Social Media – Michelle Lesley

Originally published May 22, 2014

Scroll…scroll…wince…

I find myself wincing a bit when I see people –who I know genuinely love Jesus—sharing, pinning, and re-tweeting quotes from false teachers such as Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, T.D. Jakes, and Christine Caine, just to name a few. Why? What’s wrong with the encouraging, even biblical, at times, things these people say?

First of all, let me back up a little. What is a “false teacher”? A false teacher is someone who is billed as a Christian pastor or Bible teacher who habitually and unrepentantly writes, teaches, or preaches things that conflict with the clear teaching of Scripture. For example, all four of the people I listed above teach some version of the prosperity gospel, the false teaching that is most rampant in the Western church today. Additionally, T.D. Jakes adheres to the false doctrine of modalism, and Joyce Meyer and Christine Caine blatantly disobey the Bible’s teaching that women are not to be pastors or instruct men in the Scriptures in the church.

These days, it can be difficult to keep up with who teaches sound doctrine and who does not, especially when pastors and teachers we thought were theologically orthodox seem to be turning apostate at an alarming rate. I myself have been a fan of more than one popular writer/teacher/preacher that I later realized was a false teacher (Joyce Meyer was one of them.) as I delved into what they actually taught and believed and compared it to God’s word. I know first hand that it’s easy to think that these people are good biblical teachers and preachers when what they say sounds good, makes us feel good, and has an occasional Bible verse sprinkled in.

Because I’ve been there myself and know how easy it can be to be drawn in by false teachers, I don’t have any less respect for folks who re-tweet the occasional Osteen-ism of the day. In fact, I have more respect for them, because I know they love the Lord, they’re making an effort to find biblical teaching to listen to, and they have the courage to try to share the gospel with their friends and family via social media. Those are all fantastically good things, and they are to be commended.

But, still, the quotes we share and the people who said them matter. Why?

The quotes we share and the people who said them matter. Here are four reasons why…
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1.
Lost people’s eternities are at stake.

Seriously? From hitting the “share” button on a false teacher’s status? Seriously. I don’t think that’s overstating the gravity of the matter. There’s no way to take the possibility of an eternity in hell too seriously.

Think about it: You have an unsaved Facebook friend. She’s getting to the point in her life where she figures it’s time to get her stuff together, so she starts looking into this whole Jesus thing. Where to start? She’s never even set foot inside a church. Aha! She remembers you’re a Christian. Maybe you’ll have a good lead for her. As she’s thinking about all this, you share Joyce Meyer’s status, and it appears in your friend’s news feed. “Ah,” your friend thinks, “this must be a good Bible teacher if my Christian friend follows her.” So she “likes” Joyce Meyer’s Facebook page and follows her on Twitter. Then she starts watching her on TV. Buys some of her books. Maybe attends one of her conferences. Because your friend has zero knowledge of the Bible, she believes everything Joyce Meyer says. It sounds good. It makes her feel good. She’s hearing a few out of context Bible verses here and there. But the problem is that Joyce Meyer doesn’t teach the Jesus of the Bible. She teaches a false god of her own creation. And if your friend doesn’t put her faith in the true Jesus of the Bible, she’s just as lost as she was before. Only now she thinks she’s a Christian. And you can’t convince her otherwise.

Sound far fetched? Maybe. Maybe not. But if there’s even the slightest chance something like that could happen, is it really worth justifying that status share? Furthermore, is it worth even following a teacher who could lead someone you love to an eternity in hell?

2.
It gives false teachers free publicity and a broader platform.

One thing I was very surprised to learn when I first began the process of having my book published¹ is that publishers want non-fiction writers to have a built in audience, or “platform,” before they will publish your book. That means you’re already doing speaking engagements and/or have a decent sized ministry, have lots of followers on social media, etc. As I once explained to someone, “You don’t get your book published and then become [celebrity Bible teacher] you have to be [celebrity Bible teacher] in order to get published.”

