Christian, Don't Join a Facebook Posse

About two years ago, when I was working at WTOK, we missed a story that a lot people thought we should have covered. It happens. No one is perfect. Someone posted something on our Facebook page complaining, and I owned up to it. I apologized and told them we would do better in the future, and were taking some specific steps to do better. In the past, that more than likely would have been the end of it. But not in the era of social media. The post was shared hundreds of times by people who were angry we hadn’t covered the story. I was blasted from every conceivable angle. And at that moment, I discovered what it was like to have a Facebook posse come after you. Let me tell you – it makes for a rough few days. I hope my mom didn’t see some of the things I was called.

Since that time, I’ve watched again and again and people have taken part in what looks a lot like what the guys in the picture above used to do – frontier justice on a digital scale. One person is upset about something. They don’t like the way they were treated at a business. They are frustrated by a person they see in a news story. They’re angry at a politician. They hear a rumor that a mother whose child died might have been involved in the death. They see someone taking pictures at a park and assume he’s a pervert. And they want the whole world to know about it – whether it is true or not. There are real world consequences for digital justice like this. Reputations are destroyed. Real people are hurt. It’s like squeezing toothpaste out of the tube – there’s no way to get it back in once it’s out.

Christian, don’t join a Facebook posse. And certainly, don’t start a Facebook posse. No good can come from this. Today I want to give you four reasons you shouldn’t take part in digital justice like this.

1 – You usually don’t know for sure whether it is true or not. The vast majority of the time that you come upon a post that has been shared numerous times about some kind of injustice, or about some person who has wronged another, you only have one side of the story, and you have no idea whether or not that side is true. “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.” (Proverbs 18:17) In a worst case scenario, you are simply slandering someone by telling lies about them – whether you realize they are lies or not.

2 – It is usually nothing more than gossip. This is extremely important. The apostle Paul includes gossip among a long list of sins that prove the absolute depravity of man:

“They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. ³² Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

We don’t treat gossip that way – we treat it like something we know we shouldn’t do, but is simply a guilty pleasure. But notice that last part – “they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” When you participate in a Facebook posse like this, very often you are participating in gossip – spreading rumors for no other reason than the rush you get from talking about it. And by participating with others, you are giving approval to the others who take part in it also.

3 – It shows a lack of grace in your life. Many times, situations like this include people competing to think of what the worst punishment for the person involved can be. “Throw him in jail!” one says. “No, throw him under the jail!” says another. “He doesn’t deserve a trial! Forget jail! Someone needs to take care of him right now!” screams another. Christian, this is no way to live. Even if the person is guilty, it shows a lack of grace to scream for this kind of justice. “But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” (Luke 7:47) Those without grace need to check their hearts to see if they have received it.

4 – It will hurt your witness for Jesus. Think of the last time you went off on Facebook about someone. If you come face-to-face with them today, will you be able to tell them about Jesus, with a clean conscious? Even more so, would they be willing to listen to you if they knew what you said about them? Paul said, “From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.” (2^nd Corinthians 5:16) What does he mean? God wants us to first see people not simply as who they are – but as who they will be for eternity. He wants us to mainly see them as people who are going to live forever, and desperately need the grace of God. If you think of someone this way, it will be very hard to go off on them on social media.

So here is what I’m asking. Before you post, think: do I know this is true? Is this right? Is it slanderous or libelous? Will it hurt someone? Am I showing grace? Am I trying to dispense my own kind of justice? Am I only writing what I am writing for the cathartic release? (And yes, I’m asking myself these same things as I write this.) Your witness, your soul, and the souls of those who are being hurt are all at stake. I beg you – don’t join a Facebook posse.