Restrain yourself from reacting to news articles, posts, memes etc that make your blood boil with anger until you consult with the Lord. What many Christians dare to call ‘righteous anger’ is actually not so righteous. Hear what the Lord is saying.
Hi there, Although all my past videos have been off-the-cuff so to speak, today will be a little bit different so, please excuse me if I look at my paper more often than I look directly at the camera. I want to get this right, and so I wrote this down.
As I mentioned in my last casual video – found here, I felt I needed to share with you a Word that the Lord had given me concerning Christians, our influence, and Social Media.
Many speak of a growing divide, a polarisation, that is increasing across our world, driven by Social Media and online news agencies, and highly opinionated blogs who mask themselves as legitimate news sources, who all have their own slant and agenda.
However, I see multiple camps splintering off, much like when the ice breaks up on a large body of water. Everyone is drifting away from each other, afloat on their own little islands of pet doctrines, political leanings, socio-economic beliefs, etc. It’s no longer one or the other.
Strident voices try to drown out the voices that drift their way across the divide; their voice must be heard above the others, after all, their voice is the ‘truth’. No one truly listens to the other, everyone raises their voice, screaming their rhetoric, until all that can be heard is mind-numbing and heart-numbing babble. When a voice happens to raise itself above the clanging noise, it is attacked by an angry mob who come together briefly to bring down that voice.
Christians have fallen prey to the spirit behind this isolationist agenda. Our enemy knows the power of ‘divide and conquer’. The Body of Christ’s voice has weakened due to its splintering. Am I saying that the unity of the Body can only come if we all agree on every issue? No.
But as individuals within that body, we must lay down fear, frustration, and panic. We must resist the fleshly instinct to react to news articles, blogs, Social Media posts, government decisions, etc. with the caveman mentality of an immediate ‘flight or fight’ reaction.
We must step back, take a deep breath, and LISTEN to the Holy Spirit before we speak out against whatever stirs us to unrighteous anger. I felt the Lord say, “I am the one who knows your heart, ask me if what is fuelling your diatribes on Social Media is truly righteous anger or fleshly anger driven by underlying fear and insecurity.”
We must LISTEN to each other, truly listen, before we react with a blast of angry rhetoric.
What are some practical steps to take? Scripture is full of them.
John 16:23 “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.“ The Holy Spirit wishes to guide us, but a guide must be allowed to lead. When anger is fuelling your need to make sure all others hear your voice and position, take a deep breath, step back, and keep your hands off your keyboard until you are in an emotional place where you can hear His promptings.
Proverbs 25:8 The Message (MSG) “Don’t jump to conclusions—there may be a perfectly good explanation for what you just saw.” Do your own research, click on articles posted by others and read the whole article before making a judgment. Do not believe soundbites of videos to be an accurate representation of what the person was actually saying. Do your research, hunt down the original, not edited, version. Unfortunately, there are so-called Christian apologetic organisations who constantly take what other ministries are saying entirely out of context. Do your research!
Proverbs 14:29 MSG “Slowness to anger makes for deep understanding; a quick-tempered person stockpiles stupidity. “This one speaks for itself. Don’t be so quick to share and post news articles, headlines, stories and memes on Social Media that you have not thoroughly read. Some people stockpile such articles on their timelines – not realising they are displaying an appalling collection of urban myths, half-truths and outright fake news.
Proverbs 16:32 Passion Translation “Do you want to be a mighty warrior? It’s better to be known as one who is patient and slow to anger. Do you want to conquer a city? Rule over your temper before you attempt to rule a city.”
Do you think you can’t make much of a difference? Remember David, a shepherd boy who refused to wear the armour offered him by a King, who himself was ruled by fear and insecurity. Yes, David was angry, but he did not allow his anger to rush him into foolhardy decisions. He chose not to cloak himself in fear and insecurity.
David stepped back and used the weapons he had learned to use in the secret place of intimacy with God in the back fields of his father’s farm. The next time you feel your blood boiling over something you have read or heard, step back, allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you and use the tools you have learned to use in the secret place of intimacy with God.
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Until Next Week
©2018 Katherine Walden
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