In churchdom, the Big Sins are the obvious ones. Adultery will get you fired from that preaching job. A drug problem will get you removed from the worship ministry. Wearing a itsy-bitsy bikini at the church picnic may earn you a serious "talking-to" from the leadership.But what about being a jerk? Do we let that slide?
Granted, it's hard to quantify. And when it comes to how we act ONLINE, it's often a little bit more hidden from the world. Blogs and comment boards are ready-made for flame wars of epic proportions.
Jonathan Acuff (of "Stuff Christians Like") wrote an excellent article on "Why Christians are jerks online." It's worth reading, contemplating, and discussing.
It talks about what Jesus said was the greatest commandment. It talks about beer and Bono and the bitterness of so many Christian arguments online.
- Loving your neighbor might be simple, but it’s not easy. Maybe my neighbor is a jerk too. Maybe they hate God. Maybe they are actively and violently opposed to everything I believe. And showing them grace feels impossible. So instead of dealing with that, we get online and police people. We find small things to focus on that will distract us.
Jesus came for the mess-ups like us. Jesus came for the failures. Jesus came for the jerks. (That’s not in the King James version of the Bible, I remixed it like Timbaland.) And the truth is, grace is the antidote to being a jerk online.
How about you? Have you been displaying the grace and love of Jesus in what you type to random strangers? Why do Christians often look so bad online?
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