Site Meter Life as a Christian Woman » Blog Archive » Practicing John 13:35 On the Internet

Practicing John 13:35 On the Internet

by

jesus.gifBy this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. (John 13:35)

Women spend more time on the Internet perusing message boards, forums, e-mails, and writing blogs than men according to Internet usage statistics. In this world-wide environment, Christians are a minority. Go to any social bookmarking site such as Technorati or Netscape and search the term “christianity.” Your results will show a great many posts speaking against Christianity and Christians. Just as in life, your behavior and words on the internet will impact these perceptions. Are you practicing “love one unto another,” or are you engaging in heated exchanges encouraged by the anonymity of a fabricated username?

I visit alot of forums because of my writing and other online work. I have watched what I thought was a benign remark quickly spiral out of control because someone took it the wrong way or found some offense, often unintended. Couple this with the removal of normal communication cues such as body language, voice inflection, and immediate feedback, and it is easy to misinterpret comments and posts. My experience is that these online cat fights happen most often when women are involved in the conversation.

Perhaps the emotional nature of women plays a part, or it may simply be a numbers game since there are more women chatting. Whatever the explanation, we as Christian women must pay special attention to whether others know who we are in Christ because of our love. Peppering your posts with round faces in various expressions, known as emoticons, does not guarantee your words are compassionate and caring.

On the Internet, saying “I am a Christian” does not mean anything if your behavior is not Christ-like. Take these steps to ensure that you do not end up engaged in a battle of words:

1. If you are unsure of the tone intended by a post, ask for clarification before answering.

2. Are you reading something into a comment due to your own mood at the moment?

3. Everyone has different passions and pet causes. What matters a great deal to you may seem flippant to someone else. Heated discussion is not going to change that.

4. Turn the other cheek. If you see a conversation getting out of control or feel yourself directing anger toward the other party, leave the discussion.

5. If given an opportunity to witness, do so with the conviction that the person you are witnessing to is also a child of God and is loved, whether that person believes it or not.

Always keep in mind that non-Christians are very quick to pick up on what they perceive as un-Biblical behavior and use it to further their own contempt. Self-defense is not worth losing the chance to plant a seed for God.

, , , ,

.


One Response to “Practicing John 13:35 On the Internet”

  1. air max NT shoe Says:

    1. If you are unsure of the tone intended by a post, ask for clarification before answering.

    2. Are you reading something into a comment due to your own mood at the moment?

Leave a Reply


About Life as a Christian Woman

Life as a Christian Woman explores Biblical truths as they apply to modern faith and the vital roles we can play in the body of Christ. Some topics are easy, such as Christ died for our sins. Others, like divorce, single parenthood, work, and submission to our spouses are more challenging. Then there are days we just need a good laugh with God. Together, we can learn practical faith in an impractical world.

Life as a Christian Woman Author(s)

Blogging Flair

Search:
Christianbook.com


Christian Women Online
Blog Ring

Join | List | Random


www.reverendfun.com/

Christian Top Sites
Christian Top Sites


Christianity Blogs - Blog Catalog Blog Directory

Philosophy & Religion Channel Posts

  • Is Karma Real?
    I've been exposed to a number of differing versions of the karma story. Some say it is about a life balancing thing – live a bad life now and you pay for it later. For others it can be almost [...]
  • Is it the Matrix?
    Imagine The Matrix world - what if the computer simulation already had characters running around, operating according to basic programming. Neo wants to join the game, so the computer 'models' him [...]
  • Spirituality
    If there is one subject that generates an amazing amount of dialogue, discussion and argument without ever apparently reaching a conclusion, it would be Spirituality. Not only do people disagree [...]
  • Weekly Forecast: A Very Hot Ticket
    February 20 to February 27 [caption id="attachment_2126" align="alignleft" width="333" caption="Love's a Hot Ticket"][/caption]This week a very spicy Venus in Aries makes friendly energetic [...]
  • Speechless... and loved.
    Sometimes life leaves you speechless. About a week ago, a friend I hadn't spoken with in nearly 15 years found me on Facebook. For those of you that don't know, Facebook is called a "social [...]
  • Fields of Life?
    From Kirlian auras, through to electric fields, people have attempted to show that, if we are not just bodies living in a purely physical realm, our ‘spirit’ can be measured or shown to have [...]
  • The Astrology of The Tragic Story of Travis the Chimp
    February 19, 2009 [caption id="attachment_2119" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Travis the Chimp"][/caption]In a story that is sad and tragic for all parties concerned, a fourteen year old, [...]
  • Love and Hate
    I think maybe 'lack of self awareness' creates automatisms - when one is at all self-aware, there is little that is automatic. When one isn't, almost everything is automatic. Lack of knowledge limits [...]
  • This Little Light of Mine
    14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in [...]
  • Apathy
    I was in a discussion recently about Apathy. A person was saying that because of trauma, they were deep in apathy for a good part of the past few years. That raised my interest – I don't know if [...]

Hot Off The Press