Don't run away from the fight!
I’ve been seeing a lot of Christians and Conservatives stating that they are going to quit using Facebook and Twitter, moving their accounts over to Parler, Gab or one of the other new social media companies that have popped up. While I completely understand the sentiment, I’m concerned with the repercussions of implementing this strategy.
Yes, the Big Tech companies are colluding to control speech and interfere in elections. Yes, the Social Media companies are hiding behind Section 230, which allows them to act both as a platform and a publisher, receiving protections from both categories. Yes, Christians and Conservatives have been censored, shadow banned, fact checked and even kicked off of the platforms. All of these complaints are 100% completely true and valid.
My concern with just up and leaving Facebook and Twitter, specifically, is that we would be preemptively leaving the overall debate over politics, faith and culture. If we all just jump onto Parler, we’ll enter own little echo chamber with no opportunity to counter the mainstream narratives. At least right now we have a voice, and have been changing minds, as we’ve seen with the Walk Away Movement and Blexit.
As Christians, we understand that we are called to be light shining into darkness. In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus tells us:
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
If our calling is to go out into the world with the truth of the Gospel, how can we do that if we are only with like-minded Christians? If we want to promote our conservative political ideologies which reflect Biblical values into the atheistic progressive culture, how can we do that if we enter into an echo-chamber of conservatives? The answer: We can’t.
I would urge you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, to not self-censor yourself. Do not preemptively kick yourself off of platforms where you can speak truth to a lost and dying world. Do not enter into a self-imposed echo chamber. Rather, keep shining light into darkness… and boy, social media has some darkness!
If we want to save our country, if we want to win the lost… we cannot give up. We cannot wave the white flag. We cannot surrender. We keep proclaiming the truth until they kick us out, and even then we come back for more!
The Apostles experienced a form of cancel culture during their time of establishing the New Testament church. They were persecuted for preaching the Gospel. Beaten. Flogged. Even martyred for their faith. They were run out of cities and towns for disobeying the commands of the political and religious leaders who were trying to censor them and their message.
Did the Apostles resort to only gathering together with like-minded people? No! They continued to go back to the streets, blatantly disobeying orders to remain silent. They went into the synagogues preaching the Gospel. The Apostle Paul was going into temples built to false gods to preach the truth. There was no stopping them until there was literally no other option.
We must have the same attitude. We keep pressing forward, be a light shining in darkness. That means, in my opinion, we continue to engage in social media, even though we are censored, shadow banned and face getting the boot.
We are on a mission, and we cannot allow the enemy to cause us to take ourselves out of the game. Use Parler and Gab as backups in case you get kicked off of Twitter or Facebook. But keep primarily focused on getting our message out there behind enemy lines. If we want to win the lost for the Gospel or change minds politically, the only way to do that is engage with opposing views, providing superior arguments. You can’t do that if you are only preaching to the choir.
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