Social media stats are a big factor in a celebrity preacher’s/teacher’s platform. If T.D. Jakes suddenly lost the majority of his social media followers, you can bet the TV stations he’s on and the conferences he gets invited to would be taking a serious look at whether or not they’d continue to affiliate with him, because it would indicate that his audience is shrinking.

Conversely, when we re-pin, re-post, or re-tweet these folks, their social media stats go up. They not only get a broader platform on social media from which to spread their unbiblical teaching, they continue to get more book, radio, TV, and other media deals, get invited to speak at more conferences, and even start exporting their false teaching overseas (“missions”) to people who have never heard the gospel before and have no way of knowing they’re being lied to.

When we promote false teachers on social media, we bear some of the responsibility for the spread of their false doctrine.

If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.
2 John 10-11

When we promote false teachers on social media, we bear some of the responsibility for the spread of their false doctrine.
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3.
It is disobedient to Scripture.

Often, when a Christian is told she’s following a false teacher, the common response is, “Oh, I just chew up the meat and spit out the bones,” meaning that she takes to heart the “good” things the false teacher has to say and ignores the bad.

The question is: where does the Bible say this is the correct way to deal with false teachers? Answer: it doesn’t. In fact Scripture says exactly the opposite.

For starters, Galatians 1:6-9 says that if anyone preaches a different gospel (such as the prosperity gospel) from the one that’s set down in Scripture, “let him be accursed.” “Accursed” means “damned,” sentenced to hell for eternity.

1 Timothy 4:7 and Titus 3:10 say that we are to have nothing to do with people who teach “irreverent or silly myths” or cause division by teaching false doctrine.

2 Corinthians 6:14-16 tells us not to be joined together or partner with unbelievers, lawlessness, darkness, Belial (the devil), or idols.

1 Corinthians 5:7-13 tells us that when a person infiltrates the church who claims to be a Christian, yet is greedy, an idolater, or a swindler— all of which are things that prosperity preachers are guilty of— we are to “cleanse out the old leaven.” We are “not to associate” with them. We are to “purge the evil person from among you.”

Titus 1:10-16 says of false teachers, “They must be silenced,” because they teach “for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.” Paul instructs Titus to “rebuke them sharply,” and that, “they profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.”

The entire second chapter of 2 Peter paints a dismal picture of the motives, the behavior, and the fate of false teachers:

“Because of them, the way of truth will be blasphemed.”

“In their greed they will exploit you with false words.”

They will “be destroyed in their destruction, suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing.”

“They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you.”

“They entice unsteady souls.”

“For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved.”

“They promise them [people who listen to their false teaching] freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption.”

The entire epistle of Jude is dedicated to exhorting Christians to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” Of false teachers, Jude says:

“Certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ…Woe to them!”

There’s more, because a large portion of the New Testament is dedicated to exhorting Christians to stay away from false doctrine and rebuke those who teach it, but I think you get the picture. Is it obedient to Christ and to His word to follow and promote someone He says is damnable? People who teach another gospel, such as the prosperity gospel, are the enemies of Christ. Who are we going to side with, Christ or His enemies?

People who teach another gospel, such as the prosperity gospel, are the enemies of Christ. Who are we going to side with, Christ or His enemies?
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4.
It is unloving and disloyal to our Master.

Think about the person you love the most in this world. Maybe it’s your spouse, your child, a parent, or a friend. Next, think about your favorite celebrity, perhaps a movie star, a TV personality, or a famous author or athlete. Now try to imagine that that celebrity, in interviews with journalists, on talk shows he appears on, at personal appearances and speaking engagements, in books he writes, etc., routinely tells lies about the character of your dearest loved one. And thousands, maybe millions, of people believe him.

Would you continue to be a fan of that celebrity?

What if your loved one found out you were a fan of that celebrity? How would she feel to know you were a fan of someone who spreads lies about her?

