Poking righteous fun
Being on Facebook has it’s ups and downs. I thoroughly enjoy funny cat, dog and baby videos. I laugh at the memes posted on various fibromyalgia groups I am part of that make light of our very real and painful disease. Laughter is really a great medicine. But we must always examine our hearts when we are posting what we think is funny. What is the true motive of our post and what will others perceive it to be? Now I know we can’t please everyone and it doesn’t matter WHAT we do there will always be someone out there who will just...not...get it. But even in those cases we can take precautions and measures to make sure that even though it won’t be taken in the spirit it was intended, that we can stand before the Lord and say I did my best.
For an example. I am part of some discernment ministry groups where some of their members will post things that leave me wondering “Is this person just making fun of the one in the picture or is their intent to flush out a false teacher?” One particular post I came across could be used as an example. In it is a picture of a well known prosperity gospel “preacher” and beside her is a picture of the Joker. Many of you can identify her by the description but for those who can’t I don’t think defaming her even more is necessary. And I am sure some will just go look anyways. If it is that important to know feel free to message me.
There were laughing emoticons and people chiming in about how ridiculous she is. My only thought was “How is this showing Christ to the lost? Or for that matter each other?” After commenting, I was met with mostly friendly responses spare one who was clearly intending to belittle the person in the picture. Her heart was shown to the world through her post and I pray she see it and repent. Another person quoted a scripture that made absolutely no sense in this instance, so his justification was null and void. My point is this; should we be posting funny memes if the intent behind it may mislead others?
My knee jerk reaction is no. We need to be careful of who is watching. I also understand you can border on legalism if you are too strict with your beliefs, so let’s talk about something I feel that God has called me to stand on a soap box about. Discernment and moderation.
A quick google search defines moderation as this:
noun:
the avoidance of excess or extremes, especially in one's behavior or political opinions:
"he urged the police to show moderation"
synonyms:
self-restraint, restraint, self-control, self-discipline;
moderateness, temperateness, temperance, abstemiousness, non-indulgence, leniency, fairness
So how do we apply discernment and moderation to our posts on social media? Let’s take the example I used above. A well known preacher and the joker. Is it funny? Absolutely! The resemblance is uncanny! She is a false teacher and obviously is concerned about her appearance so much that she would pay to have her face altered (it looks like maybe plastic surgery and a bad Botox injection). But because she is a false teacher does that mean we have the right to, when you look at it from a different angle, BULLY her by plastering her face across the internet in a demeaning way? Absolutely not. In my post I used the example of when Christ called out the Pharisees. He didn’t turn to the disciples and then make fun of their appearance because he felt justified to do so. It didn’t matter what their appearance was, he was seeing their heart. And even though their hearts were wicked and scheming, He went to the cross for ALL of us. Including them if they would repent. Never once, even in some of His comments that some may say were the height of sarcasm did He belittle anyone’s appearance out of some sort of self-righteousness. And like it or not, a meme such as that is truly someone seeing themselves as superior to that person. It just makes it easier when they are a heretic.
So okay, how do we use moderation in an instance such as this? Some people in the post were saying this woman is distorting her image as a sin issue and causing people to look at her because she is in denial of her sin. Along with that was said that people such as her who uses means to make themselves more, say, flamboyant or seemingly attractive, that allows us to have open season on such people. I wholeheartedly disagree with that.
Another said he viewed it as a comparison to her crazy money making tactics and the Joker’s craziness. Okay. Fair enough. I would encourage the maker of the meme to flush that out so that people who are more prone to a mentality of belittlement will see it in the manner it was intended. That would be moderation. It would use some restraint and self control over the situation as a means of containing a situation that can cause others to stumble.
We can’t control what other people do or think. We can however use discernment and moderation in a controlled environment such as social media. And yes it can be a controlled environment if enough of a barrier is put up. If we are the ones opening up a potential flood gate we need to first examine ourselves and our intent behind the post immediately followed by concern for the people who are viewing it. Discernment. Moderation. Moderation is a learned discipline. Discernment is a requirement.
GotQuestions.org has this to say about discernment: The word discern and its derivatives are translations of the Greek word anakrino in the New Testament. It means “to distinguish, to separate out by diligent search, to examine.” Discernment is the ability to properly discriminate or make determinations. It is related to wisdom. The Word of God itself is said to discern the thoughts and intentions of one’s heart (Hebrews 4:12). We are commanded to “hate what is evil; cling to what is good” (Romans 12:9). But, unless we have true discernment, how can we determine what is “evil” and what is “good”? In order to maintain the purity of the gospel, the church must distinguish truth from heresy. Wisdom also demands that we properly discriminate between what is “best” and what is merely “good.”
John MacArthur wrote this article on discernment: I quote from the article: First Thessalonians 5:21-22 teaches that it is the responsibility of every Christian to be discerning: "But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil." The apostle John issues a similar warning when he says, "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1). According to the New Testament, discernment is not optional for the believer-it is required.
