Seven ways to be an untoxic Christian during a toxic presidential campaign

2. Speak and share with intentionality

Impulsivity is the root of so much harm in our world. We fling out words that we haven’t really thought through. We share articles that we haven’t really read because the title is provocative. This happens because we experience our world to be like the rhetorical version of trench warfare. So we lob out haphazardly anything that demoralizes or chisels at the credibility of the other side. The assumption is that under the psychological weight of all the scandals, people on the other side will eventually give up. We live in a toxic cyber-landscape where millions of people are saying “SEE!” a dozen times a day. What would it look like to be intentional and not impulsive about what we share and say on the internet? I have pastor friends who are much more disciplined than I am who literally only write kind, thoughtful, and inspiring things on Facebook. While I think some of us are called to speak prophetically, that doesn’t give us a pass for impulsivity. Can Christians do better than constantly seeking to mortar the morale of our political opponents? Can we speak in ways that inspire curiosity and sanctification instead of always saying this is why my enemies are phenomenal idiots?