I am something of a “Social Media Luddite” – a non-player, Social Media-wise, that is. I’m savvy and able, but not willing, when it comes to Social Media. I’m a Luddite, and quick to say so, and I am not alone; and I choose to be a Luddite for good reasons. For example, I avoid the mind-numbing grind of rampant narcissism; I also avoid the obsessive compulsive checking-checking-checking which Social Media encourages. These two are reasons enough, sure, but for my part, THE reason I am a Luddite is avoiding Social Media’s Dearth of the True.
No, I’m not saying all Social Media users lie – just that the truth is a threatened species there.
Exodus 20:16 reads, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” This is the ninth commandment, as you may know, the commandment of God dealing with truthfulness, especially truth in our statements about others. Truth is more important even than justice, for justice cannot exist apart from truth. The Ten Commandments (or, “Words”) of the moral Law tell us what God’s righteousness and holiness is like – and that we ought always to give thanks to Him that though we fail to meet these simple standards, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has met them perfectly for us. He accomplished justice by upholding the Truth in His death on the Cross. God cannot lie, so His children are to be people of the truth. It simply does not honor God when one of His children plays fast and loose with matters of the truth.
Every one of God’s Ten Words contains at least two parts: 1) what is required and 2) what is forbidden. Question 78 of our ever helpful and enduringly well regarded Westminster Shorter Catechism deals with the second part, that is, the things forbidden in the ninth commandment:
Question 78: What is forbidden in the Ninth Commandment?
Answer: The Ninth Commandment forbids whatsoever is prejudicial to truth, or injurious to our own or our neighbor’s good name.
Perhaps you use Social Media and you (like most people) are not ACTUALLY telling lies about people. That’s good, but can you say that you never end up reading OTHERS’ lies there? Yeah, maybe we’re not REALLY bearing false witness against brothers or sisters in Christ, but if we do nothing about a lie when we see or suspect it, if we consume and pass on unsubstantiated evil reports about another person without seeking the other side of the matter, then we are sinning as sure as if we had authored the lie ourselves.
What we say or post or pass on to others needs to be able to carry the burden of irreproachable truth if we publish distribute it. God commands us in His Ten Words to be truthful about others because it is about loving our neighbor – careless talk, rumor and gossip injure others.
It hardly needs to be said, but nowhere is this more violated that in social media, where a lack of curiosity and a lack of desire to seek out another’s viewpoint has been the downfall of many. Someone who speaks too quickly before looking fully into the facts commits great error, as Proverbs 18:13 says, “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.”
So, while this doesn’t mean we shy away from exposing error and commending truth, it does mean that we restrain ourselves from making determinations of the truth of a matter until all sides are heard. Proverbs 18:17 says that “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.”
The book of Proverbs is not just a collection of catchy aphorisms for us to haul out whenever we feel like sounding wise; they are wisdom itself – a kind of bridging instruction of how the Law is applied in day to day living. Of course, the fulfillment of these things is Christ, who is our Wisdom; the True Word of God and the One who fulfills the Law perfectly.
In my former duties as a clerk of a Presbytery, I often encountered and received material pertaining to judicial cases, complaints and protests. Generally, I have to admit that I enjoyed the work of being a clerk, i.e., going over minutes, making sure all licensing and ordination procedures were followed, answering BCO questions, and assisting session clerks with their duties. I was even called upon from time to time to help to mediate disputes between people – yes, such things do happen, even between Christians.
Not everyone enjoys clerk work. Indeed, it can be a bit nitpicky and not everyone is suited to it. Being a clerk meant I often had to review documents containing statements of charges against individuals, specifications of offenses, witness statements, judgments of sessions, appeals of previous cases, and briefs of trial counsel, prosecutors and defendants. The nature of such work is that these documents (documents authored by sincere Christians, mind you) often contradicted each other on matters of fact. That’s the nature of conflict among sinners: there will be always be opposing viewpoints, incomplete facts, and unasked questions. And there are all too often biased inquirers who stop looking into a matter just as soon as they seem to find what they set out to look for.
Even though we may not lie ourselves, we participate in lies if we receive them without challenging them. Social Media does have good uses, and many, many folks who use it never resort to using it as a forum to mete out justice – to make serious arguments. Other the other hand, many do just that. But, c’mon, a medium which allows no statements over 280 characters, or where emojis are actually considered a language, is not a serious place for exchanging matters of truth and solving our conflicts. Nothing can take the place of the kind of person-to-person and heart-to-heart interaction the Bible commends.
Matthew 18 does not say, if your brother sins, facebook about it, after all.