A number of years ago, I saw on Facebook a former student treat another former student’s post with extreme harshness. Privately, I challenged his tone. He apologized to her, but he, from then on, was hostile to me in a couple of his posts, and eventually “unfriended” me.
There is a coarseness and harshness to so much of what is posted on social media, and I am disturbed, particularly when people claiming to be Christians do it. There is legitimate criticism to be made about many things, but followers of Jesus, of all people, need to avoid the vitriol in which comments are so often wrapped. It’s as if we somehow feel a certain freedom behind the screen of a phone or computer to write things we would never say to a person’s face.
Although Jesus was not on earth during the advent of social media, it appears His words are appropriate for the age in which we live. While we may not consciously view people who disagree with our views as enemies, often our responses reflect otherwise. I suppose the man to whom I referred above doesn’t really consider me an enemy, but he did, in a way, treat me like one.
If we are to be kind to “the ungrateful and wicked,” then shouldn’t we be kind to everyone? Our pastor has often said there is no command to be right, but there is one telling us to be kind.
It is a challenge, though. Our flesh is prone to pride and, thus, we like to be right and for people to know that we are. Through subtle digs or sarcasm, or more blatant harshness, we often seek to protect our pride or enhance it. If we are to overcome our pride, we have to depend on the Lord for strength and discernment to respond to people with kindness.
Today, where do your struggles with a lack of kindness lie? Is it on social media? Or in the way you talk about others with friends? Or is it face to face with family members where the old cliché—familiarity breeds contempt—often applies? Wherever they are, know the Lord calls you to be kind rather than right.
© Jim Musser 2018
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