In an era of Facebook

Once upon a time communication entailed Person A standing within hearing distance of Person B and speaking words. Upon listening to those words, Person B would respond with more spoken words.  Person A would then in turn respond.  It was called a conversation.  People would express thoughts, feelings, or observations to a single person or group of people.  This strange concept of communication resulted in relationships forming between people.  When something rude or insulting was said, there was an immediate reaction to the giver of the insult who would then consider his or her words.  The insulter (gasp!) realized something rude or insulting had been said.  What therefore followed was either 1.) Guilt or 2.) More insults. Very rarely, the guilty one even apologized.  Sometimes, the conversation evolved into arguing or physical altercations.  Then the two live human beings would go back to whatever they were doing before the conversation started.  Assuming they were both still breathing. 

Fast forward to present day. More often, communication now resembles this:  Person A types on Facebook:  I don’t like the color blue.  Person B skims Person A’s words, gets off the computer and texts Person C:  Person A doesn’t like the blue shirt Person D was wearing today.  Person C then calls Person D and says, “Person A doesn’t like you because you wore a blue shirt today and thinks you’re totally lame.”  Person D cries all night and then tells everyone they know what a jerk Person A is.  Person A has no idea why no one likes them.  Then some random blogger tells the whole world we aren’t allowed to say the word blue anymore because it hurt someone’s feelings some time, some where.

 Young adults, and some adults not so young, go hours and days without physical interaction with other live human beings (but hopefully not dead ones either).  E-mail, texting, Facebook, Twitter, smart phones, tablets, and TV all have made passive-aggressive communication more and more prevalent.  Common courtesy is often replaced by rudeness and snide comments.  Thoughts you would never dream of speaking to another person fly right past your fingertips to the keyboard for all the world to see.  In our evolving culture, effort has become something to be rid of, not something to be desired.  Patience and discipline recede into the background to the sound of instantly brewing coffee and the never ending notifications of a smartphone.  And if anything requires effort, patience, and discipline, it is the act of holding your tongue.

Do most still try to think before speaking, or has that been lost in translation in a world of MB and RAM? (These abbreviations are probably becoming obsolete even as I type). Thinking before tapping away at the keyboard seems to have dwindled even further.  Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.  Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.  (Proverbs 17:27-28 ESV), and, A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.  (Proverbs 18:2 ESV)  We haven’t just forgotten to think before we speak, but we have lost even the patience to listen to the other half of the conversation. 

It takes no discipline or discernment to speak every fleeting thought that passes its way through the mind. Are unfiltered comments becoming trendy?  If so, I fervently hope that we will steer clear of that particular trend.  God’s word has never been, and will never be, trendy.  Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.  (Matthew 7:13-14 ESV)

Consider your words, whether written or spoken.  Do they have a purpose?  Do they build up and give life to the hearer?  So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 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 3:2-10 ESV)

Join with me to be better.  To do better.  To have our spoken and written examples be a shining light in the darkness of a corrupt generation.  To show our children that the path to our Lord may be narrow, but not impossible.  That Christians consider others before they speak, and listen that they may gain understanding.  That it takes strength and courage to confess when we are in the wrong.  LORD, may my tongue not speak evil, but bring others always nearer to you.