Creating A Fire Department
Fire is pretty mind blowing, isn’t it?
How can something so good also be capable of being so bad?
It can heat entire rooms, provide all the light you need, and cook the perfect s’more..
But at the exact same time, be dangerous enough to burn entire forests to the ground.
Anyone living in hot, dry climates knows this..
Just about every year, we hear news about wildfires popping up out of nowhere and destroying all life in their paths.
We can get badly burned and hurt by fire.
This is why we’ve taken steps to control it:
We designate times and places where fire is okay to use.
We use caution.
We invented fire extinguishers.
We have full-time jobs devoted to fighting fire.
It's important to protect ourselves.
And what's crazy is our WORDS get compared to this very thing in the Bible, but we don’t treat them with the same amount of caution.
Yes, those small things we start using as soon as we wake up every day are compared to wildfires that rage across California, but we use them like they are perfectly safe.
Proverbs 16:27 says that our WORDS are capable of "spreading like a wildfire" and James 3:5-6 says, "the tongue is a small member, yet ... How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!"
And all you have to do is look at your phone for a few minutes to see proof of how true this is.
We even have a term for this.
It's called "going viral."
Words go viral and spread like wildfire every day.
In a matter of seconds, we watch Twitter and Facebook turn into wildfires. Sometimes we even like to throw a little gas on the flames.. Just a comment here and there.. A little subtweet.
But what's frightening is we don't have fire fighters to call on when it gets out of hand.
In the case of a social media fire, we tend to just watch it burn..
We watch people get hurt..
We watch lives get destroyed or cancelled..
We are severely lacking in the social media fire department.
So I’d like to propose we make one.
All we need is a group of people willing to help put them out..
Brave men and women who know how to contain and extinguish fires and are willing to to risk their lives (or reputation) for the sake of others.
What do you say?
If you’re in, here are three ways we can do it:
1. Approach with Caution
Don’t move in too quickly. Pause and ask yourself if it’s a good idea that you are about to speak. Ask why you feel the need to enter into the conversation. Is it to win an argument? To embarrass? To punish? To defend your own pride? To complain? To make yourself look good? OR is it to be helpful and kind. Be honest with yourself and check your motive before you speak or post. Be careful.
2. Check the Time
Just like there is a time and a place for fire, there is a time and a place for words. Having discernment and choosing the right time and place to inject our words is extremely important. Sometimes it's better to be patient and wait to speak in person. It might even be better to wait a day or two to respond once the fire has come down a bit. It’s okay to give it a minute and let tempers die down before weighing in. People are a lot more willing to listen when the time and place is right.
3. Grab an Extinguisher
Sure, it might seem logical to fight fire with more fire. The only way someone is going to listen is if you respond with the same amount of rage and anger they have, right? WRONG. You don’t fight fire with fire. Responding to someone this way might feel good in the moment, but it doesn’t help accomplish anything in the long run. If we really want to put out fires, we need to carry the right extinguishers. The cure isn’t cursing back. It’s listening and speaking gently. I know, seems a little lame, but it actually disarms and de-escalates much quicker. It’s counter-intuitive. Give it a try next time and let us know what happens.
If we would be willing to do these three things, I truly believe we can begin building a fire department where one is desperately needed.
Let’s start speak words that put people at ease and work to extinguish wildfires rather than starting them.
Be At Ease.