As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“Words have immense power—power to do such good and power to do such harm. Words can strengthen the weak or crush them, comfort the sorrowful or grieve them, relieve the burdened or weigh them down all the more. Words can be a taste of life or a savor of death” - Challies
“…in just that way, social media can be used for such good and such ill. It can display human beings at their best and worst, their most gracious and most condescending, their most humble and most prideful.” - Challies
“About two-thirds of U.S. adults (65%) say that ‘people being too easily offended’ is a major problem in the country today, while a slimmer majority – 53% – say that ‘people saying offensive things to others’ is a major problem” - Pew
“Silence is often a way out. Silence is a way to neglect our responsibilities as a mentor or boss. Silence is an excuse not to fulfill what Scripture says about the older teaching the younger….The opposite is also true…. So how do we know when we should or should not respond?” - Treg Spicer
“What is the most frightening verse in the Bible?… for me, the scariest part of Scripture is Jesus’s words in Matthew 12:36: ‘I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak.’” - TGC
“…please (especially to my Christian friends, I beg of you) please stop • mocking • denigrating • demonizing • and dehumanizing people who hold opposing positions. They are image-bearers of God. And they are as deeply loved by their creator as you are.” - C.Leaders
“…A Way with Words is a much-needed book. It’s no doubt easy enough to think of all the other people who need to read it, but some self-reflection should show that all of us will benefit from considering the ways we speak and, particularly, the ways we communicate online.” - Challies
It is no revelation that social media are dominant forms of communication in this digital age, but the stats are breathtaking. A remarkable 78% of 18-24 year olds in the U.S. use Snapchat, and 94% of that age demographic are regular YouTube users, while 71% use Instagram. More than two-thirds (68%) of all U.S. adults use Facebook, and 75% of those users are daily users.
“In college, when we studied Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France, I realized my father was the disciple of a rather ancient set of values. He was a gentleman: someone who still practiced the art of manners, and as such, he was both inheritor and promulgator of the classical conservative tradition.” American Conservative
Verbal communication is one of God’s favorite inventions. He created speaking beings in His image and then spoke to them. Over the millennia, He gave visions to prophets and commanded them to speak or write what they had seen. And He inspired select prophets to write His words as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. He gave us a book.
So whenever we use words, we’re doing something of personal importance to God. And since we believers are at peace with God through Christ and represent God to a world that does not know Him, our writing and speaking carry that much more importance.
We should not be surprised, then, that Scripture has so much to say about how we use words. And we should attend energetically to how that instruction applies to posting in Internet forums.
Discussion