After dinner on many weeknights, my husband and I have a Jeopardy! habit. We sit and watch and compete with one another, and we’re pretty serious about it. Lately, though, it’s become a tiresome endeavor. Between rounds of trivia, we are inundated with political commercials. They are poorly written and poorly produced, and they are blatantly dishonest. There is unbridled derision and vitriol to spare. It is a sad but crystal-clear comment on our culture at large, and I’m more than ready for election season to be finished. I can’t help but think of Paul’s admonition to the people of Ephesus 2,000 years ago. It is as applicable today as it was then.
“Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph 4:29-32).
Political ads are, of course, a bit of an extreme example, but social media is nearly as bad. Without the constraints of budget and accessibility that politicians have, everyday people can engage in their version of all of the above. Politicians and celebrities might set the standard, but the common man and woman have no trouble meeting the mark.
We live in a cancel culture, a culture that thrives on shaming and shouting. We are quick to blame and slow to endeavor to understand. We argue just for the fun of it, but we are slow to attempt repair and reconciliation. We mock and scorn and criticize, but rarely encourage or offer compassion. And even if we are not personally engaging in such discourse, many of us are consumers of it. We read it or watch it. We click the link and pay the fee, even if unconsciously doing so.
Can you imagine if we all taped the verses above to our computer screens, if we prayed them as a prayer before we engaged? What if we made them the standard and simply removed ourselves from conversations that failed to measure up? Would the standard be so low if we refused to entertain it, and even to engage it?
It’s easy to shake our heads in disgust. Can we be motivated toward action? Can we make Christ the standard bearer? Jesus, who loved the unlovable and broke bread with the obviously unworthy, who spoke peace into places of scorn — can he be the model of discourse?
It’s too easy to shrug and dismiss this sad state of affairs because it feels too big to change. But we’re called to do big things for Christ. We are called to live radically differently.
Start today. At home. With your children and your spouse. It’s a beginning. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying.
Then take it into the world. See what happens.
Foss, whose website is takeupandread.org, writes from Connecticut.
