Friday, July 2, 2010

Emails and the Internet

Emails and the Internet He sent letters to all the Jews, to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, namely, words of peace and truth..

Esther 9:30 (NAS)

The Bible consistently reminds us about the power of words. ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue’ (Proverbs 18:21). In the Book of Esther, we see a public relations campaign in action. Esther and Mordecai, her uncle, sent a Biblical broadcast to thousands of people.

Today we have electronic communication: emails, videos, texts and blogs. With the power of the internet, we speak our words to dozens, hundreds or even millions of people with one click of a button. It brings the power of those words to a whole new level. The benefits and harm of spoken and written words are increased exponentially. Wow. And uh-oh!

Contradictory words and images flood our screens from every Google search. Unwanted advertisements and ugly graphics pop up before our eyes like a bad magic show. Gossip and blatant lies plaster cyberspace. We know ‘God is not the author of confusion’ (1 Corinthians 14:33). Therefore, it is the enemy who creates chaos on the worldwide web.

The name itself, ‘worldwide web,’ is a Godly warning. We can become stuck in it all-too-easily, just like the victims of deadly spiders. We must guard our minds and fingers against easy participation in this slander network, including ‘malicious gossip’ (1 Timothy 3:11), ‘grumbling’ (James 5:9), ‘lying’ (Psalm 31:18), ‘provoking’ (Galatians 5:26) and all negative speech.

In today’s scripture, Esther and Mordecai wrote ‘words of peace and truth.’ We are wise to follow their example. God watches every click.

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