teknomom

Just an “on the other hand”…

There is also a problem on the “receiving end”: people who are so hypersensitive that even the slightest disagreement is seen as a hostile attack. I’ve been in message boards that were so restrictive that people lost their individuality and personal expression. That kind of environment can be as stifling to the Spirit as the “Hatfields and McCoys” kind.

Paul was known for his wit and sarcasm (which rarely comes out in translations), and could be very crude and angry at times. He was a passionate man. And I consider Jesus’ repulsion of “blandness” to the assembly at Laodicea as applicable in this regard. So I think there is to be room for personality and colorful expression, and even forceful defense. The problem is that one person’s colorful personal expressions may be another person’s anger and meanness.

The Word is “alive and active”, not a laboratory specimen, and we should be alive and active too. Ideally, we can cut each other slack and not take offense so easily, while being careful as we can about how we come across. I use the phrase, “If it’s about someone else, err on the side of tolerance; if it’s about me, err on the side of abstinance”.