Not every comment deserves an answer

Social media is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because it enables anyone to post their thoughts to the world. It is a curse because it enables anyone to post their thoughts to the world. Thoughtful or thoughtless, smart or stupid, wise or foolish, social media has a very toxic mixture of opinions.

Sometimes, it is possible to have some very intelligent discussions online. Indeed, this has lead to a few personal friendships. But other times, you just know that someone hasn't put any intelligent thought into what they're posting, nor do they care to do so. And it is extremely tempting to call them out on it. But the question is, should we?

In the past, my answer would have been an emphatic yes. Like most apologists, I went through a phase where every silly comment needed addressing, no matter how obvious it was that there would be no fruit to such. But according to Scripture, sometimes it's better to just let people say whatever silly nonsense they want to say, because they’re going to say it anyway. Not everyone wants a response, and so neither do they deserve one. A wise man will accept a sound rebuke, but a foolish person will receive a thoughtful response about as well as a British socket will receive an American plug. Thus, my only advice for today is to make peace with the fact that there are, always have been, and always will be, fools on this earth, and unfortunately, many of them now have wifi. It is not your mission to refute everything. Simply live the Christian life, present good witness, and let God deal with the ones who have a problem with that.