Sister to Sister: Too Political on Facebook?

I’ve been preparing a lesson about the temptations that may come our way when we spend time in various venues of social media. Even as I was working on this, I got a letter from a friend who was expressing dismay that Christians would ever express any political views on social media. She was especially critical of folks revealing for whom they’d voted in past elections. Her reasoning was mostly that political change or governments will never be the answer for the ills that plague our world; that the gospel is the answer. She’s right about that last statement, for sure. 

Because I know that God’s gospel is the ultimate answer for all of our challenges as pilgrims on the earth, I have a strong sense of  responsibility to speak gospel-related conviction on matters of faith and morality; to speak God’s truth. Further, if I am going to BE on social media, I am going to use whatever small (and I know it is small) influence I may have for the things that I believe a Christian must stand for. I cannot conscientiously do otherwise. I am going to do it with kindness, to the very best of my ability, but not with timidity, if I can help it. 

People who say that social media is not the place for speaking about politics overlook the fact that there are many very basic and Biblical moral and spiritual issues that are dividing our nation right now. Morality IS politics today.  In fact, the largest chasms in the political arena in America today are over faith-related issues. The fact that I might not want to be political does not negate my responsibility to be opposed and to state opposition to immorality. Romans 1:32 rings in my head when I am tempted to be silent simply because I know I will face opposition.

Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them (emphasis mine…CC).

The very idea that we would have a platform, largely driven by Satan, where we could still say truth from His word, and that we would not say that truth, is just not palatable for me. At the same time that I was working on this lesson, another Facebook friend contacted me to ask if I thought she should say something to a sister in Christ who was celebrating the gay marriage of a son. The idea that a Christian would be informed by Facebook of such a spiritual danger going on in the life of a sister and then be silent about that danger is at odds with Galatians 6:1. We can’t just peruse Facebook for our idle entertainment without applying the principles of Christianity when given opportunities to influence. Facebook or Instagram or Twitter are not somehow excluded from the big picture of who I am, as a disciple. If I’m in a social media community, I’m seeking souls, I’m applying principles, I’m caring for innocents, I’m looking out for widows; all of this just as I do in the physical community where my house stands.    

So, I will continue to write for the innocent unborn, against gay marriage, for the sanctity of the lives of elderly and handicapped and against the legalization of gambling of all kinds, for the fair treatment of all people of all races and ages and against government funding of various kinds of evil in the name of art. And the list goes on.

To be clear, I am not a fan of President Trump; not as a celebrity or as a personal decision-maker.  I have said that over and over and over. I think he is an immoral man. (I respect his office and would treat him with honor, of course, as I would any president, were I to ever have the privilege of meeting him.) But I do believe there’s a good share (certainly not all) of His policies that have already served to protect things worth protecting. One example, among many,  appeared in my newsfeed just today. He said “… every life is a sacred gift of God. And that’s why I’ve asked Congress to prohibit extreme late-term abortion of babies.”  This is one of those policies that I strongly support. I will continue to vote, both in local elections and federal ones, based on policies of individual candidates; not party-based affiliations. The most important issues to me will always be those about morality. The most pressing moral issue of our day is the abortion holocaust.  While, I do not have  permanent party affiliations, I think it a mistake to ignore the truth about which party currently and  openly supports the continuation of the killing. It does so in its very platform. 

Through social media, I have been able, with God’s great Providence to help change the fates of specific children who were not being given the chance to breathe outside the womb.  I have been able, with His Providence, to assist in placing a handicapped child in a forever home. I have been able (not me, but Him) to help change a pro-choice mind to be very vocally pro-life. I cannot stop promoting what I believe COULD, in my lifetime stop the holocaust that will be credited to my generation. I will do all I can in my physical neighborhood and state and through my social media presence to save lives and I will do this without apology. 

I know I need His wisdom and I know I do not always see things correctly. I am so fallible. I’m also aware that any difference I can make through social media is a small one–even minuscule, perhaps.  I don’t have illusions about my own importance. It’s a huge social media world out there. But I have to do what I have to do as I read His word and think on the unconscionable sins that have overtaken our nation. I do this while I am teaching my grandchildren and everyone who will listen that this nation will fall one day (if the earth stands long enough), but the spiritual nation of which we are citizens, will never fall. That’s the power and promise of the gospel. This world is not my home. The gospel is the ultimate answer to every sin that’s at work corrupting our society.  We’ll be okay, come what may, because, God is our Psalm 46:1 help. He is present when we are in trouble. He’s in charge.

The Lord is my refuge and my strength; a very present help in time of trouble.