Author: Silva

I spend some time on Twitter. For a short while I was hoping to be able to hear from others who view our culture, government, military or entertainment enterprises differently than me. I haven’t been disappointed. I have even (foolishly, it seems) thought that I could get into some meaningful discussion with some of these people. Truly, there are people who confess to follow Christ who believe some things and I don’t understand how or why.

As it stands, despite what Mr. Elon Musk might say, Twitter is a terrible public square. It’s a screaming square. It’s an ad hominem square. It’s a demeaning square. It’s a show-off square. Most disappointing is that it’s a place where people don’t tell the truth. Time after time self-confessed Christians (even pastors) flat out do no homework or truth verification before just spewing nonsense.

• If you don’t wear a mask you want others dead.
• If you don’t get a vaccine you are anti-science.
• If you vote Republican you are pro-fascism.
• If you oppose abortion you aren’t for women’s healthcare.
• If you want to restrict immigration you are xenophobic.
• If “Gender Queer” should be expelled from public school libraries you want all gay people to be stoned.

Nonsense. Christians, if you spew this type of drivel, stop doing it. What’s the point? Are we supposed to demean people to repentance? Are we supposed to scream people into correct theology? Will unbelievers who need the peace of God see our condescending tweets and be convinced they need what we have??

Forget the kingdom of God for a second. How can we build an ordered society when we are so disordered ourselves? Don’t we recognize that if we participate in this culture deconstruction that we might actually get what we want: a destroyed culture? This is so basic. It must mean we are cracked at a fundamental level. We are like a mind-controlled Theoden who no longer recognizes friend from foe; I suspect when many of us look in the mirror we don’t even know who is looking back at us.

Why are we like this? Many have given us answers: Carl Trueman, Charles Taylor, Jamie Smith, Aaron Renn. It is just so tempting, isn’t it? It is so easy to say something shocking and watch how it raises everyone else’s blood pressure. Yes! Let me try that again…

Instead, can’t we simply tell the truth? I don’t mean opinion or perspective but the truth. No one but God knows my motives. Yet a whole host of so-called believers want to tell me and others like me exactly what we’re thinking without asking. Can’t we be more humble than that? Or, are we afraid to be humble because if we are, we might lose / get run over / taken advantage of, etc.? That would be terrible, wouldn’t it? I guess all that I would have left is Christ.