In the 21st century, likes and retweets and thumbs-up have become among the most valuable coins in our constant jockeying for status in the public sphere. Nothing makes an online commenter feel better than to have someone reply with, "This guy/girl gets it."
Usually, what the guy or girl got was the proper way to respond in a way both devastating to opponents, yet with a dry, undercutting humor.
The mouths of the woke slay with shade. Even among Christians on social media, the urge to join in and humiliate your opponents is strong. There's something satisfying about that fleeting knowledge that you've put your opponents in their place.
There's also something deeply disturbing and misguided about it. Unrighteous is what it is.
The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom,
and their tongues speak what is just.
31 The law of their God is in their hearts;
their feet do not slip.
Psalm 37:30-31
The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak what is just. The law of their God is in their hearts; their feet do not slip ...
...because they've clothed themselves with the full armor of God. Ephesians 6:10-20
How does the righteous soldier stand firm? How does the soldier princess make sure her feet do not slip? By clothing themselves with truth and righteousness and the readiness that comes with the gospel of peace and faith and salvation and the Spirit's sword, which is the Word of God.
All of this comes not because the spiritual soldier is focused on acquiring all of those weapons, but through aligning God's heart - the law of God - with your own heart.
And when your heart is filled with God's laws and God's thoughts, winning a Twitter war just can't begin to compare with finding new and effective ways to drop a taste of the Almighty God's deep, deep wisdom into the shallow waters of the internet.
The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak what is just.
31 The law of their God is in their hearts; their feet do not slip ...
...when they take a stand for what is right and just. I Corinthians 16:13; Philippians 4:1
The best stance for a soldier is not at parade rest, where someone can topple them from attention with a shove. The best stance places the soldier's feet, legs, and entire body in a position prepared to move, to attack, to defend.
The soldier prince doesn't pick a position and stand stubbornly for it. The soldier defends and goes to battle for whatever is right and just.
What does that look like in the public square of the 21st century? Unfortunately, much of the evangelical world's attempts at taking the battle to the enemy have slid off center, aiming the worldly weapons of the internet at the the people who stand for "the wrong political opinions."
When the "enemies" push their politics, believers push back for what they apparently believe in most: the political opinions that push their buttons and move them into action.
If, by action, we mean opinionating.
So what should it look like when the people of God take a stand for what is right and just?
First, they should make sure they're standing for the same sort of right and just things Jesus did.
Second, the righteousness and justice of God is seldom well represented by quick and cutting responses or hastily shared or retweeted memes. God's heart and your heart will always be best presented by speaking from one heart to another, whether in person or in well thought out writing.
The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak what is just.
31 The law of their God is in their hearts; their feet do not slip ...
...when their beautiful feet go out to speak good news. Isaiah 52:7
What is the good news?
It's seldom the news delivered by the news media. Most of them do their best to report the news accurately, but their goal is to report what's happening in the world, not to report what's happening in the Kingdom of God.
The Good News is the news of the Kingdom. As Jesus told the people standing around him, the kingdom is among you. It's among us.
Our job as God's newcasters is not to debate the same things the worldly news media is talking about. We're to be about the Father's business, speaking the good news about what the King did through Jesus on the cross, but also what the King is continuing to do now in the 21st century.
The good news we get to share is all about God reconciling the world to himself through Jesus Christ.
The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak what is just.
31 The law of their God is in their hearts; their feet do not slip ...
.. when they give careful thought to the directions they choose in life. Proverbs 4:26-27
Is it okay for a soldier of God to have personal political opinions? Yes. Is it okay to share those opinions? Certainly.
The problem - and in the American culture of the 21st century it always seems to be a problem - is that politics is like quicksand. You can't just step your toe into it a little. You can't just take a stand in the middle of it and then easily get back to the righteousness and wisdom of God. It will suck you in. It will drag you down so deeply, you'll soon lose all sight of where it was you once knew you should be making your stand.
Make a habit of constantly storing the law of God in your heart. You'll have plenty of time for that if you also begin making a habit of actually spending less time on social media and other sources of divisive talk and speculation.
Spend your time giving careful thought to the wisdom and righteousness of God's heart, and to how you can be a different voice, a clear and steadfast voice among the constant noise of our world.
Give careful thought to how you can intentionally echo the words of Jesus Christ, the one true thought leader.
On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
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