’m old enough to remember the birth of “social media.” In its infancy, there seemed to be a certain genuineness as people engaged with each other, but little did we know what we had gotten ourselves into; more specifically, the comment sections.

While I rarely engage with social media, I am no stranger to how out of control the comment section can become. Years ago, while pastoring a church, we launched an evangelistic series with Sunday morning services. With only the flyer to spur them, the comment section flooded with individuals who disagreed with what we were doing.

Through posts that rivaled dissertations, a small group of people accused me and the church of misconstruing beliefs. These weren’t constructive criticisms or challenges based on biblical facts; instead, they were mainly outlandish claims and unfounded accusations. Although I would reply to some to correct genuine misinformation, I refused to engage in any back-and-forth with others who refused to believe the facts, as I saw it as a waste of time. My church members, however, did not share the same sentiment.

For several days, social media spaces erupted into vicious arguments and name-calling. What started as a few disagreeable posts morphed into negative attention that moved through social media with pyroclastic cloud-like intensity. Soon, the purpose of the evangelistic series became lost among the debris of posts and comment sections.

I don’t often give directives from pulpits. As a pastor, I recognize that my colleagues and I must be very careful about what we instruct our congregants to do. But this problem had become far too great for me to ignore. Before my sermon on the following Sabbath, I gave the church a simple instruction: “Stay out of the comment sections.”

Proverbs 29:9 says, “If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether the fool rages or laughs, there is no peace.” (NKJV). The disruption of comment sections often steals peace and envelops us in numerous unnecessary interactions, distracting us from our original purpose.

Sometimes, I wonder what the Israelites’ Twitter would have looked like as they made their way out of Egypt. I contemplate what that family group chat looked like as the ark floated on day 25. I imagine the tags on David’s Facebook page moments before he faced the Goliath. In all of these moments, if these individuals had chosen to engage in arguments, accusations, and misunderstandings, they would have missed their overall calling from God.

What comment section are you continuously engaging in that’s holding you back from your calling? Friends, God is calling us out of life’s comment sections. Lay aside the distractions and answer the call.