Message from the heart.

Introduction: Stone and oral tradition, 1,000 B.C. Papyrus and scrolls - OT scriptuers copied for public reading, 1st Century AD - Codex became huge for the Bibles, Easier to look things up. 1446 - Gutenberg Press - Fast production, books newspapers into everyone’s hands. 1844 - Telegraph - paves the way for short messages to be sent by line over continents (telecommunications) 1894 - radio is invented. 1927 - First TV transmission. 1970 - Email, 1980’s hypertext websites, first online newspaper, 1990’s world wide web with 2000’s - cell phones, Instant messaging, text messaging and social media, video conferencing, and online church services. In each change and each new platform people have had to navigate how to communicate well in the new medium. But that is becoming more difficult at the speed in which new media inventions are coming to us. How can we glean from the Bible, how to communicate well in social media that the Bible does not even address?

The Pros and Cons of Viral Messaging.

Pro - We are able to connect with people we normally would not (High School Friends, Support Groups, etc). Con - We have the potential of sharing too much, asking the world to celebrate minute details, be their counselor for problems, or posting things that a potential employer may not want to see. - Share a picture of food.

Pro - Everyone is empowered with a platform to speak out. Con - Whether they know anything about the subjects they speak on or not.

Pro - We can share thoughts, feelings, and beliefs quickly, Con: Because it is only text, and sound bites, people may miss our heart that is communicated by non-verbals and tone.

1. Prompt your congregation by asking them how they would feel after seeing you post, “I really don’t like little people” on someone’s Facebook timeline. Assure them that you know it sounds cruel, rude, and unexplainable from their vantage point. Ask them, “What if I told you that I was talking about the television show Little People, and the person whose timeline I posted on knew exactly what I meant because of an earlier phone conversation?” Use this example, or something similar, to illustrate how making public and blunt statements on social media can possibly be a hindrance. And to illustrate why it is crucial to take the time to understand the context of a post before jumping to conclusions.

Pros - News and the Truth can be accessed immediately. Cons - Lies, Half-Truths, Conspiracy Theories, Gossip and Rumors go viral.

Psithurismos/psithuristas and katalalia/katalalos. The first word, psithurismos, literally means “hiss, whisper” and in the New Testament is used “only in a bad sense whispering, (secret) gossip, tale-bearing.”52 The related form, psithuristas, is therefore, “whisperer, tale-bearer.”5 In both of their New Testament uses, these Greek words always appear in very close proximity to katalalos (“speaking evil of others, slanderous” used substantivally “slanderer”)54 or its related form katalalia (“evil speech, slander, defamation, detraction”).55 The two words seem to be connected.

- In Romans 1:29-32 this activity is the fruit of those who do not acknowledge God, it is Sin.

-In Mark 7:21-23 calls this activity as coming out of the heart of man and it is evil

Examples:

- Obama H1N1 Flu Picture: Posted on April 5, 2020 as I can tell I found the source of this data…National Library of Medicine

- What about trials - Affairs of politicians - It seems that social media takes stands on these things based on their favorite candidate. I find it irresponsible to say anything until there is conclusive evidence or a jury of peers has done their job. The public does not have access to the evidence.

- Conspiracy - Bill Gates is going to implant microchips in the Coronavirus Vaccine - One I thought was plausible as technologically as we advance it may be possible, and governments have done horrible things in the past. Then I looked it up the primary sources on

Our Message Comes from the Heart.

Jesus in this passage is the target of a smear campaign. - Earlier there have been hints that a charge against Jesus is that his power comes from the devil, that he is using some sort of dark magic to perform his miracles. In essance this was gossip, a consipiracy theory, that has now manifested itself as Slander (a personal attack).

Here is the first time it is explicitly stated.

Jesus both argues both that this makes no sense, because he is kicking out beelzebub’s domain, but he also then talks about the seriousness of their charge, and that it is a blaspheme of the Holy Spirit.

Words matter, because they are the over-flow of our heart.

It does not mean that we will be condemned to hell if we have any careless words in our life time. If this is the case, then it is a contradiction of Jesus saying, that words against the Son of Man can be forgiven. - Must take into context, but if someone’s heart is opposed to the Holy Spirit then the fruit of their heart, their words will condemn them.

Therefore, our words, and our messaging as believers should come from a heart filled by the Holy Spirit. What would the Holy Spirit’s standard for our message on Facebook be? It should be characterized by.

Fruit of the Spirit, Definition of Love. as opposed to the heart of the “flesh”

They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. - Romans 1:28-31

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 2 Corinthians 13:4

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. - Galatians 5:19-23

Best Practices for Social Media.

- It is called Social Media for a reason. If you are on Social Media, you are now a part of the “Media.” and if that is the case, you have a responsibility to participate in that “Media,” with the ethics of the Holy Spirit.

-As a world we have experienced this before with the invention of the book, and then the printing press, and then Television and Radio. Each time people have had to think through what is a code of ethic to use this medium well? Things like site your sources, do not plagiarize, be truthful, have been engrained in any High School and College students training, but we have not developed these for Social Media.

Summary of the Society of Professional Journalists

Accuracy, Truth, and Fairness over speed.

Site Sources and shoot for primary sources.

Provide context to avoid misrepresentation, oversimplification.

Balance need for public info. with harming people, and right to fair trial to public’s right to know.

Be compassionate to those affected by news coverage.

Avoid conflicts of interest and being swayed by monetary gain.

Be accountable and transparent.

Acknowledge and correct mistakes.

The Media sometimes does not live up to their own code of ethics, but I believe as Christians who are believe that “The Truth will Set us Free.” and who live by love by rejoicing in Truth. Our code of ethics should surpass that of the established media.

Summary of Best Practices for Christians on Social Media. - From the Church of England guidelines for nine directions, and

Truth: we should hold ourselves to high ideals of checking that what we post online is fair and factual. - If we do not have time to check sources, If we can not establish the truthfulness then wait till you can to post or reply.

Be Safe: - Children and those who are vulnerable.

Be Respectful:

Be Kind: Treat others how you would wish to be treated and assume the best in people. If you have a criticism or critique to make, consider not just whether you would say it in person, but the tone you would use, and better yet, say it in person.

Be honest:

Take Responsibility: You are accountable for the things you say and do.

Be a good Ambassador of Christ: Use non-christianese language, Inspire with the Gospel

Togetherness: we are one Church and other members of this Church are our brothers and sisters in Christ. It is crucial we treat those around us in this way.

Disagree Well: Seek less to win arguments, more seek to learn from others, and if at all possible take it offline.

Credit Others: Site your sources

Follow the Rules: of the platform

Conclusion: As I conclude, our question was how do we Christians communicate well on Social Media? I believe the answer is a three-fold question we need to ask our selves. First is what we are communicating coming from a Spirit-Filled heart? Second, are we using the same ethics and guidelines that scripture outlines for all communication? And Third, is what we are communicating match the media we are using?