May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven…

Thus we pray for God’s will to be done.  Not ours.  Producing an ethos that resembles what you would see if you were to visit the dwelling of God. It’s interesting to think about what that would look like and how we would be changed by it.

There’s a part of me that thinks we may have given up on that grand vision.  Plans for the present and future are filtered through the gauze of what works for me in the present or how I may be feeling in the present.

Nowhere has that been more evident than in the recent political debate. Angry words, incendiary rhetoric, and take-no-prisoners logic dominate our discussions.  If God is not going to be part of all this, then I suppose it is logical to call people names and scream angry ideas at our universal water cooler – Facebook.

But if you examine what the Bible says about words and speech, you get a much different look at how we talk to one another. A look that is incompatible with much of what you hear today in our public forums.  In the following paragraph is a mashup of passages (with notation at the end) which gives keen insight into what the will of God is with respect to our communication.

When you give into your human inclinations the results are quarreling, jealousy, and outbursts of anger.  Instead, quit telling lies.  Don’t let anger control you.  Get rid of harsh words and slander.  Let everything you say be good or helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.  (Galatians 5:19,20; Ephesians 4:25,26,31; Ephesians 4:29.)

Talk like what the Bible recommends requires refocusing our attention and listening rather than firing verbal guns at one another.

Dwelling on and in our technology only makes us tense and argumentative. Each pro-candidate or anti-issue post seems to be aiming directly at the reader and inspires reciprocal comments.  The conversation only becomes angrier and more heated.

Facebook is inimical to human warmth and care.  It’s instancy magnifies the microscopic.  I prefer what the Bible says about human interaction than what Facebook teaches.  I conclude this blog with a Facebook mashup.

Give into your passions.  Yell, scream, and insult to your heart’s content.  Tomorrow you won’t see the person you just cussed out, so go ahead, let loose.  Don’t feel responsible for how you may have hooked, insulted, or discouraged the person who read your words.  It’s only Facebook.  FB 1:1-2.