Social Media Smarts: Grown Up Edition

Post with grace and truth—not one or the other, but both at all times.

Two separate ideas stand out.

1. First, vetting our sources helps us pass along truth rather than proliferating fake news. Check the dates of articles before clicking “share.” Verify one article by searching on other sites for similar news, or checking Snopes to guard against urban legends. Commit yourself to being truthful. At the same time, we must measure our words so that we speak truth seasoned with grace. John 1:17 guides us: “. . . . grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
2. This leads to my second point: Not only do our own words reveal our hearts, remember also that anything we share will reflect back on us. So we must determine if we want our FFs to associate us with those third parties that we are passing along. For instance, I decline to share any posts from a particular blogger despite agreeing with almost every stance he/she takes. Why not? Because the blogger communicates in an offensive, demeaning way, and I will not promote such negativity. So even though the blogger speaks truth, he/she does so harshly and offensively, without any sense of grace whatsoever. No thanks. I can find or write another article to promote the truth I want to share without antagonizing or offending my readers. The truth might be offensive, but my words will not.