I speak as someone who has walked in this bypath when I warn you that far too often you may find that it leads to the Castle of Giant Despair – both for you and those you are supposed to be caring for. I would also warn you that there is little or nothing in it to sustain healthy growth in grace, loving Christian communion, or conformity to the image of Christ. So stop walking in that path BEFORE it is too late!

I say all this as someone who was once bitten by the same bug.

You may think that it is very important to spend most of your waking hours online arguing with people about the particular points of theology that are most important to you. You may even believe that this is “internet apologetics,” that it’s your calling, and that it’s very important. In fact, you may even think that this arguing is a crucial part of advancing the kingdom. You may think that defending the particular strands of truth that you are most interested in, is so important that you are allowed to be rude, abusive, sarcastic, angry, belittling, and above all, hyper-defensive as you do so. You may think that performing this work is the equivalent of (or even more important than) being a missionary, a counselor, a pastor, or a street preacher and you may justify that by talking about how more people are online these days, and how what you are doing now is replacing the old “brick and mortar” ministries.

But you’re wrong.

God has not called you to stay up to the wee hours of the morning arguing with people, most of who think they are doing exactly the same thing you are, and that God wants them to be His instrument in exposing YOUR errors. God has not called you or them to do this to the neglect of your family or your job or your spiritual and physical health. He has not authorized you to be rude or to neglect the command to “love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” or suddenly changed His mind and decided it’s alright to overcome evil with evil. You may think what you’re involved in is a ministry, but it’s far more likely that is an obsession, and it may already have become an idol. You may find that the longer you continue in this path, the more bitter, unhappy, unbalanced, defensive and angry you become, and the more it consumes all of your time so that prayer and bible reading are neglected, and thoughts of family or even real responsibilities (have you forgotten that no one has requiring this service from your hand even though it takes up most of your time?) fade away to nothing. If you could assess yourself objectively you would probably find that your actual piety and devotion to God and His word are dying while your devotion to arguing is growing like cancer. You may even find that the bible has ceased to be God’s loving and saving word and has become a collection of proof-texts to be used in proving how wrong your opponents are.

I speak as someone who has walked in this bypath when I warn you that far too often you may find that it leads to the Castle of Giant Despair – both for you and those you are supposed to be caring for. I would also warn you that there is little or nothing in it to sustain healthy growth in grace, loving Christian communion, or conformity to the image of Christ. So stop walking in that path BEFORE it is too late!

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