Empty Words
- Larry Kutzler
- Apr 2
- 4 min read
Ephesians 5:6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Empty words are everywhere, especially on Social Media. The disheartening part of this is when Christians are trying to argue their political point of view; they are simply missing the mark. I suppose we can all have varying degrees of disagreement about anything, but the Scripture reminds us that our primary responsibility is to present who God is and what he has done for all of us through Jesus Christ. I learned long ago that Social Media can be a great place to present the Gospel, but it is also a horrible place to state an opinion.
Ephesians 4:31-32 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
I have found that conservative and liberal Christians have a hard time with this Verse. They feel so enraged about the others’ point of view that there is little tenderness anymore. There is certainly no forgiveness, but rather an opportunity for showing an unforgiving spirit, self-righteous attitudes, and plain old anger, via the vehicle of Social Media. There was a day when people could be on opposite sides of an issue and still be civil about the debate, however today you are simply classified as an enemy. It seems that it doesn’t take much to make us angry and stay angry over the issues of our day. We have people calling each other heretics over disagreements in Scripture. We have people posting on Social Media a never-ending diatribe of insults against our President and his policies. There are so many Christians who turn to Social Media to express their distaste and hatred of Donald Trump. Now I understand that he has some quirky mannerisms, but it was no different when President Obama was in office. During those years, I saw disagreement with Obama but never did I see the hatefulness that is now displayed against Trump. We are not getting better as a society and a culture; our disagreements are so severe that some have determined that we are heading toward another civil war.
Robin Wright writing in the New Yorker said, “I began a conversation with Keith Mines about America’s turmoil. Mines has spent his career—in the U.S. Army Special Forces, the United Nations, and now the State Department—navigating civil wars in other countries, including Afghanistan, Colombia, El Salvador, Iraq, Somalia, and Sudan. He returned to Washington after sixteen years to find conditions that he had seen nurture conflict abroad now visible at home. It haunts him. In March, Mines was one of several national-security experts whom Foreign Policy asked to evaluate the risks of a second civil war—with percentages. Mines concluded that the United States faces a sixty-per-cent chance of civil war over the next ten to fifteen years. Other experts’ predictions ranged from five per cent to ninety-five per cent.”
It seems we have never been as divided as we are now in America. The New Yorker article lists the five conditions for civil war:
Based on his experience in civil wars on three continents, Mines cited five conditions that support his prediction: entrenched national polarization, with no obvious meeting place for resolution; increasingly divisive press coverage and information flows; weakened institutions, notably Congress and the judiciary; a sellout or abandonment of responsibility by political leadership; and the legitimization of violence as the “in” way to either conduct discourse or solve disputes.
Well, we have it all in America. Therefore, in my opinion, it is counter-productive for Christians to spend their time ranting about their political views on Social Media, but rather why not start the discussion about what our course of action as Christians is supposed to be?
In the past, I have written some of these same thoughts as a response to negative, non-productive postings by Christians, and the response was more of the same argument that they are led to tell the truth. I think there is a place for public debate on the issues of our day, but remember our argument needs to be based upon a Scriptural premise and foundation.
Here is a lesson we could all use … a refresher course on and work much harder on trying to fulfill it:
Ephesians 5:10 Discerning what is pleasing to the Lord.
Challenging the Culture with Truth … Larry Kutzler