A Pastor’s Guide To Being Political On The Internet
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December 22, 2016
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December 23, 2016
A Pastor’s Guide To Being Political On The Internet
By Vinnie MacIsaac
“And on the eighth day God created the internet so that Christians could judge non-Christians and each other more openly, instantly, and publicly than ever before.” 2 Mark 3:16
In case you did not get it the above quote is a joke and the fact I have to tell you that has to do with how easily people will cling to a lie they hear about you on the internet. And there seems no area of thought more prone to turning people of faith against each other than politics. If the ends justify the means it seems we will go to any length to attack others. However, Jesus said, “But it shall not be so among you.” (Mark 10:43) Being political on the Internet is tricky!
Here are some tips that will help you in the often highly church political arena we now live in:
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Whoever is The Opposite Of Your Views Is Not The Devil. The art of getting your vote is the art of reducing complex political dilemmas down to cardboard cutout caricatures that can be safely and easily passed off to pundits and their sound bites. But the truth is most political problems are a whole lot more complex then they are presented to you as. What that then means is it is very likely that there are deeply spiritual and even Godly values at play on both sides of any political argument. The height of Satanic arrogance is to believe your views and positions are above everyone else (see Isa. 14:12-16). Stop and think about the Biblical reasons a true Christian may hold views that differ from yours and for just as Godly ideals as you hold. If we actually follow Jesus we’d find we have to go the extra mile with people not condemn them to hell for having personal convictions.
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Don’t Compare Political Leaders To Hitler. Unless a political leader is firing up a literal oven shoveling 11 million people into it because of their religious and ethnic heritage stop calling them Hitler! Seriously, grow up! You are slurring the whole tragedy of the Holocaust and you ought to be ashamed of yourself. The fact is that demonizing the other to the worst possible extreme is a practice all sides engage in but as Christians, we can’t act this way! If you demonize people realize you are in direct violation of the 9th Commandment.
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Force Is Never God’s Plan. I don’t care how correct you think you are remember, “So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.” Use of force is always proof of lack of faith in God’s ability to bring change. Stop forcing people to think and act like you and pray more. Is our God deaf?
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Jesus Loved Publicans And So Should You. Jesus loved publicans (tax collectors), Republicans, and Democrats too! There is not a “Us and Them” there is really just a “Us and God”, and you can’t teach that if you walk contrary to it. Sorry I missed the Bible passage where Jesus smote all the Pharisees for being too conservative or all the Sadducees for being too liberal! Treat people the way Jesus would, and show yourself to be above the ways of men.
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Learn To Hold Your Tongue And Suspend Your Judgement. James says, “For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” (James 3:8) And nothing proves this point more than Politics! Good Christians will say the vilest things in the name of political opinion. James goes on to say, “With it, we bless our Lord and Father, and with it, we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.” (James 3:9-10). Ask yourself a simple question, is what you’re posting something Jesus would say? If not scratch it.
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Put Down The MEME And Step Away From The Computer. A MEME is “an internet information generator, especially of random or content less information” (Urban Dictionary) that often comes in the form of a cute picture or series of pictures that are posted to social media to make a point. The best MEME’s are funny or related to pop culture and the worse (you guessed it) are mean and hateful and spread information that may be true in part but is extremely one-sided. Evaluate your MEME before posting (again think 9th Commandment).
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Your Mission Is For The Kingdom Of God Not The Kingdom Of Your Political Party. As a pastor, it breaks my heart to see people more motivated to preach politics then preach the Gospel. How do you think Jesus feels? Yes you know He reads your posts, right? Yeah, He does. If the Angels were to count would they find more political or Gospel posts? And no, before you ask, they are not the same thing (no not ever)!
BONUS: Here is the Litmus test for being political on the internet – If all your political views come from any one political party then you likely do not have a Biblical worldview. No one party is completely in line with Scripture. A balanced Christian will have views across partisan lines at least in part.
re-blogged from 2014
6 Comments
Sound advice for believers.
Thanks.
I appreciate the kind words. Not all believers want sound advice 🙂
Great advice Vinnie. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks!
We are Christians can’t sink to the rhetoric of the world.
May we seek care in political discourse.
Vinnie, I have enjoyed reading several of your posts. Your posts have helped me see that there are still many whose knee has not bowed to Baal. (1 Kings 19:18 ) This post has some excellent stuff in it also, but I have some thoughts on point number 2.
You are correct that comparing every single person we disagree with to Hitler is not helpful. And I do agree we should be slow to judge, and I agree that memes do more harm than good. However, I think that waiting until someone is “firing up a literal oven shoveling 11 million people in it” is a little late. Personally, I think the politics of hate and fear needed to be addressed long before we reach that point.
Maybe we can agree that all “dictators”, whether Hitler, Stalin, Mao or Pol Pot, have shown common signs of their megalomania long before they started murdering millions of people. Oddly enough the only world leaders that our current president has consistently praised and admired are Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Xi Ji Ping. Whether we use the name “Hitler” or not the disease and symptoms are the same.
The fact that one of DJT’s main strategies has been creating a common enemy, immigrants, to rally his supporters around is very much like every other dictator in history. The fact that he can make people believe immigrants both take away our jobs and come here to live on welfare show his ability to impair logical thinking, another trait of dictators.
The fact that his followers will applaud him for publically belittling anyone and everyone, but will not allow anyone to speak ill of him shows his ability to cloud their common sense. Jerry Falwell Jr. should know we will “reap what we sow”, but he blindly lashes out when anyone dares to critisize DJT.
The fact that DJT can accuse anyone of any crime with absolutely no evidence, but react so vicously when even questioned about his actions shows his narcissm. Add to his his ability to mesmerize groups of my fellow citizens into chanting “lock her up” or “send them home” and I see the physcological control that every dictator uses.
And I have not even mentioned his tendency to make veiled threats like “if I lose this election I may not be able to control my supporters” or “if she (Hillary) gets elected we may have to exercise our 2nd Amendment rights.”
Or his statement “I don’t know, maybe I am the chosen one.”
Honestly, the main thing that bothers me about DJT is that the majority of the evangelical Christians in this country have fallen madly in love with him. The majority of evangelical Christians are destroying their witness for Christ by blindly supporting a man who would throw them under the bus tomorrow if he thought he could make a better deal.
Maybe using the name “Hitler” is over the top, but if the tendencies are there we probably should try to sound the alarm at some point. Even if the ovens are never fired up.
Eric, thanks for your thoughts. While I try not to be partisan I will say this blog was written before current events. I will also say I concur that we don’t have to wait until genocide is underway to act. I maybe need to blog about “just war theory and opposing evil,” in a future blog. My main point here is let’s not throw the “Hitler” term around lightly. I may have been a bit too hyperbole in the expression of that point, but I can agree is someone looks like a duck, acts like a duck, and whacks like a duck, they are likely a duck. I just let my readers do their own bird watching, it is not my place. However, as you likely know from my blogs, I have no problem calling out issues and demanding social justice for all.
Thank you for being a faithful reader. –Vinnie.