ON KEEPING
CHRISTIAN CHATROOMS CHRISTLIKE
In a sermon I heard on television several years ago, Dr. Frederick K. C. Price said that God had TV in mind when He created the world. Otherwise, He would not have made a universe in which TV is possible. The evil that enters our homes on the tube was not His plan; but the medium, which is neither good nor evil in itself, can convey untold blessings to viewers if used in God's service. The Internet is the same. It is a powerful tool for spreading the gospel, a mind-boggling means of enhancing Christian fellowship (how else could I have shared the joys of Christianity with the saints in the United Kingdom?), and an exceptional reference library. The evil side of the Net shows its face when we, as God's people, let down our guard. Christian chatrooms, the most accessible channels of blessing in this new medium, are the first to become infested with ungodly people and infected with their doctrine. It is our duty, as defined by God and by the Internet access companies, to keep the rooms holy. We already have the tools for the job. The will must be present, or we shall fail. The training is not that complex.
The five core activities of the Christian life are: Bible study, prayer, worship, fellowship, and evangelism. While any of these activities may be carried out over the Internet, some are better accomplished live and in the flesh. Even the parts of the Christian life that lend themselves well to the Net might be better suited to other Net areas, rather than the chatrooms. A closer look will tell what has its place in Cyberspace, and in what part of that realm.
Bible study is well-suited to the Net, but not to public chatrooms. The rooms are full of distractions. A Christian chatroom can have thirty members, and they might be carrying on five simultaneous discussions. Even if that noise is only rolling silently up your computer screen, there's simply too much of it. A private chat, where all invitees share an interest in the Scripture to be discussed, works better. Instant Message might be better still, as it gives teacher and pupil much more typing space, the kind of space important ideas so often require. E-mail enables its users to transmit fully-developed thoughts to one another. Deep study of the Word of God might actually fare better in this medium than in face-to-face discussion. Christian Websites also frequently contain useful studies and study tools. The saint who is doing his homework (individual Bible study) can do it well on the Web. Any of these options works better for detailed study of Scripture than a chatroom, however devout its members.
Prayer goes well with the chatroom format. A believer who needs others to pray for him can pop in and say so. As soon as the need becomes known, many chat participants will drop their business and pray with their fingers. Reading their sentence prayers encourages the one who entered with the prayer request. Bonds among the faithful can be established this way. If a prayer's content must remain confidential, IM provides privacy, plus the intimacy of praying with one other believer.
Worship is one source of the chatroom noise mentioned above, but usually a welcome one. The visual cacophony of God's saints praising Him can bring a smile to any believer's face. Quoting Scripture for its own sake (as opposed to proving a point with it), sharing an uplifting experience, typing in the lyrics of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs – all are worship, and all reinforce the faith of those present. The joy of the Lord is strength (Neh. 8:10; Heb. 12:1-2), which all Christians need daily. A chatroom in full song is one source of that joy and that strength. Worship and praise can also silence, or even drive out, those who enter Christian rooms to argue against our faith or to mock our God. I have seen at least one atheist enter a chatroom to entertain himself at the saints' expense, and then fall silent when God's people set up a constant chorus of praise. Spontaneous individual and small-group worship is one of the Christian chatrooms' great success stories.
Fellowship can be another benefit of Christian chat, but it is not without its dangers. Everyone needs to have conversation with fellow believers. It lets us know that we are not alone in the faith. It also reminds us that God's people are free to talk about subjects other than our faith. The knowledge that the other person in the conversation is a fellow believer is reassuring. It leads us to expect truth, useful advice, tasteful humor, and personal acceptance, whatever topic we discuss.
The problems with Christian fellowship in a chatroom arise when saints begin to act worldly. Topics of conversation, while not strictly limited to our common faith, should be subjects that bear public discussion. If unbelievers enter and find us discussing private matters or producing off-color humor, what becomes of our testimony to them? If they find us in denominational squabbles, who will convince them that one Spirit indwells us? If we alienate some of our own by arguing publicly over interpretation and application of Scripture, how will we win back these brothers and sisters?
Self-control, which the Holy Spirit gives us as evidence of His indwelling (Gal. 5:22-23), should keep inappropriate subject matter off the screen in Christian chat. Doctrinal differences are best discussed in IM, private chat, or e-mail. We must guard our fellowship in the rooms against real division, for the sake of the Body of Christ; and against the appearance of division, for the sake of the unbelievers who constantly watch us.
