A message to the "See why I faved you" people

On Twitter, there are some accounts which randomly fave Tweets. When you see the notification, the account name is simply "See why I faved you." There is a link in the profile to a website that is basically giving a gospel message. To the people who own these accounts, I want to say:

Please, please, please, please stop it.

Don't misunderstand that I am against evangelism. Look at my other blog posts and podcasts, and you'll see I'm all for winning the lost and speaking truth in love, even if someone is violently opposed to the truth. I'm all for being a witness, even if it's on social media. I'm not one of those "Let's pretend there's peace between God and those who oppose Him" people.

However, these things are just annoying. For one, there's nothing personal about them. It's just "Hey, look at this!" Some people criticize handing out tracts as impersonal, but at least with tracts you're engaging in a person one on one, and speaking with them. For another, I get the feeling there is no rhyme or reason with the faving, and some of these accounts may involve the use of bots or third party programs. Heck, my Twitter account has received them - I'm already a Christian, people! You don't need to win my soul, God has already done that for me. In the end, this trend is really just a Christian version of automated Twitter messages.

This isn't being a witness for God, it's just being annoying.

Granted, I understand this is the internet. You can't control what people do. I don't expect there to be a sudden drop in these things simply because I wrote this one blog post. Consider this post as nothing more than a rant and a call for reason. If you want to witness to people on social media, do it by presenting the Gospel as best is possible in whatever outlet you are using. However, do it in a way that doesn't make the other person feel like they are Bot Victim #241. Thank you.

Some Thoughts on Tweeting

One of the things I dislike is when I click on a tweet by someone I follow, and I see a slew of responses made by people who are mainly taking pot shots at the individual. Most of them seem to serve very little purpose other than to make the poster feel good, or make them feel as if they've done something useful, and many of them are either just empty insults or contentions made ad nauseum. It can be a bit aggravating and tiresome to see, not because of what they say but because of the repetitive, empty nature of it.

Then again, I see people doing this to the Twitter accounts of heretics and false teachers as well. There are times when even that can be aggravating or tiresome to see.

Now, if previous posts are any inclination, I've made responses to the Twitter accounts of heretics or false teachers myself. What I try to do (as consistently as I can), however, is to pick and choose my battles. I try to make a response when I see something that can have a valid contention made to it. If Joel Osteen's Twitter account makes a post saying God wants you to have a good day today, I choose not to write a response because, really, it's just not worth it. On the other hand, if someone makes a poor application of scripture that is provably erroneous, I might make a post asking them to clarify their position, or pointing out the error. That's the other point I want to make: I try, as best I can, to make a post that would hopefully spur conversation, not just make a pot shot at the person in a tweet that amounts to "You suck." Most of the time I don't get responses from them, but sometimes I will get followers responding and attempting to give answers, which I have found to be useful in the long run.

It's also beneficial because, if you make valid contentions or ask a question that raises a valid point, and the other person ignores you, then you have good reason to wonder why they're doing so. On the other hand, if you keep responding a gazillion times with what amounts to "NO U WRONG BRO!", don't be surprised if you never get a response. Don't be surprised if you get blocked, either. Heck, I'd probably block you if you did that to me.

Yes I know, I can't control what other people do on the internet - but folks, let's try to pick our battles. Spamming four thousand messages on Joyce Meyer's account isn't going to make her repent of her ways (I highly doubt many of these accounts are even directly handled by said individual, any way). I'm not saying you shouldn't stand up for the truth, nor am I saying you shouldn't call out false teachers for their lies and blasphemy...but as I said before, let's pick and choose our battles. Let's not turn ourselves into stumbling blocks for others. And let's not be annoying - the internet has enough of those kinds of people already.