I suppose that should be obvious. I mean, if you spend any amount of time on social media and you read the posts made by those who call themselves Christians, you might be surprised at how at least some of those comments compare unfavorably to Biblical principles.

I couldn’t sleep, so I got up early to do my daily (most days) Bible readings. This morning, that included Romans 12 and 13. Those chapters have a lot to say about how we are to behave as believers.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. –Romans 12:2 (NASB)

There is no more seductive or alluring platform that conforms us to this world than social media. Any number of atheists (or bots or paid influencers) go online to degrade and insult Christianity and God and it’s like an instant slap in the face. The temptation to fire back at them is enormous and many people do. The irony is that the instant you engage them, the algorithms working on the social media platform put more of the same kind of behavior onto your timeline, so it feels like being ganged up on.

Oh, what about this?

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never repay evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all people. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. –Romans 12:14-21

Maybe I’m just missing the actual Christians on social media or maybe they wisely don’t participate. I sure don’t see a lots of the above being displayed in very many Christian posts.

I’m not exempting myself. I have plenty of things to say, mainly on X (formerly twitter), even knowing everything I’ve just written above.

As most of you know by now, actor and director Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle were recently murdered in their Los Angeles home. Their 32-year-old son Nick was arrested in connection with their deaths and is now being held without bail.

Also, as many of you know, Rob Reiner was a very vocal critic of President Donald Trump. Very shortly after Reiner’s death was announced on social media, I noticed that a lots of folks were saying that “the right” engineered Reiner’s death. Adding fuel to that fire, Trump went on his own social media platform and had a pretty unkind reaction to Reiner’s death. Even Trump’s own party disagreed with his statements.

Social media has presented opinions on Reiner ranging from villain to saint. His murder has given rise to a renewed criticism of Trump and MAGA in specific and conservatives in general (sometimes including Christians), even though Reiner’s death had absolutely nothing to do with his political and social opinions.

You can see how powerful a tool social media is. It’s like continually pouring gasoline on an ever expanding inferno.

I suppose it’s one thing when we ordinary people “lose it” online, but it’s another thing entirely when the President of the United States does it. Instead of focusing on the deaths of Rob and Michelle Reiner as a tragic event that is the seeming result of a terrible family dispute, both President Trump and many of his critics (and Reiner’s supporters) online have turned it into a political free-for-all.

This morning, the following in particular hit home:

Every person is to be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same… –Romans 13:1-3

I can only imagine that Paul had something specific in mind when he wrote those words. I mean, how many truly evil leaders have we seen across history? Certainly Ahab, as we see in the Bible, was an evil man. Hitler and Stalin are no brainers. God wouldn’t want us to obey those men, would He? The Gentiles who hid Jews from the Nazis during the Holocaust weren’t sinning. So there must be a provision for disobeying the established order when that order is evil, cruel, and murderous.

The same chapter has something to say about the rest of us:

Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the Law. For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the Law. –Romans 13:8-10

Luke 10:25-37 tells us who is our neighbor and John 13:34-35 tells us that we should love one another as believers. Let’s add Matthew 5:38-42 to emphasize “turning the other cheek.”

Every time something politically or socially inflammatory goes on in the realm of social media, there’s a temptation to be pulled in, whether it’s the death of Rob Reiner and his wife, or the much more politically motivated murder of Charlie Kirk.

I’ve seen innumerable comments on social media where people claim that they can hardly wait until Donald Trump dies, citing signs of his apparent illnesses. Those same folks say that they aren’t sorry that Kirk died and even believe he deserved it because of his “unpopular” religious and political commentaries. And yet, when conservatives say something similar about Reiner based on his own opinions, they are mean, cruel, and evil.

That’s human nature amplified by the instantaneous ability to spread anyone’s opinion to millions of others on the internet.

I’d love to say that I’m a paragon of virtue and am totally immune to such influences. I’d love to say that I’ve overcome my baser nature and either spread only holiness and joy on the web or abstain altogether.

But none of that is true.

As perhaps this blog post testifies, I’m just as drawn in to the digital melee as the next person. The difference (hopefully) is that I’m aware of myself and my participation. Also, I tend to process my thoughts and feelings through writing, so here I am.

Neither Kirk nor Reiner were villains or saints. Heck, Floyd George, an actual criminal, has been canonized as a saint on social media because a court of law determined he was unjustly killed by law enforcement officers. Any wrongdoing on George’s part is all but dismissed because of this.

Nothing I’ve written this morning will change anything. People are people and that includes believers. We are just as vulnerable to our own “sin natures” as anyone else, even though we have received the spirit of Christ and even though we know better. Yes, our old natures are dead, but we also have free will. The behavior patterns of that former life still are written somewhere inside of us and we can still choose to listen to the voice of that “old man.”

The rest of the world, not knowing Jesus, not believing, does what it does because that’s who people are, even the best of them. We as Christians have a choice and yes, we can sometimes (or often) choose wrong. But we know what we’re doing or we should. After all, we have the Holy Spirit and we have the Bible.

It’s a new day and I’m already tired. But it’s a new day and thus a new opportunity to listen to God’s “still small voice” and to behave out of what I hear. It’s another chance for all of us to overcome evil with good by being good.