Evangelism may properly begin in a Christian chatroom, but it is a dreadful mistake to attempt the entire soul-winning process there. Winning a soul to Our Lord almost always starts when the lost one enters the room asking for help. In a room with over twenty believers present, there will usually be an experienced soul-winner. That person should contact the one seeking help; and Instant Message is the correct medium. Too often, some well-meaning saint in the room begins trying to lead the lost one to Christ, right there in front of twenty other people. Few seekers of salvation want to give their lives to Jesus in such a public setting. To compound the problem, there might be Presbyterians, Lutherans, Catholics, United Methodists, and even (dare I type it?) Southern Baptists present! All want to see this lost soul become a Christian; but each has learned a slightly different technique of soul-winning. When these dear saints, in their combined benevolence and compounded fervor, descend from all directions upon the visitor who seeks to know God, confusion, perhaps even argument, can result. Throw into this mix an atheist or two (often present at such times, and more than willing to rescue the seeker from the clutches of these misguided do-gooders), and you can see why evangelism efforts in the rooms fail. I do not recall seeing one person become a Christian in a chatroom, right in front of everybody. I have seen prayer requests cross the screen, sent by someone trying to lead a soul to Christ in IM (NEVER ignore such a request!); I have seen experienced soul-winners return to a room with the birth announcement of a new saint; and I have seen a new Christian first testify of salvation in a chatroom, to the joy of many present (do not fail to express your love to your newborn brother or sister in Christ). As mentioned above, both prayer for salvation and fellowship afterwards are acts of righteousness in a chatroom; but personal evangelism should be done with one believer, one seeker, and God Himself present, all others excluded.
While these core activities go on in the rooms, deviations from them often occur. A common deviation is the proclamation of false doctrine. I see what some unbelievers, and even some Christians without a proper background of Bible study, proclaim in chatrooms, and I roll my eyes. Weren't these issues settled decades ago? Why must we argue about them now?
Profanity, along with other forms of verbal filth, is another common problem. It is often practiced by the advocates of false doctrine, especially the unbelievers, simply to offend God's children. The remedy for this verbal abuse of the saints is similar to that for false doctrine.
When is it proper to do something about false doctrine or foul language? Whenever you read it! If we "speak into the air" (I Cor. 14:9), then a listener gathers our words from the air. If we type our words into Cyberspace, someone at a screen is gathering our words from there. The principle is the same. If the language or the doctrine of a chatroom member does not belong in the pulpit at your house of worship, why should you tolerate it in a Christian chatroom? Tell that member that you cannot continue to read his falsehood (or his filth), and that you will take action if the situation does not change (IM might work better than the main screen for this; it is not to be an act of anger). If the false preaching continues, tell the member you are putting him on Ignore, and then do it. If foul language is the problem, report each occurrence to your Internet provider. Despite their boasts to the contrary, foul-fingers and false prophets respond to these tactics. If nothing else, they will get tired of the way they are forced to behave in Christian rooms. When their fun disappears, they will follow it shortly.
"But, Iclab," I can hear you saying, "what about witnessing to these people? A loving God would not condemn them to chatroom sanctions." If God is leading you to proclaim the gospel to chatroom troublemakers, that's great! Do it in IM. Even if the disruptive one does not give his life to God, your presentation of the gospel to him diverts his attention from making trouble for everyone else. If he resists the message, leave open the possibility of future discussion of the gospel; but tell him plainly that you are returning to the chatroom and putting him on Ignore. Learn to ask questions that can reveal a person's readiness for salvation. If he has a history of resisting the gospel, and his attitude doesn't look any more promising now, you must decide how much time to devote to the soul-winning session.
I hear it loud and clear: "Iclab, shame on you! Jesus wouldn't give up on this lost soul, and neither will I!" If this lost soul ridicules your God, and then you as His messenger, it's time to read Matt. 7:6 for your own benefit.
These are guidelines that I consider practical for making and keeping Christian chatrooms Christlike. We have the tools for keeping distractions to a minimum. We have the Internet services' permission to keep our designated areas accessible and inoffensive to God's children. If we have the will to do what we must, we can make Christian chatrooms the blessing God intended them to be from the Creation.
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