I have spoken before about how, in the age of the internet, we now have unparalleled access to an endless number of voices. in that earlier post, I was mainly focusing on the voices we must, or should, listen to and those we can hear but ignore if we like. You can read that here. The bottom line is, we are not called or built to listen to everybody.

The flipside of that, however, is that in the age of the internet everybody (at least, everybody who has any interest in it) has access to us. Though we are not called to listen to every voice, it doesn’t stop the fact that it seems every voice can nevertheless make noise that demands our attention. You may not be called to listen to me, but that does nothing to change that I might try to demand your attention nevertheless.

I mention this as somebody who came off Facebook and Twitter some while ago now. Apart from the (extremely) occasional occurrence where I find myself at a loose end with itching fingers and an insatiable desire to be in the know about something or other only to regret bothering to ever find out, I have really not missed either. Let’s just say my life has not been remotely diminished by the decision and my state of mind is largely much better.

But I have heard, or seen, or discovered an increasing number of people taking the same decision. Largely, it seems to me, for similar reasons. Facebook, but particularly Twitter, meant that all good faith actors could find you and engage helpfully. These platforms just also happen to be built so that bad faith actors can also find you and engage disingenuously. Worst of all, that engagement could be demanded as though it were their divine right to have it. The great thing about Twitter is it gave you access to everybody such as you wanted it; the bad thing about Twitter is it made everybody feel they had the right of access to everybody even if they didn’t want it.

Just as you don’t have to listen to everybody, I think it bears saying you don’t have to give everybody access to you. There is, it seems to me, no biblical verses about liberal use of the block and mute functions. Despite the terminology, there is no biblical command to welcome everybody onto your timeline as your Facebook friend. It is perfectly acceptable not to let bile spew forth unbidden through your computer screen. There is no God-given command to allow false accusation and slander, bad faith argument and unbridled rudeness have access to you 24/7 just because an algorithm has made it possible.

Much is said of those who cannot take these things any more. They should be the ones to leave. That is, certainly, a legitimate decision to take. It is the one I took (for a host of reasons) and am perfectly happy to have done so. But it bears saying, if folk want to stay, there really is no right to access them. You can only engage with them such as they are willing to engage with you. There is nothing unchristian about choosing to block, mute, unfollow and altogether not engage with people online. These things are not biblically sanctioned and nor are they a measure of the love for the brethren. Some of what causes people to block, mute and unfollow us might well be though.

So, if you aren’t quite ready to join me in the sunny uplands of the analogue world – where the bile is restrained and the sewage filtered – perhaps do yourself a favour and remember that there is no biblical command to engage online with everyone. If you are a church leader, you are commanded to care for your sheep, not the soul of every person who wants to find you online. You are free to say to some that they simply do not have access. There is only one being in the universe who is built to have countless millions access him continually at the same time and I’m pretty sure it isn’t you. Rather than giving everyone access to you, tell them that they must content themselves with Jesus – they will find him much more accessible and far more value to their soul than you at any rate!