyberspace. I’ve titled this theme Putting Faith “Out There”.
Once again, I’m asking for your help. Have you come across memes or posts online that you feel misrepresent Christianity as you live it? Are there commentators or comedians that frustrate you with their interpretation of Faith? Do you know someone who has questions about Jesus and why we do what we do to follow him? Have you shared something online and been surprised at the response? I’d really like to hear about your experiences. I’d like to focus on helping you deal with these frustrating moments. I’d like to find ways to help all of us navigate Putting Faith “Out There”.