AMUCK - WHEN YOUR ONLINE PERSONA BETRAYS YOUR SPIRITUAL PROFESSION

Website Admin
May 15, 2020
7 min read

Updated: Jan 25

Have you ever found yourself painfully regretting a social media post, pic, or response? Have you ever attempted to address an issue or comment on one of your platforms only to soon discover that you're in the middle of a full-blown argument? Join the crowd. It's a common experience. Unfortunately, for all the good it offers, social media also provides a great opportunity for believers to ruin their personal witness.

And let's be honest. We've all seen it happen. The deacon who turns into a political flamethrower every election cycle. The worship leader whose Instagram is an endless highlight reel of self-promotion. The small group leader who can't resist dropping into every comment section with unsolicited hot takes. These aren't hypotheticals. They're cautionary tales walking among us.

Let's face it, words matter. Whether they come from your mouth or the touch of your fingers on some version of a keyboard is quite beside the point. Either method of communication has the power to build or break. Either form of communication will either encourage and edify or bruise and batter. Make no mistake, the absence of your audible voice does nothing to diminish the sting of your words. If anything, the distance of a screen emboldens us to say things we'd never utter face to face. That's not courage. That's cowardice dressed up in conviction.

The book of Proverbs tells us that, "The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever utters slander is a fool. When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent." (Proverbs 10:18-19, ESV) Such wisdom is applicable in nearly every arena of life, not the least of which is the arena of social media. One thing is for certain: what happens on social media does not stay on social media. Screenshots are forever. The internet has a longer memory than your grandmother. And it's far less forgiving.

In a helpful article entitled "Solomon on Social Media," Tim Challies gives this timely warning: "There are many web sites, blogs and Twitter accounts dedicated almost entirely to gossip, to sharing what is dishonorable rather than what is noble. Avoid these people and their gossip!"

According to one source, there are around 3.5 billion active social media users daily. Facebook remains the most widely used platform, being used by nearly 2/3 of the U.S. population. With all of this interaction, plenty of room is made for idle, slanderous, and cutting words. And often it's done with little to no consideration of the damage caused. We've turned our phones into megaphones. Too many believers are using them to broadcast everything except the gospel.

Scripture isn't silent on the topic. Matt 12:36 states, "I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak." Let that land for a moment. Every careless word. Every sarcastic comment. Every passive-aggressive post. Every thinly veiled jab disguised as a prayer request. All of it.

Add to this the words of Proverbs 17:28, "Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent." Suffice it to say that as helpful and beneficial as social media may at times be, it can also serve as a dangerous platform from which to ruin one's personal testimony.

With this in view, let's consider the path to ruin.

SIXTEEN SIMPLE WAYS TO RUIN YOUR WITNESS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

1. CURATE A VERSION OF YOURSELF THAT DOESN'T ACTUALLY EXIST

Create an alter ego. Build an online persona so polished, so pristine, so impossibly perfect that anyone who knows you in real life would need a moment to figure out who they're looking at. Nothing torpedoes your witness faster than being exposed as a fraud. People can smell inauthenticity from a mile away. When your Sunday morning posts don't match your Monday morning reality, you've given the watching world permission to dismiss everything you claim to believe.

2. TREAT YOUR FAITH LIKE AN APP YOU ONLY OPEN ON SUNDAYS

Compartmentalize. Keep your faith neatly tucked away in the "spiritual" folder of your life while your social media runs on an entirely different operating system. Post Scripture on Sunday. Snark and sarcasm on Monday. Let your online presence reflect nothing of the transformation Christ is supposedly working in you. After all, it's just the internet, right? Wrong. A faith that doesn't travel with you everywhere isn't faith. It's a costume.

3. BECOME THE RELENTLESS HERO OF YOUR OWN STORY

Make yourself the main character. Every post, every picture, every humble-brag disguised as gratitude. All of it pointing back to you. "Look what I did." "Look where I went." "Look how blessed I am (because I'm so faithful)." Here's the problem: a spotlight can only shine on one thing at a time. If it's always on you, it's never on Christ. The world doesn't need another self-promoter. It needs witnesses.

4. COMPETE IN THE "WHO HAS THE BEST LIFE NOW" OLYMPICS

Play the comparison game with gusto. Post strategically. Filter aggressively. Let everyone know that your marriage is thriving, your kids are perfect, and your life is basically a Christian greeting card. Meanwhile, stoke the envy of others while feeding your own pride. This is the opposite of bearing one another's burdens. This is building burdens for others to carry while pretending yours don't exist.

5. TREAT EVERY ISSUE LIKE IT'S WORTH YOUR LAST BREATH

Die on every hill. Let every cultural skirmish, every political debate, every minor disagreement become your Alamo. Mistake volume for conviction and frequency for faithfulness. Here's what actually happens: when everything is an emergency, nothing is. When every post is a battle cry, people stop listening. And when they stop listening to your outrage, they stop listening to your gospel.