If we wouldn’t follow someone who lies about a loved one, how much less should we as Christians have anything to do with a celebrity preacher, teacher, or author who drags the name of our precious Savior through the mud and lies about the gospel?

How can we as Christians have anything to do with a celebrity preacher, teacher, or author who drags the name of our precious Savior through the mud and lies about the gospel?
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Friends, for all of these reasons and more, let’s stop promoting these false teachers on social media by publicizing their quotes and other materials. Looking for an encouraging quote to share? There’s nothing better than a verse of Scripture. Because Scripture can offer people something that false teachers can’t: truth and hope. As Jesus Himself said,

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” John 17:17

¹My book, Jacob, Journaling the Journey is no longer in print, and that’s a good thing! I wrote it before learning good hermeneutics and how to handle God’s Word properly. You can probably still find copies of it at online merchants, but I would not recommend that you buy or use it. If you want a good Bible study, the best thing is to simply pick up the Bible and study it for yourself. Right now, I have no plans to rewrite Jacob for future re-release.

Social Media

Memeology 101

August 19, 2022August 19, 2022 Michelle Lesley

A little lagniappe post for this week! Judging from some of the social media comments I’ve been getting lately, it’s time to run this friendly refresher again. Enjoy! :0)

Originally published September 24, 2019

I post a lot of memes on my social media pages, mostly Facebook and Instagram. I usually post four Bible verse memes every weekday morning on Facebook and other miscellaneous memes at various times on all my social media platforms. Over the course of the last couple of years, I’ve gotten some critical comments about a few of these memes, which, I think, stem mostly from misconceptions people have about what a meme is and the general understanding of the function of memes on social media. I’d like to try to clear up some of those misconceptions today.

Memes- Definition and Function

A meme is simply a picture with words superimposed on it (usually a couple of sentences, max), like the ones in the collage above, that you see on social media. The function of a meme is to convey a brief thought, quote, or joke. Memes are not books, articles, theses, or even long Facebook posts. They are not meant to exhaustively cover every aspect of the thought they present. Reading a meme is kind of like eating one grape (or even reading one verse of Proverbs!). The grape is good and nutritious in and of itself, but it is not: a bunch of grapes, a full meal, a well-balanced diet, or the buffet at Golden Corral. It is simply a grape. Appreciate it for what it is and don’t criticize it for not being something it isn’t.

Bible Verse Memes (BVMs)

The criticism I most often receive about Bible verse memes (a picture with a Bible verse on it) is that the verse is not in context. Of course it’s not in context. That’s the nature of a meme- it contains only a brief thought or quote (which is why you don’t usually see an extraordinarily long verse {like Esther 8:9} on a meme, either).

BVMs are not meant to be a Bible study, sermon, or exegesis of a passage of Scripture. The daily BVMs I post are to jog your memory about passages you’ve already studied or to pique your interest in studying the passage surrounding the verse on the meme. When I post a BVM, I do my best to make sure of three things: a) the meme contains a whole, not partial, verse, b) the meme contains the reference so you can look up the context for yourself, c) the picture that goes with the verse does not suggest a misleading meaning to the verse.

Interestingly, the only verses I seem to receive the “out of context” criticism about are Jeremiah 29:11 and Philippians 4:13. (Shouldn’t we want all Bible verses to be in context?) I’m fully aware that many Christians out there, and even false teachers, use these verses out of context. The fact that many people misunderstand or twist these verses to fit their own agendas does not negate the fact that these are still Holy Spirit-breathed portions of the Bible. I refuse to surrender these verses to those who abuse them by declining to post them. God’s Word is God’s Word, and even one verse can stand on its own, qualitatively, as the Word of God. The reader is the one who has the responsibility to look up those verses and understand and use them in context.

