Words Matter

(Caveat: I am going to be a little shouty and capsy on this subject.  Bear with me.)

Dear fellow Christian bloggers,

If someone comments on your blog and says, "I felt really hurt by what you said about ___," THINK ABOUT IT before you reply with, "You just don't understand my deep theology/humor/word choice" or "You're being so sensitive, just man up, already" or "WHAT?  HERESY!"

YOU do not get to decide what hurts OTHER people's feelings.  YOU do not determine THEIR perception.  Maybe they're totally unjustified in their criticism.  FINE.  But don't just assume, for the love of God, that they just need to pull up their big girl panties and get down with whatever higher spiritual knowledge you're privy too, mmkay?  Newsflash: YOU ARE WRONG SOMETIMES.  In fact, on a spiritual level, apart from Christ, you are 100% wrong!  Not mostly wrong or partly wrong but COMPLETELY WRONG.  If a brother or sister in Christ is hurt by some thoughtless remark you made, even if you think they SHOULDN'T be, JUST FREAKING APOLOGIZE -- for the misunderstanding, if nothing else.  You know they have this fancy button on most blogging platforms, it's called the "EDIT" button.  You can use it to -- get this -- GO BACK and change the content of your posts.  I know.  Crazy. 

Whatever your opinions, they are not so important that you can excuse bad manners toward brothers and sisters, in the name of being RIGHT.  NO, THEY AREN'T.

Love,
Laura