So, I do Facebook and Twitter and Blog and in this follow many popular ministers and leaders. Over the last year or so I have noticed a trend that really bothers me and have stayed silent until now.
I have watched as quite a few Christian leaders have suffered divorce, whether through some fault of their own or not. I have also watched as many other respected Christian leaders have voiced their opinions (mostly negative) concerning these situations via blogs, facebook or tweets. I have a problem with this for the following reasons:
1. It's none of your business. Now I know that we Christian leaders feel that it is our "responsibility" to lead our people in all truth. But lets get real, most of us have an opinion and just want to express it. We don't have a voice into the lives of these "celebrity" leaders. So when we post our tweets it isn't for the purpose of bringing healing and restoration to those leaders. They are probably never even going to read our blog, follow our tweets or befriend us on facebook. They aren't calling to ask for our advise or counsel. And if they did, would we counsel them in the tone of the comments we've posted? What are our motives?
2. Those who follow us will more than likely take our opinion and attitude. This might be helpful if they took our attitude toward the situations (like divorce) but more often than not they take the negative attitude toward the individual. We have done nothing more than tarnished the reputation of an individual who is already going through, probably, the most difficult time in their lives. Again, what are our motives?
3. We are ALL a part of the Body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:26 says, "And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it..." What happened to that? The Body isn't about our local churches although they are included in it. It isn't about certain denominations even though they are included as well. It isn't even about theological persuasions. The Body of Christ has to do with ALL that have committed their lives to Christ. Therefore, when we write negative and even hurtful remarks about others we are not trying to bring healing to that individual. We are in essence, being a bacteria in their wound that causes even more hurt.
Also, none of us are exempt from difficulty. And if something like this happened to us, how would we feel if someone else blogged those comments about us?
Guys, I may not agree with certain things concerning these public figures have done or the way they have handled their situations but I have to wonder what good it would do me to tweet about it.
We've heard it said that the church is the only entity on the planet that shoots its own wounded. I fear that we are only enforcing that belief. I would rather change it.
So for all my colleagues that have endured difficult personal situations, I hurt with you. I pray for you and I still honor you.