Christian Quote Memes

Going back to the grape illustration, the thing to remember is that a meme is not meant to exhaustively cover every aspect of the thought it presents. If I post a meme that says, “The grass is green,” that does not mean:

Only grass is green
Everything in the world is green
There aren’t other things in the world that are other colors
I hate things that aren’t green
Grass should never be mowed, fertilized, watered, etc.
Grass can’t be other colors because you could dye it or set it on fire

Also, simply stating that the grass is green does not obligate me to explain photosynthesis, suggest landscaping techniques, or debate zoysia versus Kentucky bluegrass. There’s certainly a time and a place to go into detail about issues (which I do every day on the blog), but it is also okay to make simple, true, stand alone statements without having to comment on every intricate aspect of the topic.

People Pictured in Memes

This is something you kind of have to get a feel for through exposure to memes, but I’ll do my best to explain.

Sometimes a meme uses a picture of a person because the words on the meme are a direct quote from that person. Other times, the words on the meme poke fun at or allude to the person pictured. Still other times, the words on a meme have nothing to do with the beliefs, personality, or actions of person pictured in the meme, rather, that picture was selected because of the look on the person’s face, the way he is posed, etc.

If you’re confused as to whether or not the person in the picture is being quoted, you can always Google the quote to find out. If you’re familiar with the person in the picture and know he would never say the words on the meme, it’s fair to assume the words are either poking fun at/alluding to the person in the picture, or that the picture was chosen for the visible appearance of the person, not for his beliefs, personality, actions, etc.

I can’t speak for everyone who shares memes, but the rule of thumb for my social media pages is that you will never see me positively quoting or promoting the beliefs of someone who’s well known to be a false teacher or otherwise theologically aberrant by biblical standards. So if you see a meme on my page that contains a picture of a famous false teacher, a non-Christian actor, politician, etc., it should be a given that I am not promoting his or her false beliefs. The meme is making another point, which you will need to glean from context or ask politely about.

Attribution

Except for BVMs, I create most of the memes I share. But with regard to BVMs and other memes I haven’t created, I see them – shared by a friend or a page I follow – in my social media timeline and I share them, just like you do. Most of the time I don’t share them immediately. They sit in my file for days, weeks, or even months before I get around to sharing them.

At that point, I usually can’t remember where I found them, so I can‘t type out a caption crediting the person who made it (if I even know). (If you design memes and you want credit for them, my advice is to watermark the meme with your name or website.) So, if you see me share a meme with no attribution, I’m not in any way trying to plagiarize it or claim that I made it any more than you would be if you shared a meme like that. All of the memes I create are watermarked with my website address (see collage above). If you see me share one that doesn’t have my website on it, you can safely assume I did not create it.

**“I don’t get it.” and “What you should have said was…”**

Often, when a theological meme is metaphorical or a brief quote, you may not initially grasp its meaning. My advice? Re-read it more carefully and keep thinking about it. Think about what the Bible says compared to what the meme says. If you’ve made a good faith effort to think things through and you still don’t get it, share the meme on your social media page and ask others what they think it means (then, be sure to listen only to your doctrinally sound, spiritually mature friends!).

Many of my memes are designed to make you use critical thinking skills and ponder the related Scriptures rather than spoon feed you something obvious. That’s why I don’t write a fourteen sentence explanation of everything I mean and don’t mean on a meme. That’s what blog posts and Bible studies and podcasts are for. Going back to our grape illustration: A meme is a grape, not a textbook on the horticulture of grapes. Use the brain God gave you and ponder the grape rather than demanding an encyclopedia article on grapes.

Sharing

I’m frequently asked by social media followers if they may have permission to share a meme (or an article, post, etc.) I’ve posted. Yes! I’m honored that you would want to. Sharing is the nature of social media. Generally speaking, you do not need to ask permission to share something that a public figure has posted publicly on social media. We like it when you share our stuff. It gets our material out to more people. And since my material is sound doctrine, the Bible, and the gospel, I want to get it out to as many people as possible. Consider this blanket permission to everyone who might ever want to share something of mine: Share away! No need to ask permission! :0)

The only thing you can’t do when sharing is to remove attributions (for example: cropping out the watermark of my web address on the memes I create) in order to intentionally present my work as your own or someone else’s. That’s called plagiarism, which is a fancy word for lying and stealing. And those are sins. But simply sharing a public post, attributions in tact, with your social media friends is not plagiarism, and you don’t need to ask permission.

