The Christian and the Internet

 Want to share your faith online but don’t want to end up as one of the top 100 on fstdt.com? Kristin Thiele has some tips for sharing beliefs online.

It used to be that if you wanted to get to know people in other countries you’d get yourself a penpal. The internet changed all that. Now information can be shared instantly. The different media you can use to reach out and touch the world seems limited only by imagination.

Myspace, Facebook and other similar sites help us keep in contact with current and old friends, as well as introduce you to new friends. Blogs let you share information with friends, family and the world from one place, while almost anyone can comment on what they read there. Forums spring up all over the internet to get discussions going on a variety of topics.
As a Christian, it can be difficult to have our say in the internet world, without making ourselves sound like crazy people. While talking to people face to face, you can take an educated guess about how much knowledge they already have about Christianity.
You can also begin to feel how they respond to Christianity.
These bits of knowledge can help you establish what information to share and what is inappropriate. Online, that sort of knowledge is not available. You can inadvertently start a fight about a biblical issue when trying to help others find Christ.

But fights don’t lead people to developing warm fuzzy feelings toward Christianity, Christians or Jesus. If we are going be “like sheep among wolves” and “shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16), we need to be as genuinely inoffensive as possible.
Here are a few tips when you are blogging, posting on a forum or just chatting online.

1. Safety first. Be careful how much information you share with the Internet world. Just because you think only your friends read a blog or a MySpace bulletin, beware that things can be shared throughout the web very easily. Don’t ever let yourself get so comfortable in a website that you feel you can trust it to keep safe any information. This may include your phone number, address or banking details and, in some cases, even your email address. You will need to judge each website on a case-by-case basis when it comes to your email. You may choose to create a “junk” email account that you can use when you need to enter an email address. This will help limit the amount of junk mail you get sent to your personal email account.

2. Decide how much of yourself you are willing to share with strangers. You wouldn’t walk up to a stranger on the street and share your pain about your recent break-up but online, it doesn’t seem as ridiculous. There is a certain anonymity that allows people to feel comfortable sharing about their lives.
Before you start a blog or take part in any sort of forum, decide how much you’re willing to tell people about you. This isn’t about bank accounts and where you live. This is about who you are. Telling people about what you feel, what you like/don’t like and how often you indulge in your favourite activities gives people access to you.

Some people can be hurtful with this information. If you are a person who enjoys their privacy in the "real world,” don’t share it in the virtual world.

3. Be respectful. When taking part in an online discussion, you will not be the only voice there. You may have people who come from abused pasts, from different religions, from different ethnic backgrounds and different cultures. This means their experience may not be your experience. You may not know all the reasons they say what they say but be kind in your response. Never try to make someone feel stupid for thinking something. Look for ways to make connections with them instead of distancing yourself.

They have a right to what they think. After all, God created us to think. We may not all come up with the same answers but by analysing topics and making decisions, we are doing what we were created to do!

4. Don’t be afraid to share what you believe. It is a scary moment when you make a statement of belief in anything. Especially when you do it in an environment where people have the ability to tell you they don’t agree with what you believe. They may try to belittle what you believe. They may affirm what you believe. Either way, you are, on some level, putting yourself out there for people to do with as they see fit. This may not always be comfortable but you are allowing people to influence, harden and shape what you believe is true. Their comments may help you see flaws in your logic; they may help you see the strengths in your thinking. Their comments may make no difference to you at all. By engaging in dialogue with other people, you are giving yourself more time to think through issues. You’ll have a stronger belief system because of it.

God knew that humans were not robots when He created us. He didn’t want us to be. He wanted us to be a race of people who thought things through. He wanted us to learn to love Him, not through force but through His gentle beckoning. Christians take their name from “those who follow Christ.” If we really are His followers, we will act like Him; remembering that He taught us to “ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind;”and love your neighbor as yourself”(Luke 10:27).
Even your internet neighbour.