A church member in Boone, NC made this for me after I told Robertson’s story in a sermon about our words

In Robertson’s writings and often in his speaking he would address how Christians speak about others.  His thoughts seem even more relevant is a world where many feel entitled to say anything about anyone through social media.

I have consulted with multiple congregations in the past 10 years split into painful division because of e-mails being forwarded beyond the original intended author.  I have a significant section of material on the Biblical teaching on conflict resolution in my book Life Giving Leadership if you want more assistance in handling the friction that will surely come living in this broken world.

Here I will just paraphrase the experience he shared from his early days as a missionary in Japan.

We were the new missionaries and the more experienced couple had come to dinner to welcome us.  It turned into a painful evening of them “helping us” by pointing out failures and weaknesses of all of the other missionaries.  They left that evening with a date for another dinner being set and I was not looking forward to another evening of roasting the coworkers we were just meeting.

Muriel assured me she would make sure the next evening’s conversation went differently.  Our home had a large wall with no pictures on it.  She made a small cross stitch and hung it on the wall.  They arrived and noticed the new addition to our decor. The wife walked over, read it, and then called her husband over to read it.  (Robertson paused like a good stand up comedian and then said), It was one the quietest dinners we had ever had.

Are the absent safe with you?  

Personally I believe Facebook is for sharing photos of my grandbabies and maybe a few vacation photos but I seek to remember in this blog, and all of my online world, that Jesus is present and reading my posts.  Social media is just a typed conversation — and the Bible has a great deal to say about how God’s children are to use words.

Bottom Line — if you have a problem with someone — go to them — face to face if possible (not your facebook) — or in as private conversation as possible.

Any subject causing your emotional heat to go UP or your trust in a person or organization to go DOWN — take your concern TO them not to the world online.