If you’d like to peruse all the memes I’ve created, check out my Memes board on Pinterest.¹

I hope this helps clear up any misunderstandings you may have about any of the memes I post on social media. Memes are just little nuggets that are meant to be humorous or thought provoking. Let’s let them be what they are, not expect them to be what they’re not.

¹The oldest memes on that board (the ones toward the bottom) are still watermarked with my old web address (MichelleLesleyBooks.com). I’m in the process of editing them to reflect my current web address (MichelleLesley.com), and re-releasing them. I’m totally fine with you sharing a meme watermarked with the old address, but if there’s one you want to share that you need edited to the new address before you share it for whatever reason, just let me know, and I’ll fix it as fast as I can.

Social Media

Throwback Thursday ~ 9 Ways Social Media Is a Blessing to Believers

February 13, 2020February 6, 2020 Michelle Lesley

Originally published May 5, 2017

Porn. Foul language. Arguments. Hacking. Cyber bullying. Affairs. Frittering away your time. Coveting others’ seemingly idyllic lives. Living and dying by how many “likes” your post got.

I get it. There are a lot of ways social media can go wrong.

But there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with Facebook or Twitter, Instagram or ~~Google+ (Does anybody even use G+ anymore? Am I over there all by myself?~~ Update: Apparently I was. G+ has been shut down.), or social media platforms in general. They’re tools. Like a steak knife. You can cut up your supper with it so you can eat- good – or you can puncture somebody’s tire with it – bad. It’s all in how you use it.

There have been lots of articles which have, rightly, discussed the problems with social media and the need to take a break from it every now and then. (Ironically, I’ve seen these articles posted on Facebook and Twitter.) And if social media tempts you to sin or the problems it brings into your life outweigh the benefits, then, by all means, you should disconnect. For thousands of years, people have been living very fulfilling and godly lives without sharing pictures of every meal they eat and watching videos of their third cousin’s cat.

But if you use the tools available to you to customize your news feed, your list of followers, and other aspects of your account, there are many ways social media can be beneficial to believers.

1. Close contact with your church family during the week
How is Susannah, in your Sunday School class, doing with that problem at work? Is Mrs. Bunyan still in the hospital? The water main is busted and we won’t be able to have midweek services? Social media makes it easy to keep up with your brothers and sisters from church- to serve their needs, pray for them, rejoice with them, and encourage them outside of worship service. We’re meant to share our lives with one another, and social media is just one way we can do that. It’s also a great way for churches to send out announcements, reminders, and prayer requests as they come up to keep members informed.

2. You don’t have to miss church when you miss church
Once, when I’d had to miss church for a couple of weeks in a row due to having sick babies at home, I had my husband call me from the worship service right before the pastor started preaching and hold up the phone so I could hear the sermon. It was difficult to hear, we got disconnected a couple of times, and I had to keep things really quiet on my end. Now, lots of churches stream “Facebook Live” videos of their services. If you’re sick, out of town, or otherwise providentially hindered (video coverage is not an excuse to skip church for frivolous reasons) from being at church, you don’t have to miss worship. And, as a bonus, you can watch other churches’ services, too!

3. Supplementary preaching and teaching
Your pastor, elders, Sunday School, and Bible study teachers at your home church should always be your primary source of instruction in the Scriptures. Some churches make good use of social media by setting up a private group for church members to discuss Sunday’s sermon or what they’re learning in Bible study, and there are many excellent independent theology and Christian issues discussion groups on social media as well. Here, here, and here are a few I’m familiar with.

