Rapid Response
Many of us have grown up with a world of opinions at our fingertips. I’m revealing my age by admitting that I’m old enough to have lived through a childhood where you at least had to sit at a computer to access the internet (and I could only use mine when nobody was on the phone!), but many of the younger generations grew up with smartphones in their hands. However, I am young enough to have participated in social media while in High School.
It’s not just that there’s a million opinions being brought straight to your door. You also can throw opinions out into this pile of voices instantly and rapidly about every topic imaginable. This quickly became a recipe for the online space to become a brawl.
Breaking news stories become old news before the ink on the page (if they even still print the story) dries. Everyone’s had their say on what the story means to them and often based upon very little information, and even that’s assuming that the news outlet was truthful to begin with.
Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it
Jonathan Swift, The Examiner 1710
Then, before anyone really knows anything about what they were discussing, the swarm moves on to the next topic at which to throw words.
Limping After
Sometimes, after a story has made a full round, more information becomes available that disproves the consensus formed within moments of the original break in the story. Unfortunately, those bearing the new information (if they aren’t entirely ignored) are seen as challenging the consensus already formed and, therefore, become a source of controversy rather than correction.
Rather than step back and reprocess the facts of the case in light of new information, many times it just sparks more arguments and frustrations. Not only did the truth come limping after, but the lie beat the tar out of it when it finally got there.
Because of this, it can be frustrating for those who care about the truth more than the “current thing” to engage with others online. If our society was less online, it might even be said that it shouldn’t matter and you should just discuss things in person. However, many people live their social lives primarily online at this point. Conceding the digital public square is to concede the culture.
When To Respond
If you want to correct misconceptions but find that doing so often gets you attacked, you’re not alone. However, God has given us considerations that we must take seriously.
Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
Matthew 7:6
While wisdom is precious and it is a good thing to offer it to those who are seeking it, there are also those who will simply trample it and attack you for bringing it to them as well. Because of this, we need to understand that there is a time for talking and a time when speaking just puts you in the mud with the pigs.
Answer not a fool according to his folly,
Proverbs 26:4-5
lest you be like him yourself.
Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be wise in his own eyes.
These verses are back to back in the book of Proverbs. Should we answer a fool or shouldn’t we? It depends upon if you will simply appear to be like him yourself or if you can expose his folly. This takes wisdom!
A Fool’s Answer
The verse immediately before this reveals how a fool ought to be corrected when it is the right time.
A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
Proverbs 26:3
and a rod for the back of fools.
This ties into another post I had made in the past. While “niceness” rules our age, God reveals the difficult truth that some people need punishment.
When it is time to correct a fool, you should not attempt to reason with them. Your goal should be to expose their foolishness. Questions that lead them to reveal their own absurdity are more effective than citing facts or explaining things more clearly.
Time For Reason
It should be noticed, these verses are only relevant when dealing with a foolish person. There are wise people who may still be wrong and appreciate being introduced to more information about a topic which they are discussing. Especially if it changes how they view that subject. Discernment is key.
Also, there are going to be a lot of times when you see the folly but there’s simply nothing you can do about it. You may realize they are responding emotionally to a story that certainly has more depth than they are dealing in, but also have no way to get deeper into the story than that because you just have no way of investigating further.
It may also be the case that the truth is staring them in the face already and they are simply ignoring it. In the case of willful ignorance, such people are likely to continue being “wise in their own eyes” regardless of the truth. In such a situation, their folly is likely already visible to everyone else or at least easily revealed without direct engagement.
Choosing when to engage may leave you out of a lot of the conversation happening all the time on social media, but if we’re going to practice wisdom we need to take the guidance God gives here seriously.
