The Virtual Dinner Table

Dear Evangelicals:

On the battlefield where id meets superego (a.k.a. Twitter), I tweet primarily on music; with the addition of nature photos on Saturdays; and mini-sermons in the form of quotes, news items, and think pieces on Sundays. I have always been candid about who I am, what I believe, and the people I stand up for. What you see is what you get.

 There's a woman who has followed me for a good while. On occasion, she retweets one of my musical tweets without comment, and I favorite those retweets when they happen.

I have never commented on a retweet of hers until last week, when she retweeted with a comment and also replied to one of my music tweets. I thought she had some worthwhile insights, and I said as much when I replied.

Her response? Nothing -- not even a favorite.

I was puzzled until I found out why: To this woman, a social conservative and evangelical Christian, it's perfectly acceptable to retweet me, but actually talking to me would expose her to the manifold sins she believes I'm committing, what with my ideas about social justice and all.

Is that how a "The Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it" Christian would parse this?

Not surprisingly, Paul had something to say about that. You'll find it it 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 (NKJV):

"I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.  But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.

 ^"For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?

 "But those who are outside God judges. Therefore 'put away from yourselves the evil person.'"

By this woman's lights, I am sexually immoral because I support those whom she believes are sexually immoral. Yet, somehow, it's okay to take what I'm offering as long as she doesn't compliment me on the meal?

Nope, nope, nope. Any biblically-literate Christian who believes what this woman believes about me would block me without a second thought. This one wants to have her cake and eat it, too.

As it stands, I'm going to have to block her. As my tagline says, "Socially liberal, theologically conservative."