Where Is the Line Between Doing Something Right, Staying Informed, and Staying Sane?
We live in an era where social media has become the new town square. Social media, for better or for worse, is where important conversations are happening and debates are taking place. Because social media can be divisive and complicated, Christians can find this territory difficult to navigate.
Thanks to social media, people’s thoughts are on display like never before. We are seeing the heart condition of strangers and loved ones alike. This can be discouraging, infuriating, and confusing, leaving many Christians wondering how to respond and interact in a God-honoring way.
How should we, as Christians, navigate our online presence and respond to the online presence of others? Where is the line between doing something right, staying informed, and staying sane? Join me in trying to answer these questions.
Doing Something Right
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Social media is inundated with posts from people with whom we disagree on topics such as politics, human rights, and social justice. We want to stand up for truth, but what does that look like? How do we engage in fruitful conversation and honor the Lord in our own posts and responses?
A good place to start is being responsible with our own posts. We should always do our homework when sharing a post. Citing sources, posting with context, and posting with the right motivations are a good place to start.
We should avoid posting out of anger or spite. We should avoid posting sound bites for clicks and likes. We should, instead, post with a genuine desire to spread truth, encouragement, and content that is aligned with biblical values. We should also respond to others’ posts with the same heart posture.
This can be challenging when we see a post by a fellow Christ-follower whose views contradict Scripture. They think they are posting the truth, and we think we need to put them in their place. Again, our heart condition and motivation will make all the difference.
Rather than responding to “put them in their place,” we can speak truth in love (Eph 4:15) and respond with grace (Col 4:6). This doesn’t mean we can’t ask questions, debate, request sources, or even ask for a fuller context of a quote or sound bite. We can, however, do these things with kindness.
We should lead by example and let our followers know that our posts can be trusted, that they are fully cited, sourced, and contextualized. We should also ensure that our pillar of support is our faith and that our political views are formed around our faith, not the other way around.
This doesn’t mean we should quietly sit by and watch the enemy destroy relationships and cause unrest in our nation. There is a time and place for righteous anger. There is a time and place for raised voices and pointing out evil. We should all pray for wisdom and discernment that we may know when we are in those times.
Lastly, we should be praying for our enemies. Social media can convince us that we are surrounded by people who not only hate us but also want to harm us. And perhaps some of you are surrounded by such people. But many of us are simply convinced that our neighbors have the same ungodly views, intolerance, and irrational behavior as people we see on social media, even though we have never seen this side of them.
Let’s not lump everyone whose views differ from our own in the same boat. Let’s start assuming the best in people until they prove themselves otherwise. Let’s look for the things we have in common rather than grow in bitterness and distrust for one another over the areas where we disagree.
Doing something right will look different at different times and in different circumstances. However, if we all start checking our hearts, asking God for wisdom, and following the prompting of the Holy Spirit when it comes to our online presence, we will all be better off.
Staying Informed
As Christians, we know this world is not our home (Heb. 13:14), and yet we live in this world and want to stay informed. However, I can’t help but be envious of past generations who lacked our technological advancements and were largely unaware of what was happening beyond their own communities.
But here we are. News of the world is at our fingertips 24 hours a day. There is no rest from news coverage in our current culture, and there is no escape from its divisive negativity on platforms originally designed to help us connect and draw closer to one another.
The goal, I believe, should be staying informed while not allowing the information to harden our hearts and foster hate or fear. One simple way to do this is to consider the source. Where are you getting your news? Do you always watch the same news outlet, the one you deem correct and trustworthy? Or do you consult different sources, even though the information might be conflicting?
Is social media your main news source? Do you listen to ten-second sound bites and assume the information is correct? Do you read a headline and draw conclusions without reading the article and fact-checking the sources? Do you watch videos as factual events without considering that the content might be AI-generated?
Is it possible to find a news source that isn’t biased? I’m honestly not sure. Is it possible, though, to do some digging and fact-check for yourself? Yes. Is it possible to ask follow-up questions regarding the posts of others and lovingly hold them accountable for spreading false information? Also, yes.
