In this era of anonymous internet warriors and cyberbullies, there really is no place to retreat. That reality became glaringly obvious to evangelist Beth Moore over the weekend, when she returned to social media after a brief hiatus.
Moore explained in a brief Twitter thread Sunday how social media has become “beyond sick” and even “potentially deadly.” Like former Obama faith adviser Michael Wear told us last week, Moore said our culture must return to “civility.”
I like dialogue & discussion from varying sides. I enjoy some debate. I’m moved & confronted by strong & prophetic words. I like being made to think even when I don’t agree. I’m not looking for Mister Rogers neighborhood on Twitter nor IG’s picturesque. But it’s breeding abusers.
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) July 1, 2018
James said the tongue is a fire.
It can either burn things down or light things up.
We will answer for our words.
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) July 1, 2018
Moore was referencing James 3:6 in her final tweet. In the passage, James wrote, “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”
According to The Moody Bible Commentary, the tongue “is the very world of iniquity. It sets on fire the course of our life, such as provoking a broken marriage.” What we speak — and, in this case, write — has immense power.
Those who are “nonstop verbally abusive” are not showing the fruits of genuine believers, Moore warned. She went on to encourage “actual” Christians to respond to bullying “with a clear demarcation of civility.” In a follow-up thread Tuesday, the Christian author emphasized the importance of standing by the truth, even when it’s controversial, as long as it’s done in humility and with grace.
We’re just not better than anybody else. That’s the long & short of it. That person you keep looking down on, you will soon be looking up to. That thing you swore you’d never do, you could out-do before the month is up. God is disturbingly devoted to the humility of His servants.
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) July 3, 2018
Of course let’s be wise. Words are power. And when we need to explain further, let’s do. And when we blow it, let’s own it and restate it or apologize and delete it. But this over-carefulness will kill our prophetic witness. We cannot speak to please man. Man is not our master.
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) July 3, 2018
We are living in a toxic and rancorous time. Our culture is in urgent need of a restoration that can only be found in the gospel. But we must share that truth through love. Just as the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:1, “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”
Beth Moore’s 5 Keys to Avoiding the ‘Toxic’ Celebrity-Like Culture Sweeping Through the Church
“I don’t know how long it’s going to take to repair our politics,” Wear told Faithwire last week. “But someone has to start and someone has to start now.”
A whole lot more than just our politics is in need of repair, and it’s up to Christians to lead the way.