I have literally begun to moan out loud when I read her Facebook posts. You know the posts. You know what I am talking about – the posts are self-righteous, filled with prejudice, and vilifying one group or another. What really frustrates me about these posts is that they would claim to be “Christian.”

I am sure they are posted with good intentions. I am sure those memes are shared with hopes of changing minds or encouraging others. I am sure the author, the poster, has no clue how damaging her posts actually are.

With all the political buzz of this election year on top of all the drama of the Olympics, there are no shortage of controversial topics that have blown up all the social media feeds. Those same feeds are also full of conspiracy theories and misinformed, unverified articles from a large variety of sources. Then, because opinions are like noses – everyone has one – there are countless posts of “this is what I think.”

What breaks my heart is how easy it is to hide behind a screen and hit post, send or share without thinking of how that message might be perceived or received. We want to take a stand, to make a mark, and to voice our understanding of truth, but in our attempts to shout above the noise what is the real message we are making?

Black/White, Right/Wrong, Red/Blue – in our discussions, there is no room for grays, maybes or purples. We claim where we stand and condemn the other side. “They” are assigned adjectives like stupid and evil, yet often “they” remain faceless and nameless. Once we do have a face and name to assign to the other side, somehow we forget that they too were made in God’s image, that they have value and worth. As a result, respect and compassion are absent from our responses.

In the movies, the bad guys, not the super villain – but his cronies, are often depicted this way. They wear helmets or masks, think stormtroopers in Star Wars. As we watch their destruction we are not concerned with the individual lives that are lost as the hero strikes them down in the pursuit of the greater good. Filmmakers may save money because they can hire the same dozen or so actors to die over and over again, but as an audience we are desensitized to the violence on the screen because in our eyes these “bad guys” without individuality lose their humanity.

Yet, how often, do we treat the faceless, nameless readers of our social media posts this way? Have we so isolated ourselves with likeminded people in attempts to validate our own perspective that we have dehumanized anyone with any opposing view? This is the space where words like “never,” and “always,” are dangerous.

As Christ followers, where is our love? Where is the grace that is given to us? Where have our servant hearts gone? In our rush to defend our faith, how have our responses to the “other” view, left out what Jesus would do?

We rush to judgment without giving ourselves time to really think about our response, much less consider the point of view of the individual(s) we are engaging with. There is a reason for their feelings, just as there is a reason for ours. How did they come to their conclusions? How did we come to ours? Is there room in middle for a little compassion and a tad of understanding? Perhaps there we could find space for agreement and compromise?

God knows us each by name and He knows our hearts. It is by His grace and providence that we understand what we understand. By His grace, we process our life experiences and develop our world views. There may be a valid, personal reason this person has taken this stand on abortion. There may be a legitimate, intimate reason that person feels the way they do about trans rights. Have we invested the time and emotions necessary to listen and understand where our would-be opponents are coming from?

Where is the empathy? Where is the space where we listen to understand? It should be found in our prayer closets and in our conversations with the real people around us. It should be found in our scrolling and evidenced in our posting. In real life, we develop the relationships and earn the right to speak with love into hard things for the purpose of healing and growth. Here is where our God is glorified.

Our world would have us to believe that the weight of our future depends on the outcome of elections and the resolution of social injustices. As Christ followers, our hope should be in our just, compassionate God who sovereignly sets rulers in place. We should refuse to stress about the big picture outcomes trusting that our God is making all things new. Our time is better spent committed to press into real relationships with real people. It is through these compassionate connections, the Spirit moves and does things only He can do. Here is where HE will bring about the change we pray for.

The Scriptures tells us that we will be known for the way we love each other. Dear Christian brothers and sisters, let’s let our love be our motivation behind our stances on social media and IRL (in real life).