If you want to listen to additional good teaching during the week, social media is a great place to find it. Ask your doctrinally sound Facebook friends whose sermons they’d recommend. Follow good pastors, teachers, and podcasters on Twitter. You’ll soon have more good teaching queued up than you have time to listen to. And there are scads of excellent godly authors and bloggers to follow and learn from, too.

4. Evangelism
Social media is a great place for sharing the gospel! Write out a post of your own, share an evangelistic video (like this one or this one), or retweet an online tract. There may come a time when Christians or the Bible are banned from social media, but until that day comes, let’s get busy sharing the gospel online.

5. Fellowship
Online friendships are no substitute for face to face fellowship with your church family. But sometimes you’re in a church situation in which there are few sisters who understand a unique life circumstance you’re going through, who share an interest in the branch of theology you’re currently studying, and so on. On social media, you can “meet” like-minded brothers and sisters from all over the world and form sweet friendships with them- sometimes you can even experience the joy of meeting them in person!

Jayson, Lindsay, and DebbieLynn,
social media friends I’ve been blessed to meet in person.

6. Prayer and Encouragement
Need prayer or encouragement? In addition to asking your church family to pray for you or getting together with a Christian friend for lunch, your godly social media friends are always around to lift you up and intercede for you. And you can be a blessing to others by praying for them or offering a word of encouragement.

7. Thinktanking
“Does anybody know whether ______ is a doctrinally sound teacher?” “I’m researching Bible Topic X- what are some good resources?” “What’s that verse that says ____? I can’t remember the reference.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked questions like this on social media and my friends have come through for me. There are a lot of godly people out there who have read a lot of books, listened to a lot of teachers, know a lot of Scripture, and been through a lot of experiences. Harness their knowledge and share your own.

8. Looking for a new church?
One of the things about social media that has brought me the most joy is helping people who are moving or who have to leave an apostate church to find a new, doctrinally sound church to join. Not only are there some great church search engines out there, but because of social media friendships and connections across the world, I’m able to get personal recommendations for good, solid churches. Not only can social media help you find a good church if you’re looking for one, you can help others by suggesting good churches you’re familiar with when they’re looking.

9. Current events in Christendom
What is the president of your denomination up to? Who’s the latest celebrity Christian to publicly support the homosexual lifestyle? Are there any good conferences coming up that would be helpful to your church members? Which sister churches in your state need some assistance?

Even more vital than being an informed citizen by following the local and international news, Christians need to be aware of what’s going on in the church- locally, nationally, and globally. Follow the pages of your denominational leadership, local churches, Christian news services, and so on, to keep abreast of current events. Outside of social media, you’ll probably never find out about the latest happenings until they happen in your own church and take you by surprise.

There’s no doubt that social media has the potential to cause a lot of problems, even the temptation to sin. But if you’re able to put it in its correct place so that it doesn’t steal time from God, your family, your church, or other vital relationships and ministries- using it, instead, as just one more tool to encourage yourself, and others, towards greater Christlikeness – social media can be a fantastic blessing.

Click above, and let’s be friends!

Mailbag, Social Media

The Mailbag: Contending for the Faith on Social Media

February 3, 2020February 1, 2020 Michelle Lesley

Originally published December 5, 2016

I was wondering what your opinion is about using Facebook to correct false doctrine. Mostly what I do is post Scriptures, but every once in a while I may comment on something that is blatantly contrary to the Bible and I try to point to the appropriate Scriptures to show the truth. This mostly happens when a popular preacher or teacher that does not hold to sound doctrine posts something, or when a friend posts something that is clearly unbiblical.

This is such a great question that so many of us (including me!) struggle with. We love our friends and don’t want to see them believing something unbiblical (and spreading it around on social media) and it’s hard to just scroll past the blasphemy false teachers so often post without taking a stand for God’s word.