6. SHARE FIRST. VERIFY NEVER.

Hit "share" the moment something confirms what you already believe. Why fact-check when the headline feels so true? Become a distributor of misinformation wrapped in righteous indignation. When it turns out you were wrong, quietly delete and move on. Or worse, double down. This is called bearing false witness. The ninth commandment didn't come with a "social media exception" clause.

7. LET YOUR POLITICS ECLIPSE YOUR PROCLAMATION

Make your political opinions louder than your personal witness. Let people know exactly where you stand on every issue while leaving them guessing whether you even know Jesus. Here's the uncomfortable truth: if people can predict your political party but can't tell you're a Christian, your priorities are upside down. Your vote is temporary. The gospel is eternal. Act like it.

8. PRACTICE YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE TOWN SQUARE

Virtue signal relentlessly. Let everyone know just how generous, how compassionate, how spiritually mature you are. Post about your quiet time. Livestream your good deeds. Make sure your left hand, your right hand, and all your followers know exactly what you're doing. Jesus had a word for this kind of thing: hypocrisy. And He didn't mince words about where it leads.

9. BELIEVE THE INTERNET HAS A DELETE BUTTON THAT ACTUALLY WORKS

Tell yourself that online engagement can be easily erased. Post recklessly, secure in the knowledge that you can always delete it later. Except you can't. Screenshots exist. Archives exist. Memories exist. The internet is written in ink, not pencil. Once it's out there, it's out there. Ask anyone who's had a decade-old tweet resurface how well the delete button works.

10. ASSUME EVERYONE KNOWS YOUR HEART

Tell yourself that those reading your posts "know what you mean." Assume the best possible interpretation. Skip the nuance. Leave out the context. After all, your friends will get it, right? Wrong. Text doesn't carry tone. Sarcasm doesn't translate. And the people who don't know you, the ones watching from the edges, the ones trying to figure out if Christians are any different, they're reading your words at face value. Write accordingly.

11. POST WHEN YOUR BLOOD IS BOILING

Make a habit of using social media when you're angry or upset. Feel something strongly? Post immediately. The adrenaline will wear off but the words won't. Some of the most damaging things ever posted came from fingers moving faster than wisdom. If you wouldn't say it after a deep breath and a good night's sleep, don't post it in the heat of the moment.

12. LET THE ALGORITHM FEED YOUR SOUL

Become a slave to being liked. Check your notifications compulsively. Let the dopamine hit of validation become your measure of worth. Adjust your content to maximize engagement rather than truth. This is idolatry with a modern interface. When you need the approval of strangers to feel okay about yourself, you've traded the approval of God for something far cheaper.

13. ARGUE WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO INTENTION OF LISTENING

Cast your pearls before swine. Engage every troll. Answer every bad-faith critic. Spend hours in comment sections with people who showed up to fight, not to learn. Here's what happens: you exhaust yourself, entrench your opponents, and entertain an audience that isn't impressed. Some conversations aren't worth having in public. Know when to walk away. Private messages exist for a reason.

14. USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO MEDICATE YOUR EMPTINESS

Let your platforms fill your tank instead of dealing with what's draining it. Scroll when you're lonely. Post when you need affirmation. Use notifications as a substitute for real connection. Social media makes a terrible therapist and an even worse savior. If you're using your phone to avoid your soul, you're only delaying the reckoning. Not preventing it.

15. FORGET THAT SOCIAL MEDIA ONLY AMPLIFIES WHAT'S ALREADY THERE

Ignore the fact that your feed is a magnifying glass. It doesn't create character. It reveals it. Pride. Insecurity. Anger. Envy. Whatever is inside you, the internet will find it and put it on display. That's why the solution isn't better posting strategies. It's heart surgery. Fix the source and the stream will run clean.

16. THINK A WELL-PLACED EMOJI REDEEMS YOUR WORDS

Convince yourself that a smiley face covers offensive talk. Add a laughing emoji after the jab and call it humor. Throw a praying hands at the end of your gossip and call it a prayer request. Emojis don't sanctify sentences. They don't soften sin. And they don't fool anyone who's paying attention.

THE PATH FORWARD

If this list stings, good. That's how conviction works. The goal here isn't shame. It's awareness. Social media isn't going anywhere. Neither is your responsibility to steward it well.

So what now? A few simple guardrails:

Post slower. The world won't end if you wait an hour before responding.
Read twice. Before you hit send, read it as if someone who doesn't know you will read it. Because they will.
Assume the best. Give others the grace you want extended to you.
Log off regularly. Your soul needs rest more than your feed needs content.
Remember your audience. You're not just posting for friends. You're posting as an ambassador. Act like one.