Facebook Confrontation

The Bible commands us to lovingly and graciously confront those who have sinned or sinned against us with the purpose of forgiveness and restoration. Yet recently, I have seen a trend of many people, and an alarming number of Christians, using facebook and other internet forums to confront, attack, and hurt members of the body of Christ.

I am not sure if followers of Christ think that status reports meet the limited criteria of such a mandate in Matthew 18, but let me challenge you that it does not. Confronting, or worse still attacking, people through online mediums is not only foolish and counterproductive but it is a serious sin that needs confronting itself.

I have tried to encourage others to follow the Biblical pattern even online. What is the Biblical pattern? For starters, gossip is wrong. Gossip can be both false information that spread from person to person but also it can be true information that does not promote the best in a person's character. So I tend to remind people, that if you are saying anything about anyone else that does not make that person appear BETTER than you, don't say it. No little jabs, no tongue and cheek comments, nada...

That is hard. But in addition to that, most of use facebook to say things to people that we would NEVER say to them in person. Perhaps that is because we are too cowardly or we simply know what we are saying is not right, noble or completely true. What ever the case, face to face confrontation is the scriptural pattern and Face to Facebook simply falls short. I have tried no longer to have "conversations" with people on facebook about any matter, but especially those things that are sensitive or serious. Conversion is verbal, but it is even more so non-verbal. Facial expressions, tone, and even emotion can not be heard through emails and face book and therefore your conversation will only be partially heard.

Last, we must recognize that some of the things we post on a wall is read by a vast number of people. Some flippant word about a fellow student or friend could be ready by thousands and could greatly hurt their character, even if the statement has a context that other readers simply don't know.

In a world where we are becoming increasingly isolated and alone, let's spend more of our time talking in person. Understand, I don't think that facebook is evil. I think it is very helpful to reconnect with people and stay connected on some levels; and I am on quite frequently. But just like any other technology we have at our disposal, Facebook can be used for evil and we must guard ourselves (and each other) from such sin.