I readily admit I don’t have a perfect answer for this question. On the one hand, you want to protect your friends from error. On the other hand, there aren’t enough hours in the day to correct every single false teaching out there. And, if you try, people stop listening and you become ignorable background noise. Here are some of the principles I personally try to operate from on my personal (personal friends and family) social media pages. (I try to be consistent, but it doesn’t always work out that way):

First, I would highly recommend reading Amy Spreeman’s excellent article Words with Friends and listening to our episode of the A Word Fitly Spoken podcast, Words with Friends: How to contend with loved ones.

Do keep in mind that – if it’s a matter of someone simply following a false teacher/ministry, not re-posting – people don’t always follow these accounts because they agree with them. Sometimes it’s to keep an eye on what the false teacher is teaching, to find out more about her doctrine because her materials are being introduced at church, etc. I follow two or three accounts on Twitter for reasons like that.

By and large, I don’t follow false teachers/ministries on social media. It just raises my blood pressure too much. So, for the most part, I don’t comment directly on false teachers’ posts because I don’t see them in my feed. If you do decide to comment, be sure you provide ample, in context Scripture passages to support what you’re saying, and comment in a patient, kind tone, not with histrionics, keeping in mind that most of the people who follow that false teacher are baby Christians, Christians who simply aren’t aware they’re being fed false doctrine, or false converts. Be aware that you’re almost certainly not going to change anyone’s mind, that people will verbally eviscerate you, and that the admin of the page will probably block and/or report you.

My main way of sharing biblical truth and discernment is to post about it on my own timeline. That way, the information is out there, yet direct confrontation is avoided.

When it comes to posting things on your own news feed, make sure you’re posting about good resources and teachers as well as warning about the bad. It’s not enough to get people away from bad teaching. They need somewhere to go for good teaching.

I have something of a “Golden Rule” policy about commenting on other people’s posts. I’ve had people comment on my discernment-type posts rebuking me and arguing with me for posting such things, as though they have some sort of right to dictate what I can and can’t post on my own page. That’s not right. People have the right to post what they want to post on their own page, and, while I’m not always perfect at it, I try to remember to respect that fact with others as I would want them to respect it with me. If what the person has posted concerns me for her soul, I will send her a private message. I operate on the assumption that people who claim to be Christians would want to know they’re posting something that’s in conflict with God’s word.

If someone’s post or comment makes me biblically angry, I try to remember to wait 24 hours before responding. I’ve found that helps me to calm down and respond more patiently and kindly. I’ve also found that sometimes my anger clouds my understanding of what the person actually meant. I have greater clarity the next day and can respond (or even refrain from responding) more appropriately.

There are two passages of Scripture I try to keep in mind when responding to people on social media about false teaching. The first is 2 Timothy 2:24-26. It reminds me of where that person might be coming from and how I am to comport myself:

And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

The second is Matthew 7:6:

Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

The Bible is the final word of the holy God of the universe. What He says, goes, whether people believe it or not. It is stake in the ground, unalterable truth that needs no defense from us to pigs and dogs (not that everyone who posts false doctrine is a pig or dog- sometimes they’re just unaware). Sometimes the best response you can give on social media is to patiently lay down simple biblical truth in one comment and walk away, refusing to engage in debate, and trusting God to work on people’s hearts through His word.

Above all, pray. Pray for the false teacher/ministry you’re concerned about. Pray for the friend or loved one who’s re-posting false doctrine, that God will open her eyes to the truth. Pray about whether you should approach someone on social media, in which venue (comment, private message, etc.), and for wisdom to use the right words, tone, and Scriptures.

If you have a question about: a well known Christian author/leader, a Bible passage, an aspect of theology, a current issue in Christianity, or how to biblically handle a family, life, or church situation, comment below (I’ll hold all questions in queue {unpublished} for a future edition of The Mailbag) or send me an e-mail or private message. If your question is chosen for publication, your anonymity will be protected.