Skip to main content

Facebooking My Own Foolishness

Facebook has an "On This Day" feature, which has recently brought me many smiles and just as many grimaces. Pictures and posts by others remind me how blessed I have been relationally and otherwise. Many of my own posts, however, seem to demonstrate how short-sighted, judgmental, and entitled I have been (and continue to be). And these are just the thoughts I was willing to publish on social media. How many pettier, more inconsequential opinions have floated (or even been allowed to linger) through my mind over the years?

I would like to think my short-sighted, judgmental, and entitled days are behind me. But honestly? I've come to similar moments of self-revelation at other points in my life, without much obvious improvement in my attitude or actions. Still, I can't help but wonder: wouldn't it be nice if nobody unfriended me in the future over a non-Gospel issue?

Thinking about this pattern of failure, I am reminded of the following passage:

"For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete." - 2 Corinthians 10:4-6

The command to "take every thought captive to obey Christ" is most often quoted without considering the context of this passage. Paul was responding to criticism about his ministry, immediately following an appeal for funding. These are not easy topics to broach, but if we follow Paul's example we must choose spiritual warfare over verbal sparring. What would I post if my habit was to first pray (seriously pray, not throw up a cursory sentence) about controversial topics?

The means of destroying false ideology is not debate. Paul's "we" in the quoted passage suggests that "taking every thought captive" begins with a battle for our own obedience to Christ. As demonstrated by my repeated failure to be prudent with my words, mere resolution is often inadequate to accomplish such mental transformation.

If and when I review my "On This Day" feed in the years to come, I hope my words draw more attention to Christ crucified than my own inconsequential opinions. I cannot simply appeal to an inner desire to change myself. Instead, I must pray and expect God to change me. He alone is sufficient to destroy the foolish arguments and lofty opinions that occupy my thoughts. I pray He would do so. I pray I let Him do so. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

On Losing My Virtual Footprint and Physical Ticket

Thirty years ago, the technology that just turned my digital world upside down was unimaginable. I was locked out of my Google account because I foolishly left a Google voice number as a two-factor authentication. So when I was logged out of all devices unexpectedly, I couldn’t receive text messages to prove my identity.  The thought of trying to describe this situation to someone in the 90’s is comical. What is Google? Two-factor authentication? A digital world? Similarly, I can’t imagine explaining that despite having a ticket, I couldn’t board a plane that had a seat for me because a computer wouldn’t print my youngest child's boarding pass. In pursuing security and efficiency, have we lost common sense?  Technology has changed the world so quickly that I am old enough to remember a time when manual workarounds were commonplace and young enough to expect a lot more change will come in my lifetime. I spent much of yesterday trying every possible means of recovering ten years of e

Making a List and Checking it Twice (Choose Joy)

  Some of the best advice I heard about moving is to focus on what is good about where you are. This is solid counsel, and applicable to both temporal and geographic contentment. The pandemic provides endless opportunities for discontent, particularly comparison to how things used to be. But perspective is powerful.   I could think about snow, which reminds me that Summer is by far my least favorite season (especially in pregnancy), we don’t have a yard/lawn/parks, and the kids have been stuck inside for months (and now can’t go three minutes without fighting). We can’t bake Christmas cookies because we made the difficult but correct decision not to have an oven in our 90 degree kitchen. Our kids miss soccer, gym class, running, and having friends. And if my thoughts go in that direction, my jaw tenses up and frustration mounts.  Or I could think about how we have everything we need and so many things we want. A huge fan blowing. Christmas music streaming on internet better than we oft

Giving through Christian Health Service Corps

We are now Christian Health Service Corps missionaries. We’ve had people ask about the best ways to support us, which we will list below. Thank you for considering joining us on this mission!  If you have any questions we would love to hear from you. By Check Make payable to:              Christian Health Service Corps or CHSC Memo line:                             Project Number #176/Helm Mail to:                       Christian Health Service Corps PO Box 132 Fruitvale, TX 75127   Via Bill Pay Set up an automatic Bill Pay instruction through your bank/financial institution with donations mailed to the address above, giving your “ Project Number 176/Helm ” as the account number.   Via CHSC’s Website – for credit card donations Donate online at: _ https://www.healthservicecorps.org/author/helm/ (Please note when donating online that the Recurring Frequency default is monthly .   Use the drop down box to choose your preference.    Also, when donating online,