When the news is reported incorrectly or handled unfairly, the information can be considered as gossip and slanderous. As Christians, we need not only to avoid participating in gossip and slander but also to avoid being naively sucked into believing lies.
When we are sucked into believing lies, and then we quickly post about said lie, we are, undoubtedly, guilty of spreading lies, gossip, and slander. Let that not be said of us as children of God. Let it be said of us that we are well-informed and trustworthy.
Another way of staying informed is to actually engage in conversation with people who think differently from you. Ideally, this would happen face-to-face. There’s no better way to uncover misunderstandings, assumptions, and lies that are being spread than to talk to someone who believes them.
You might also find, as you engage in conversation with people who think differently from you, that you have also been operating off of misunderstandings, assumptions, and lies that are being spread.
Lastly, while most of us are not history experts, delving into history and understanding the long-standing conflicts between political parties, ethnic groups, and even foreign relations can provide insight into current conflicts and help you make sense of the chaos.
Staying Sane
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Social media platforms have an algorithm. If you consistently engage with politically driven content, you will consistently have politically driven content fed to you. If you can see this day in and day out and maintain your sanity, great. But if not, one step you can take is to retrain your algorithm.
Remind yourself of the content you once enjoyed viewing on social media and seek that out. Train yourself to linger over content that brings you joy and peace rather than content that fills you with anger, fear, and dread.
Rest in knowing that the conflict around us isn’t going away overnight. You can peacefully avoid social media and news intake altogether for a day, a week, or even a year, and the world will continue spinning, and it will all be there waiting for you if you decide to return to it.
For many, however, social media is a primary source of connection, and taking an extended break would be just as mentally taxing as it is to see all the conflict unfolding on various platforms. If this describes you, stay active on social media, but give yourself permission to simply keep scrolling.
Do you feel, as a Christian, the need to be on the front lines of all conflict? Do you feel you’re doing something wrong if you see content you disagree with and don’t comment on it? Have you convinced yourself that it’s your job to bring about change in people, or to at least try?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, I would encourage you to take a step back and speak truth to yourself. While it is important for Christians to stand up for truth and fight against evil, it’s also crucial to remind yourself that it is our Heavenly Father who brings about change (Ps 51:10).
It is trusting in our Heavenly Father that will ensure our sanity in such times. Proverbs 21:1 tells us that the king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will. When political unrest seems to be seeping into every corner of your life, remind yourself that our Lord is sovereign and He can be trusted.
Does this mean all will be well in the world? No. But it does mean that we can look ahead with hope for the day that all things are made right in the new Heavens and the new Earth. It means that as we wait, we can grieve the broken nature of our world and its people. And we can trust Him with all that happens in the time in between.
How can we best spend the time we’ve been given, the time in between? Romans 12:12 tells us to rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, and be constant in prayer. These three things are key to maintaining sanity in the days we’re living in.
Ask the Lord to give you a deep and abiding joy so that you can rejoice in the hope that He will one day make all things right. Ask the Lord to give you patience as you navigate the troubled waters of our time. Commit yourself to prayer, remembering that the Spirit intercedes for us when we don’t have the words (Rom 8:26-27).
As Christians, we should be influencing our culture, standing up for what’s right, fighting evil, and pointing to truth. However, we should look different from the world when doing these things.
As you navigate social media, our new town square, remind yourself that not all interactions are frontline battle-worthy. There are times when scrolling by is appropriate, times when commenting with love and kindness is appropriate, and times when calling out evil and standing as a warrior for your faith is necessary.
Ask God to give you wisdom as you discern these situations. Ask God to allow His Spirit to speak through you when there are words to be exchanged and ask Him to hold your tongue when words are best left unspoken. He can see the bigger picture that we cannot see. The battle is His, and He has already won.
Related: Faithful Scrolling: A Biblical Guide to Navigating Social Media
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/Olga Rolenko
Originally published December 04, 2025.
