Dear all Christian Tumblr folks,

cortneyabraham:

I realize that Tumblr is a place where we all come to share our feelings, emotions, secrets, desires, and humorous pictures of cats. I understand that almost all of our followers are strangers, which makes it much easier to share parts of ourselves that would normally go unshared. But we must also remember that while our followers are just tiny little pictures, sometimes gray faces, and sometimes troll-ish, they are people. And people do read what we post.

As a Christian, particularly those who claim a status as a “Christian Tumblr” (whatever that means), we must always remember that we bear the very name of Christ. Regardless of denomination, we all believe that the Gospel was about a sacrifice, where our debt was paid and our lives are not our own. It isn’t us that live anymore, it’s Him living in us. So as ambassadors of the Kingdom of Heaven, everything we do is reflective of Christ himself. 

That being said, everything we post on Tumblr should be guarded. Tumblr is a great way to get out emotions and vent. I’m not opposed to anyone who shares their struggles; whether it be with lust, homosexuality, pornography, pride, eating disorders, etc. As Christians, its healthy that we admit these things and work through them. I do, however, see a large amount of laughing and joking about said struggles. I see still more where those struggling with lust are posting pornographic pictures, those with homosexuality are entertaining homosexual crushes, and some struggling with eating disorders are reblogging pictures of very thin women; all still reblogging Bible verses in between. 

Here’s my point: I’ve struggled a lot of these things. And the only thing that will beat it is a complete hatred of your sin. Until you get to the point where you refuse to put up with it, it will not go away. If you laugh and joke about it, you don’t hate it. It’s not funny that’s something waging war against your soul. Spiritual warfare is not cause for laughing or joking. It’s very serious. Lust, pornography, masturbation, homosexuality, eating disorders, depression. It’s all very serious. The only way to get rid of it is to get serious, stop joking, and stop entertaining it. As someone who struggles with lust, I have had to cut daydreaming out of my life. I don’t have crushes. I don’t date. I avoid movies that might cause problems. You have to control it. You gotta do whatever it takes. It has to get that serious. 

That being said, if you don’t take those things that seriously and have not found the hatred for your sin, I’d at least ask you to consider your followers. I know its your blog and you can post what you want, but just because you’re dealing with lust doesn’t mean you should reblog something that makes someone else stumble. Just because you’re dealing with homosexuality, doesn’t mean you should condone it and confuse others. You are representative of Christ everyday. And you will stand accountable for everything you post. So if you are unsure about your theology, or if something could cause someone to fall, don’t post it. You bear His name, and His name isn’t something you’d want to tarnish. 

I hope this doesn’t sound troll-ish or preachy. I just do want you all to have victory over these things. And I do want your followers to remain unconfused and be able to see Christ in you. Young people spend hours on Tumblr. It could be a way to spread His message across the world, if we’d just use it correctly. 

AMEN.