Emory Moynagh
[Originally published in 2020 as Turn the World Upside Down]
These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; (Acts 17:6)
I fear for Christianity in this country. Not the largely pseudo-Christianity currently being eaten alive by social justice though we’ve actively fought that. No this is within actual orthodox Christianity, and is done, relatively subconsciously, by people who are doctrinally orthodox. What I see happening, and have been guilty of myself, is Christian virtue signaling.
What do I mean when I say “Christian virtue signaling”?
I mean the act of making a public statement about an issue, then not backing up the statement with actions. This is amplified, perhaps even caused, by social media. It is easy to put a statement out on an issue, which many of your followers will agree with and will get you lots of applause. And, since most of them are nowhere near you, they can never verify if you practice what you preach.
I will illustrate this by pointing to the recent “Wayfair trafficking” trend on Twitter. People noticed some oddly named and priced items on the Wayfair website. Turns out the names matched some missing children. From there, the conspiracy theories took off, resulting in thousands of tweets, many of them tagging Wayfair. Wayfair immediately deleted the items and put out a statement saying nothing was going on.
Now obviously I have no idea who is right but that’s not the point. Rather than the people who first noticed the strange stuff going on taking the evidence to their local law enforcement and the FBI, they got on Twitter and announced it to the world. If a company were involved in trafficking kids, getting on Twitter was highly counterproductive. It would alert them to the exposure, giving them time to cover their tracks and eliminate any unpleasant evidence.
We can learn a lot by taking this analogy and applying it more broadly to Christian statements on social media.
How often do we see statements like “Abortion is murder” or “Homosexuality is wrong” or “Social justice is not justice” on the social media of Christians. Now those are good statements and I agree with all of them. However, do such statements on social media accomplish anything? To a certain extent the answer is yes. It is important to articulate a strong defense of biblical truths, even on social media…
But it should not stop there.
Now we come back to the verse we posted at the head of the article. When the Jews of Thessalonica heard the message of the Gospel, most of them rejected it and stirred up the city against the Christians. Notice their choice of words: they “have turned the world upside down.” These unbelievers are attributing to Christians the complete changing of how the culture worked.
Why?
Because Christianity is radically different from the partying, fornicating, self-indulging lifestyle the Gentile nations were used to. Christians practiced self-denial and abstinence, active blessing to the poor and helpless, as well as preaching and teaching that there was only one God, not many.
This was an upside down world to the Gentiles.
Our world is not so different from that of the Romans. Licentious living is normal and the world does not know what to do with those who do not indulge. Christians stand out. But too often, the church is not turning the world upside down now.
Why?
I would argue because most Christians really are not that different than the culture. They express the right beliefs on social media and attend doctrinally sound churches, but they do not put feet to their faith. The book of James makes it clear that faith that does not produce works is dead. Yet, for many Christians, their actions stop with a tweet.
Social media posts are good. But social media posts do little to move the needle in real life.
We need to be active outside the social media world in proclaiming the gospel and standing for what we believe. This will look different to different people.
For some, it may mean sidewalk counseling outside the local infanticide mill. Alongside them, will be those giving money to help fund an ultrasound clinic for the women who are considering abortion. It may mean volunteering time to help reach people at a rescue mission or nursing home.
No matter the size of your church community, your church can use your help with something. So, fellow Christian, it’s time to engage. Put the social media down for a while and start putting feet to your faith. Virtue signaling will not win a culture that hates virtue. But the gospel does have that power.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)
