This is an article where I comment on people who comment on fake controversy on the internet. Yeah. There’s really no way for me to come out on top here.
I should probably just ignore all this, but it’s been something I’ve thought about for a while, and when a bug like that crawls in my brain, it’s like an itch that needs to be scratched or it won’t go away. Apologies in advance.
It’s been a fun couple of weeks. We’ve seen Kanye West release his album “Jesus is King” and proclaim the gospel to millions around the world. I’ve listened to track #2, “Selah,” on repeat since the album’s release. Sometimes I feel like God just does things for fun, and Kanye’s conversion has been fun, exciting and encouraging to watch.
But of course, what’s great news without a little faux internet controversy to rain on everyone’s parade? Last week and this week, I started to see Christians on twitter forcefully denouncing a supposed group of judgmental, Kanye-condemning Christians who were out there in the ether somewhere. I saw plenty of Christians boldly announcing their acceptance of Kanye but saw no examples of Christians judging him. Maybe there were a few I didn’t see. Maybe it was one or two trolls. But that was all it took for thousands of Christians to come out of the woodwork in defense of Kanye.
Tweets like these:
Kanye West: Jesus is King
— Paul Ward (@prward) October 26, 2019
Christians: Do you know what he's done? Do you know who is wife is?
Prostitute: Pours perfume on Jesus' feet
Pharisees: Do you know what she's done? Do you know who she's slept with?
Judgmental Christians: KaNye IsN’T a ReAl ChRiStIaN.
— joacim hernandez (@_joacim) October 28, 2019
Kanye: *Preaches the gospel to more people than they will in their lifetime*#JesusIsKing
To be clear, I completely agree with the sentiments of the Christians posting these messages, but where are the supposed haters they are fighting against? Kanye, where are your accusers? I’m not finding them anywhere. I saw a couple of people express skepticism, which is understandable. In today’s fake, media-driven culture, skepticism is always good. Even the believers at Antioch were skeptical when the Apostle Paul told them he was converted. But by almost all accounts, the Christian world seems to be rejoicing as one over this.
We’ve seen this phenomenon a couple of times before. Remember when Starbucks changed the design of the Holiday Cups? It was a media-created controversy based on one or two tweets from a random person with almost no followers. News stories popped up with lines like “The Christian Right is Outraged…” or “Conservatives on Twitter Condemn…” but they never could quite cite where the controversy started or who these supposed Christian Conservatives were. That didn’t stop thousands of Conservative Christians from taking to social media in force to announce how they didn’t care about the Starbucks cups, and how their fellow Christians need to stop being so “bigoted and combative.” Christians took the bait helped the media create the fake controversy they wanted.
It happened again more recently when it was announced that The Little Mermaid would be played by Halle Bailey, a black woman. Again, I saw dozens of Christians in my Facebook and Twitter feed proudly condemning all the bigots who were supposedly angered by the casting choice. I scoured the internet to find an example of even one such bigot, but there were none to be found. Another fake controversy.
I would like to gently suggest that we Christians need to get better at the internet. It is a platform where we can shine a bright light of hope to a dying world. If we are going to shine our light effectively, we need to stop taking the bait of media outlets trying to tar Christians for clicks. Here are a couple of scriptures I think can apply here:
Matthew 10:16 – “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”
Proverbs 18:13- “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.”
So before you weigh in on controversy, consider these warnings. Don’t respond to any media-generated controversy. Don’t respond unless you are talking to a specific person saying a specific thing. And when you do, consider your motives. Are you trying to firmly establish yourself as “one of the good guys?” Are you trying to show off your righteousness?
If God leads you to weigh in on social media, consider it prayerfully and do it boldly. If you do decide to weigh in, may your words bring “grace to all who hear.”
Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to listen to “Selah” again. I need it.
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