When a Christian man sees his Church, God and the Bible blasphemed on the Internet, it would be strange of course,  to expect that he would remain indifferent. Naturally, he would be hurt and offended. Well, what does a person who has been intentionally hurt and offended do? There are not so many options here: the weak one runs away, the strong one fights his corner, be against some thugs in a dark alley or some trolls in social media. The general logic of survival seems quite obvious. But is it really that simple?

The Apostle Paul wrote in a letter to his disciple Timothy: Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:22-26)

In these words, the apostle points out the most important reason why opponents of Christ's teaching should be treated this way. It turns out that they do not act of their own accord, having been enslaved by the devil. They think that by blaspheming the Church, they are expressing their own point of view, but in reality they just do the devil's work. The father of all evil hates the entire human race without exception. Therefore, pushing people into arguments, making them hate each other is one of his favorite pastimes. And if a Christian can also be drawn into such a dispute, this is a special gift for the spirit of malice.

When Jesus, sent his disciples to preach, He urged them to beware of people, because people live under the power of evil: behold, I am sending you like sheep among wolves (Matthew 10:16-11:1). What else can a meek sheep expect in such a bloodthirsty company, except to be torn to pieces? But then Jesus says absolutely amazing words: ...so be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16). In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads: Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. 

The truly Christian way of responding to the outrage of the world is not righteous anger and noble rage but the serpent's wisdom and the dove's humility. And all who consider themselves disciples of Christ are called only to use this kind of weapon to protect their faith. If we fall to the temptation and start using some kind of "lion's rage", then we no longer living by the Gospel and find ourselves in the realm completely different views and preferences. John Cassian the Roman says about it:

"From whatever cause anger is aroused, it blinds the eyes of the heart and, causing a fatal injury to visual acuity, does not allow us to contemplate the sun of truth. It doesn't matter whether the sheet is gold, or lead, or whatever other metal we put on our eyes — the value of metals does not make a difference in blinding."

When you fight the trolls on the Internet, defending the sun of the truth of Christ, you can, of course, flaunt yourself in solid gold glasses of righteous anger. But what good can the glare of my spectacles do me, if as writes the saint, these plates of solid gold are guaranteed to cut me off from the light of this truth?

Original article: https://radiovera.ru/ochki-iz-chistogo-zolota.html