The anonymity of cyber-space

I found myself indulging in an activity late last year that I usually avoid. Perhaps indulging isn't quite the right word. Perhaps I should say -- exposing myself.

Not to worry, this column isn't for mature audiences only.

I frequently peruse online blogs, finding the commentaries to be informative and, at times, explosive. Reader comments always seem to add fuel to the fire and different perceptions emerge from unlikely sources.

Many of these online discussions can become quite emotional as well, especially when folks of differing views allow unbridled passion to rule the day.

There comes a time in every debate when you have to decide if your point is worth pursuing. Is anyone listening or are they simply lying in wait to jump on an error like a chicken on a bug?

Fortunately, most online bloggers are more highly evolved than chickens in a barnyard, and given the chance will provide thoughtful responses.

At least that was my experience this time. I wish it were the rule, rather than the exception.

The original blog concerned the current political situation but quickly morphed into a discussion about Christianity. It was dismaying to learn how unbelievers perceive people of faith. Few of the adjectives used were flattering. "Hypocritical, judgmental, close-minded," and multiple synonyms of those names were bandied about. What was most dismaying was how close to the mark some of those labels came.

The admittedly dark periods of Christian history, such as the Crusades and the Inquisition, are frequently flung out as evidence of our sense of superiority and exclusivity. Again, not Christianity's brightest hours to be sure.

The schisms so common in Christianity also work against any possible positive testimony we attempt to share with the world. So many believers, it seems, hearken back to the early days of Christianity, to those first century Christians who "had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:44-47)

In our admirable attempts to recapture that seemingly idyllic vision of unity, we have split, time and again, into various factions, fracturing the body of believers like Humpty Dumpty, fallen off the wall.

It's important to note that schisms and factions were as much a part of that early church as they are in modern day Christianity. And, even as we continually do battle today over false teachings, heretical doctrines and pagan practices infiltrating pure faith, the apostles and early disciples faced the same enemies. A careful reading of the Epistles shows that false teachings had infected the body of believers, even in the earliest days of the faith. Apparently, the writer of Ecclesiastes knew what he was saying when he announced, "There is nothing new under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

Schisms, denominations, and myriad traditions of the church do little to promote the life-saving, life-changing, life-giving message of the Gospel. This seems especially true when non-believers and believers encounter one another in the anonymity of cyber-space, where the rhetoric can get a little out-of-hand, on both sides. And although my heart is wounded when non-believers throw their arrows of accusation, it is pierced when believers reply in kind, trading arrow for arrow, blow for blow.

Brothers and sisters, it ought not be so. The face of opposition must always be met, not with ridicule and disdain, but with the face, the heart, the spirit of Jesus. To those who claim to be followers of Jesus, believing him to be the Risen Son of God, submitting to him as both King and Savior, welcome them as a brother and encourage them along the way. To those who deny the Lordship of Christ, those who respond to loving-kindness with bitter retorts, you must let them go, even as Jesus watched the rich young man walk away. Perhaps on another day, they will be able to lay down the riches of this world, to pick up instead, a cross. But that cannot happen if your retaliatory words cause a mortal wound.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22, 23 (NIV)