Not all of us possess discernment naturally, but all of us are required to seek and develop it. It is given to us by God. I think we as Christians need to daily ask for more so that when we come across things such as this, we can exercise it and be more like Him and less like the world.
For an example. I am part of some discernment ministry groups where some of their members will post things that leave me wondering “Is this person just making fun of the one in the picture or is their intent to flush out a false teacher?” One particular post I came across could be used as an example. In it is a picture of a well known prosperity gospel “preacher” and beside her is a picture of the Joker. Many of you can identify her by the description but for those who can’t I don’t think defaming her even more is necessary. And I am sure some will just go look anyways. If it is that important to know feel free to message me.
There were laughing emoticons and people chiming in about how ridiculous she is. My only thought was “How is this showing Christ to the lost? Or for that matter each other?” After commenting, I was met with mostly friendly responses spare one who was clearly intending to belittle the person in the picture. Her heart was shown to the world through her post and I pray she see it and repent. Another person quoted a scripture that made absolutely no sense in this instance, so his justification was null and void. My point is this; should we be posting funny memes if the intent behind it may mislead others?
My knee jerk reaction is no. We need to be careful of who is watching. I also understand you can border on legalism if you are too strict with your beliefs, so let’s talk about something I feel that God has called me to stand on a soap box about. Discernment and moderation.
A quick google search defines moderation as this:
noun:
the avoidance of excess or extremes, especially in one's behavior or political opinions:
"he urged the police to show moderation"
synonyms:
self-restraint, restraint, self-control, self-discipline;
moderateness, temperateness, temperance, abstemiousness, non-indulgence, leniency, fairness
So how do we apply discernment and moderation to our posts on social media? Let’s take the example I used above. A well known preacher and the joker. Is it funny? Absolutely! The resemblance is uncanny! She is a false teacher and obviously is concerned about her appearance so much that she would pay to have her face altered (it looks like maybe plastic surgery and a bad Botox injection). But because she is a false teacher does that mean we have the right to, when you look at it from a different angle, BULLY her by plastering her face across the internet in a demeaning way? Absolutely not. In my post I used the example of when Christ called out the Pharisees. He didn’t turn to the disciples and then make fun of their appearance because he felt justified to do so. It didn’t matter what their appearance was, he was seeing their heart. And even though their hearts were wicked and scheming, He went to the cross for ALL of us. Including them if they would repent. Never once, even in some of His comments that some may say were the height of sarcasm did He belittle anyone’s appearance out of some sort of self-righteousness. And like it or not, a meme such as that is truly someone seeing themselves as superior to that person. It just makes it easier when they are a heretic.
So okay, how do we use moderation in an instance such as this? Some people in the post were saying this woman is distorting her image as a sin issue and causing people to look at her because she is in denial of her sin. Along with that was said that people such as her who uses means to make themselves more, say, flamboyant or seemingly attractive, that allows us to have open season on such people. I wholeheartedly disagree with that.
Another said he viewed it as a comparison to her crazy money making tactics and the Joker’s craziness. Okay. Fair enough. I would encourage the maker of the meme to flush that out so that people who are more prone to a mentality of belittlement will see it in the manner it was intended. That would be moderation. It would use some restraint and self control over the situation as a means of containing a situation that can cause others to stumble.
We can’t control what other people do or think. We can however use discernment and moderation in a controlled environment such as social media. And yes it can be a controlled environment if enough of a barrier is put up. If we are the ones opening up a potential flood gate we need to first examine ourselves and our intent behind the post immediately followed by concern for the people who are viewing it. Discernment. Moderation. Moderation is a learned discipline. Discernment is a requirement.
GotQuestions.org has this to say about discernment: The word discern and its derivatives are translations of the Greek word anakrino in the New Testament. It means “to distinguish, to separate out by diligent search, to examine.” Discernment is the ability to properly discriminate or make determinations. It is related to wisdom. The Word of God itself is said to discern the thoughts and intentions of one’s heart (Hebrews 4:12). We are commanded to “hate what is evil; cling to what is good” (Romans 12:9). But, unless we have true discernment, how can we determine what is “evil” and what is “good”? In order to maintain the purity of the gospel, the church must distinguish truth from heresy. Wisdom also demands that we properly discriminate between what is “best” and what is merely “good.”
John MacArthur wrote this article on discernment: I quote from the article: First Thessalonians 5:21-22 teaches that it is the responsibility of every Christian to be discerning: "But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil." The apostle John issues a similar warning when he says, "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1). According to the New Testament, discernment is not optional for the believer-it is required.
Not all of us possess discernment naturally, but all of us are required to seek and develop it. It is given to us by God. I think we as Christians need to daily ask for more so that when we come across things such as this, we can exercise it and be more like Him and less like the world.
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