I just wrote a 4-page blog post regarding a recent incident--one that many of my Facebook friends have weighed in with their thoughts and judgments. I planned on posting it on my personal blog, and then sharing on social media for anyone who found my unwanted opinion interesting.
And then I erased it.
I have a variety of ideals, viewpoints, and personal experiences with race, religion, politics, and gender that make me a vessel for many unpopular and competing opinions.
But my pastor has reminded me that in order to be a witness to others, in order to shine a light in the darkness of this world, I have to maintain the strength of my testimony by not choosing sides--especially in the never-ending, receipt-generating world of social media. To be clear, reading the political opinion of a friend on social media has NEVER changed my own opinion of the topic. It has only changed my opinion of the friend who posted it.
That is why I erased it.
That is why I WON’T be gracing you with my opinion, or throwing my support one way or the other in terms of recent current events. I hope I can serve as an example to those of you who feel Christians are judgmental or hypocritical. Because I do have a personal opinion. But I don’t want to use my opinion as a tool of divisiveness and sully my testimony as someone who sincerely wants others to draw nearer to the light of Christ. That is my true purpose. And I want you to know that you can count on me to be open-minded, supportive, and slow to condemn or pass judgement on you or any other person. I want you to know that even when our opinions differ, I will respect you, strive to see the validity in your words, and value your experience as true. I sincerely hope I have a friend out there who would do the same for me.
And when your timeline is full to busting of others’ complaining, pointing fingers, condemning, and belittling the experience and truth of others, you can count on me to post funny, time-wasting memes about parenthood, or pictures of my kids doing cute things. Because I am on Facebook to connect with friends, stay in contact with old acquaintances, and find a reprieve from the hecticness of a day already full of strife, stress, and worry.
And while it felt good to type out the words I felt with rage-filled fingers behind the security of my keyboard, it felt even better to erase them.
And now, please enjoy this funny, worthless meme.
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