In your face theology
There are
times where vigorous and even heated debate is right. The core truths of the
Christian faith are the teaching about the who, the what and the so what of Jesus
(Rom 1:1-7; 1 Cor 15:1-6). The denial of these is the “another gospel” that
Paul refers to (Gal 1:8-9) and which led Paul to rebuke publicly his “senior”,
the Apostle Peter.
However, notice
how the rebuke was given. It was face-to-face (Gel 2:11-14). What a moment of
high drama and we can imagine the reaction of onlookers. The- face-to-face is
important. Paul didn’t leave an anonymous note for Peter to ‘find”. Nor did he
leave a message for all to see, but which denied Peter and easy reply. He spoke
face-to-face.
All that
brings us to the modern phenomena of Christians disagreeing on social media
such as Facebook. All too easily we let our fingers do the talking and hurl
insults and reflections on character to the world through cyberspace.
In recent
times, my Facebook circles have included several rounds of strongly worded
debate between Christians on this or that issue. In at least one case, this has
been noticed by enemies of the gospel and used to disadvantage the cause of
Christ.
Here’s a
few reasons to think before we hit “post” and maybe either delete the comment or
arrange to make it face to face.
· We fellow Christians may understand
the context and why this issue is important. However, what about non-Christians
who overhear the conversation through being friends of a friend. Will they
understand the issues and comments or will they think that we are out of our collective
minds? 1 Cor 14:29)
· Does a vigorous Facebook argument
about theology help a non-believer trust in Jesus or does it put up a scandal
or stumbling block? (1 Cor 8:9)
· Do the limitations of Facebook posts
allow us to discuss theological issues with the care and depth that they deserve,
or do the push us to combative salvos of theological soundbites?
· Is God glorified and his people
built up by such exchanges? (1 Cor 10:23, 32)
So maybe it’s
time to get off Facebook and get in one another’s faces to have the debates in
a setting where we can see body language, have opportunity for questions and
talk truth in love without the potential for digital destruction. As John says,
there things best left unwritten and left face to face (2 Jn 12; 3 Jn 13-14).
This is even more so when the things written are there for the world at large
to see.
