Facebook has become an almost useless thing. I still use it for various tasks but scrolling down my news feed is now a mostly pointless endeavor. It’s filled with what used to be called “Tale-hearing”. It pains me to say this but I think Christians are about the worst fact-checkers in the world. If something confirms our beliefs or political positions we’ll hit share before even considering what we are doing.
But I’m convinced our problem isn’t just that we read things and then share them. I think the problem begins far before we hit share. We shouldn’t be reading this junk in the first place. In the same way that we ought not put up with listening to gossip we shouldn’t frequent sites filled with gossip. We should have a natural aversion to clickbait! When a tasty morsel comes along our browser there ought to be a certain posture of our heart towards it.
I think the rules of Charles Simeon apply not only to our interaction with one another but also the way we ought to treat online information. Here are Simeon’s rules of which he said, “The longer I live, the more I feel the importance of adhering to the following rules, which I have laid down for myself in relation to such matters”:
- To hear as little as possible what is to the prejudice of others.
- To believe nothing of the kind until I am absolutely forced to it.
- Never to drink into the spirit of one who circulates an ill report.
- Always to moderate, as far as I can, the unkindness which is expressed toward others.
- Always to believe if the other side were heard, a very different account would be given of the matter. (Source: here)
Can you imagine how different your Facebook news feed would look if even just the believers in Jesus followed such a rule? Can you imagine how we would be less prone to complaining and grumbling and accusing? Wouldn’t it be wonderful that when an atheist pulls out the charge of confirmation bias there is so little evidence that he has in his pocket?
The Scriptures calls us to be people of truth and not give the devil a foothold in slander and gossip and malicious talk. Taking Simeon’s posture will help us be more attached to the truth of things and not less.
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Photo source: here
