For it is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. – 1 Peter 3:17

Today's Scripture Reading (June 10, 2024):  1 Peter 3

Get ready for a rant. Too often, I see social media memes that argue, "Facebook says that you can't say the name of Jesus here, but I just did. Bet you won't share this post." There is so much wrong with the statement. To start with, the basic premise is a lie. Facebook has no regulations about whether or not you can say Jesus on its platform. It also has no rules about saying God, Yahweh, Muhammad, Allah, or Buddha on its platform. You are also allowed to share scripture or pray on Facebook. And I always find it mystifying when a supposed Christian meme begins by lying to the reader, especially when the lie is pretty blatant. If I were a critic of Christianity, the first question that I would ask would simply be this: if you are willing to lie to get shares on Facebook, what else are you willing to lie about?

However, the second problem with some social media memes is the peer pressure angle. The above meme is basically the equivalent of an elementary child daring you to do something after telling you it is wrong to do it. It hits all your buttons. It also gets us our ultimate social media currency: shares and likes.

Here is another meme; "If you are not Embarrassed of god and he woke you up this morning, say Amen and share." Again, it is pure peer pressure, but what hit me is the capitalization used by the meme. Now, I get it. It might not have been intentional, just part of the computer thinking, but did you notice the meme's capitalization? It subtly tells you that being Embarrassed (capitalized) is more important than god (uncapitalized.) I know it is not the message you were trying to send.

But then that is the point. We are often bolder about our faith online, especially when we can parrot what someone else says. Reposting someone else's words is an easy way to show our faith, even if it is often clumsier, and usually conveys a message we do not intend to send. It is a problem with sharing someone else's post online; after all, it isn't our message but theirs.

And it is not just religious posts that share this struggle. Everything we repost can carry a message we don't intend to send, partially because they are not our words. And I know that sometimes we get in trouble for those messages, and our defense is that we were reposting. But the excuse doesn't hold up. As soon as we decided to put it on our social media page, the intended and unintended messages became ours.

Online evangelism often becomes a club in our hands. We beat our friends with posts that frequently contain lies, hoping they will come to Christ. The question is, does that really make any sense?

When I was in college, I was part of the puppet team for the college. We were sent out into the area on weekends, often with a human preacher, to minister at various churches. However, one of the rules we operated by was that an eternal truth had to be spoken by a real person. So, if the puppets were talking with each other about some issue, and we came to the point where we wanted to teach a truth, let's say "Jesus died for your sins," one of us, usually someone who was not involved behind the puppet stage, would step in front of the stage and teach the concept to the puppets, as well as to the audience. The idea was that at some point, the child would grow up and leave puppets behind, but we didn't want them to leave the truth behind at the same time. So, a human team member always spoke the truth.

Consider this: social media lies. It just does. You might have noticed that Facebook has labeled some posts as lies or misinformation. A couple of years ago, I was sent a post on Messenger that was a lie. I decided to post it on Facebook, explaining why the post lied to us. Facebook agreed and censored my explanation. But that's okay. It is good that the platform attempts to remind us when someone lies.

I read a post on a friend's page a few years ago complaining about this Facebook practice, arguing that it is censorship. The post asserted that I should have the right to tell you that Oprah Winfrey is part of Hillary Clinton's child sex slave ring that is operating out of a Pizza Parlor, even if that is not true. Let me stop here and say that absolutely nothing about that statement is true.

Social media lies. And some of you share incorrect posts, and often you will tell me, well, I didn't know for sure, but I thought I would do it just to be safe. That one includes the lie that Facebook is changing its rules and tomorrow will start using your photos without your permission unless, of course, you place this post on your page denying them access. Yep, it's just another lie.

So, not only does Facebook lie, but we want it to lie. We want to be able to voice our opinions, even if they are demonstrably wrong. If I am convinced that the earth is flat, I should be able to teach that fact to impressionable children or adults.

Peter tells his readers, "For it is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil" (1 Peter 3:17). And it is better to tell the truth and do good on social media, even it gets you fewer likes and shares. No reaction makes the lie okay. Lying and doing evil is always wrong.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 4 & 5