Twitter Fights

In which I express woe on the state of Reformed Christian discourse.

I am troubled.

I have said it before and I’ll say it again about twitter/X: “You’ll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.”

Social media is designed to destroy. If the past is any indication of the future, it’s working. How many of us have had our lives made better by the use of socials? Why do I say that Social Media is designed to destroy? Because those who make social media companies are incentivized to keep us on there. They make money through ads and subscriptions and they are in need of hooks to keep us there. I know it’s working on me. I can’t seem to pry myself away. I so often say to myself, “Enough! Why am I even on here? It’s not making my life better.” Then, another car wreck that I can’t stop watching. Social media companies use different methods to suck us in and keep us coming back for more. There is a craving that they cultivate in us to keep us wanting more. Different companies use different methods.

I’ve noticed that “positive platforms” like Instagram and Tik Tok use short form videos with hilarious hooks to keep us coming back. Facebook and X use similar tactics at times. But the hook I’ve noticed the most on X is controversy and rage. When people are fighting it’s so enticing to watch and listen in on the argument. So many on X are controversy farming. My “for you” page is constantly filled with people that I like being attacked or attacking others. I’m grateful that I have such a miniscule following on X that I don’t get pulled in to these fights. I don’t think I’d have enough self-control to leave it alone.

I am going to “out” myself here. I love a lot of different authors, teachers, and pastors. I love reading and listening to Douglas Wilson, Joe Rigney, Brian Sauvé, Nathan Zekveld, Joshua Haymes, Uri Brito, Andrew Isker, and many others. Not that I think any of them will read this, but if you’re upset to be included alongside others in this list I’m sorry, but I reserve the right to enjoy anyone I choose.

It grieves me that so many of the people that I love to listen to and have helped me immensely in their own ways are trying to force me to chose between them. I see so much “identity politics” going on across X. People that I greatly respect calling other men that I respect “Nazis,” completely forgetting that if they look just to the left they will find long lines of people waiting to call all of us Nazis for the crime of thinking that we shouldn’t cut the genitals of children.

I’m seeing one side yelling, “Prove you’re not a Nazi!” and the other side yelling, “Go home boomer!” We seem to be incapable of the tiniest bit of humility and are emotionally responding to each other. In so doing we are playing right into the devil’s hands. A divided church is ideal in his schemes.

If you’re unfamiliar with the kerfuffle that is going on around the New Christendom Press conference then you are better off than most. It’s enough to say that there was a vendor at this conference who was distributing questionable material. The enemy has successfully taken any blessing that could be seen from the outside and make the conversation entirely about speculation as to whether the organizers are actually Nazis. The organizers made a public statement about the vendor, and they said clearly that they didn’t vet this vendor like they were supposed to, they owned it, and promised to do better next time.

Our Christian brothers owned their mistake, promised to do better next time, and the response I saw from other Christian brothers, even pastors who I respect, was to accuse them of lying. You don’t have to like the fellows from Ogden. Certainly they don’t help themselves all the time and they say things that are specifically to rage farm on Social Media, but they are Christian brothers and we should not accuse them of lying.

When a Christian brother does something stupid and then admits they made a mistake and promises to do better next time. The response of their brothers should be to say, “Glad to hear it.”

It’s also important to remember that we are under no obligation to anyone on social media. We don’t owe anyone any explanations. Pastors are responsible to God, to their Session of Elders, their members, and their presbyteries. If I make a mistake, I am not under obligation to go on social media and apologize to the satisfaction of all who may have beef. Those who run a conference have a responsibility to those who attended the conference, and not to any that happen to have an issue on X. We seem to have forgotten that the internet is not actually a community. It’s not a church. We have no responsibility to X. It shocks me that so many public figures who have received every accusation under the sun have forgotten that just because they have a problem with a brother in another state/country (a problem which is based on second or third hand information) doesn’t mean that these brothers owe them an explanation to their satisfaction.

I don’t want to fight with my brothers. If you read this and you want to fight about all this, I can tell you right now, I refuse. We have to stop all the fighting. We have to stop having emotional reactions to everyone who makes mistakes. Even if these brothers don’t admit to any wrongdoing, emotional responses will fix nothing. We can ask for explanations, but we should remember that no one owes us an explanation.

I will not be throwing anyone out. I have too often in my past been quick to label others as heretics, false teachers, reprobates, and any other name. We bring reproach on the name of Christ by being accusatory. Being an accuser is not our job. I will simply watch.

Maybe I’m being too simplistic, but I can’t help but be grieved by the accusatory nature of our discussions with anyone to the right of us. It’s almost like we have inverted, “No enemies to the right” and made it, “Only enemies to the right.”

I suppose all this is just to say please stop rage baiting each other and calling each other names. Let’s try to be measured in our discussions.

I don’t know how to conclude this little article. I know that many will read this and will be upset with me. I’m not trying to take sides in any conflicts that may be raging at any given moment. I’m calling for measured and reasoned discourse. Something that seems to be sorely lacking in our day.

May God bless you if you made it to the end of this article. I barely did myself. Thanks for reading.