“Seasoned with Salt”

Sunday, July 09, 2023

We increasingly live on the internet.  Facebook’s short-lived “Metaverse” received abundant mockery, was used by few people, and was more or less abandoned after just a year as the social media giant’s new flagship product; but still, in many ways the blending of internet and spatial reality was already the default for most of the world, and that trend is only accelerating, regardless of one company’s failed attempt to monopolize it.

We interact with each other using screens, we learn about what’s happening throughout the world using screens, we let the screens tell us how to get to places we’ve been many times before, we work on screens, we play with screens, we get our music and entertainment from screens, we do our reading, banking, shopping, taxes, bills, and education on screens.  And, crucially, all of these screens, and all of these activities, are now connected to the internet at all times.  They’re generally connected to our hands, too—everyone has seen a family out to dinner, all silently scrolling though their phones instead of interacting with the flesh-and-blood humans sitting at the table.

We all know this isn’t particularly good for us, and we also know that the screens are here to stay—useful but dangerous tools that we must learn to manage and use in moderation.  These interconnected electronic devices already blend the real, physical world with a virtual world of our own making, and what happens on the internet is often just as real as what happens in the “real” world.  An entire generation has now grown up taking for granted the ubiquitous smartphone; but in terms of human development, we’re still very early on the timeline of this virtual reality.  It often takes several generations to figure out what to do with a new and groundbreaking technology—how best to use it, and how best to prevent or discourage its misuse.  In some cases we never figure it out.  This generation will be long dead before this disruptive technology becomes no longer a disruption but a fixture of civilization, but Christians should be ahead of the curve, using not the slowly-accumulating wisdom of man to guide them through these troubled waters, but instead the eternal principles of wisdom laid down in God’s word.

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.

(James 3.6)

James isn’t telling us to take a vow of silence, but he is warning against saying everything that comes to mind.  In our internet-driven world, there is more opportunity than ever before to speak directly to people all over the globe.  Even with friends and family, it’s easier to say hurtful things through a screen, than face to face—why do you think most couples break up via text message now?  How much worse is the temptation, when you’re talking to someone you don’t know?  Or worse still, when you’re hiding behind a false name and picture?  These trends bring out the worst in humanity, but as Jesus said:

“Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.”

(Luke 12.2-3)

Many people spew ignorance, folly, and hatred all across the internet, every day, and while it’s good to recognize their sin and point it out, it’s also very easy to go about it in the wrong way.  It may feel good to fire off a scathing reply that you believe will humiliate the sinner; but in that case, you’ve only joined him in his sin.  What’s the goal?  Are you the judge?  Or are you God’s deputy, sent to mete out punishments on his behalf?  Shouldn’t your goal instead be to draw the sinner away from his sin and toward God?

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

(Colossians 4.6)

For most of us, there’s very little value in getting into arguments online.  Most of the people you’ll encounter are not receptive to the gospel, and so the pitfalls outweigh the potential benefits.  But occasionally you’ll have the opportunity to speak with a random stranger who seems to be somewhat open to God’s word.  In these instances, speak up—but do it carefully, for the other person’s good and not your own self-righteousness.  Often, this means fielding insults and other verbal abuse.  You may be tempted to lash out in response—but “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Ep 4.26-27).  Or, you may be tempted to be genuinely wounded by the things people say to you, or about you—but “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on [Jesus’] account” (Mt 5.11).

The advice, “be careful what you say,” applies throughout life, but we particularly need to hear it, where the internet and social media are concerned.  Whether it’s gossip, or slander, or betraying trust, or getting involved in fruitless battles of words, there’s enormous potential for us to reject Jesus and pursue something else that we think will bring us satisfaction in this life.  It’s not inevitable.  As with most things, it’s fine to participate in life in the internet age, in moderation and within limits; but we must also be willing to give it up entirely, if necessary, for the sake of our own souls.

“And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”

(Matthew 5.30)

Jeremy Nettles

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