Not too long ago I made a post on social media regarding how some of the recent Halloween decor at a popular craft store looked heavily demonic, way beyond what most would consider "normal" spooky Halloween decorations. Little did I know that a simple post directed at Christians would cause a literal legion of witches, atheists, and transgenders to swarm my page with laugh reactions, disrespectful and crude comments towards me as a person, and all kinds of mockery of Jesus and the Christian faith. The post went somewhat viral and people were coming from everywhere to not only attack me on social media, but mock anyone who posted a comment in agreement with me on their own social media pages.
It turns out, some people were sharing my post and mocking me in witchcraft and atheist groups as they gathered more people to jump on my page with hatred. My inbox was filled with gruesome images, all kinds of slander, threats of curses coming against me, and some of the most hateful words I've ever seen. It honestly was mind-boggling to see how disrespectful some people can be with someone they disagree with. No matter how loving and respectfully I responded to the hate, it was only greeted with more hate and mockery.
In all honesty, it gave me a glimpse into the lost and dying world that I normally don't access on social media. With much of my content and relationships being centered around Christians, my communication with non-believers on social media had been pretty minimal up until that point. That's when I started checking profiles. Not only were these witches, atheists, and members of the LGBT community, many of them posted regularly about being toxic, hating people, dealing with anxiety, fighting depression, and having suicidal tendencies. The people who claimed to be the most "woke" and free seemed to be anything BUT free.
I found myself needing to delete comments every 15 minutes for several hours. Some messages I responded to, others I simply ignored. And then there were two people who stood out in the midst of all the chaos in my inbox...a transgender atheist witch, and an encouraging atheist.
Originally the message in my inbox sounded very combative and accusatory. But as we messaged back and forth it was as if all the animosity towards me melted away and we were just two humans communicating. Before I knew it we were comparing stories of our experiences being bullied and feeling like outcasts. This person actually went as far as to apologize to me for how they initially messaged me and told me I did not deserve all the hate coming my way for simply expressing my belief directed at a community of like-minded believers. We ended the conversation on a good note and I believe a seed was planted in the heart of someone who will one day discover the love of Christ on a deep and personal level.
"A soft and gentle and thoughtful answer turns away wrath, but harsh and painful and careless words stir up anger." Proverbs 15:1 AMP
It occurs to me that one of the biggest downfalls of Christianity is that most people who identify as Christians struggle massively with how they communicate to people outside of their faith. This poor example leads people to believe that all Christians are hateful obnoxious hypocrites that need to be wiped out from the face of the earth. Looking back at the disrespect I was receiving, I can see similarities in how sometimes believers do the exact same thing to people, even other brothers and sisters in Christ.
"I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.” 1 John 13:34-35 AMP
Looking back on this scripture where Jesus tells his disciples that they will be recognized by how they love, it makes sense as to why people dislike Christians so much. In all honesty, we aren't really known for our love. Maybe if the church as a whole could learn how to correct people in love without being disrespectful and combative things would be different regarding how the world views us. Just look at the comment section of almost any Christian post, even meme pages. There you will find all kinds of disrespect, discord, and disunity from one believer to another. It's no wonder the majority of the people in this nation struggle with peaceful communication, if the Christians can't even set the example, what hope does there seem to be for everyone else?
And through all the chaos, threats of curses, and mockery came another unexpected message, this time from an atheist. When I tell you this atheist acted like more of a Christian than most Christians, I mean it. He was respectful, loving, apologetic for how much negative attention my post was getting, and he was the one who revealed to me that it was being shared in witchcraft and atheist groups to gain more attacks. We shared our personal beliefs and experiences, listened to each other, and ultimately after scrolling through my content (which is all faith-based), decided he wanted to see more of it on his news-feed befriended me on social media. What was it that led him to message me? The way I communicated in love and responded kindly to the hate I was receiving. He recognized me as a disciple of Jesus, because he saw love.
After all the drama that ensued from a viral post, my heart was burdened. I was not hurt personally. I was not worried about witchcraft coming my way because I had already prayed it off and felt peace. But my heart was burdened because I was reminded of Jesus on the cross being absolutely mutilated and humiliated as people mocked him and spat on him. I was reminded of how some of his last words asked God the Father to forgive those people because they didn't know what they were doing. I knelt in my living-room, worshiped, and wept over the souls of the people who had mocked me and Christ so relentlessly. I asked for forgiveness over those who had not yet encountered true love. I prayed that not only would God encounter these witches and atheists on my page, but that he would send me MORE.
Among the curses and chaos, there was Christ, ready to love them. Lord, may we all learn to be gentle with our words, be spirit-led with how we communicate, and may believers learn how to truly love. Not just surface love, a Father's kind of love. Use your people Lord to to love the literal HELL right OUT of them. Only then can we all truly be free to become all that we were created to be.
