In your face theology

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.