Can You be an Online Troll and a Follower of Jesus? Not According to the Bible.

Oct 23

This thought-provoking piece challenges believers to resist joining the culture of public shaming and choose humility, grace, and personal accountability through a biblical lens.

By Grace Tatum // EEW Magazine Online

Look around: we’re swimming in opinions, drowning in hot takes. Every scroll brings another public verdict, another life dissected by strangers. We’ve built a culture around the quick critique, mistaking harshness for honesty and viral shaming for virtue.

It’s easy, almost addictive, to zero in on other people’s faults. But if you call yourself a follower of Christ, you have to ask: who does my judgment really serve?

Here’s the unvarnished truth: the world says, “Speak your mind.” God says, “Let My Word transform your mind.”

Our culture rewards the loudest voice, the sharpest tongue, the quickest clap-back. But Jesus isn’t impressed by the cleverness of our critiques. He’s watching the condition of your heart, because that determines what flows from your lips and fingertips.

Scripture doesn’t just warn us about what we do; it demands we watch what we say—not just online, but everywhere.

Jesus’ words are poignant: “I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken” (Matthew 12:36). That’s not just a warning for trolls and bullies. That’s a warning for you and me, a reminder that every careless comment, every self-righteous critique, and every whispered bit of gossip will be called to account.

Stop Hiding Behind the Screen and Look in the Mirror

Social media has made hypocrisy easy. You can drag someone from the safety of your couch. You can rebuke someone’s “speck” and never once consider the plank in your own eye. But Jesus spoke directly to this—“Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye” (Matthew 7:5).

Let that word hit: hypocrite. Jesus isn’t talking about “them.” He’s talking to us.

We’re quick to call out, slow to call in. Quick to correct, slow to confess. The real danger isn’t what you post about someone else. It’s what you’re hiding from yourself.

You Set the Standard for Your Own Judgment

Here’s where it gets uncomfortable: the measure you use on others is the measure God will use on you (Matthew 7:2). Are you ready for that?

Are you as patient, as merciful, as willing to forgive as you demand others to be? Or have you let pride convince you that your failures are minor, while theirs are major?

That’s not just hypocrisy, it’s spiritual self-sabotage. Every time you judge without grace, you’re building the case against yourself.

Grace Isn’t Optional

Paul’s instructions aren’t gentle suggestions; they’re a lifeline: “If another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself” (Galatians 6:1).

Real accountability is about restoration, not humiliation. If your motive isn’t love, it isn’t godly.

That grace you extend outward must first begin inward. You can’t truly restore someone else while refusing to face your own reflection.

Ask yourself:

Am I confronting privately or publicly—and why?
Am I correcting to help, or to feel superior?
Do I want restoration for others, or am I secretly glad to see them fall?
When Christ looks at my words, does He see mercy or pride?
Did God tell me to say this or did my flesh and emotions egg me on?

Look, Jesus—even though He, unlike us, was perfect— never led with self-righteousness. He led with love that exposed sin but always offered a way back. If we’re His people, we must do the same.

You don’t have to join the mob. You don’t have to clap back, pile on, or “keep it real” at someone else’s expense. You can choose humility. You can choose to mind your own mirror, and in doing so, invite real transformation, starting with yourself.

Before you critique the world, let God’s Word critique you.