My Social Media Mess Up

I messed up. (Yes, ministers do, too.) No, it wasn't a "sin" or anything like that.

Did you know there's a difference between "sinning" and messing up? Sometimes we mess up just due to our humanness. We make a mistake. We disappoint others ~ even make them angry. That's what I did with my mess up.

It was a social media mistake (my mess up was). And it drew the ire of ~ I need to leave the name of the person(s) out or it will be another (and bigger) mess up.

I know, I know. You're wanting to know what the mess up was. Isn't that just like us (me included)? We want the inside scoop. We want to be filled in on the details. But to do that, too, would be another (and bigger) mess up for me because it would point to the folks whose feathers I ruffled, also.

The bottom line is we're gonna make mistakes with social media. And if you're gonna reach for any height of influence online (or off) the fact is you're gonna do something wrong from time to time. You're gonna tweet, post a status update, ask a question, publish a blog post, etc., that, in hindsight, you probably should have thought longer before doing so.

But did you do it out of malice (if so, it is a sin ~ repent) or did you do it out of ignorance (the good kind) where, in your naivety you had no clue it was inappropriate (for lack of a softer term) in the eyes of those more on the inside than you?

I hope you were able to follow that last statement. (Read it again if you have time.) It says it all about my social media mistake. I didn't do it to hurt others. If I knew it would, I wouldn't have done it. I can say that in all sincerity.

The moral of the story? Think twice about what you're posting online (and bounce it off somebody if you're not sure). And if you are offended by what someone else does on Twitter or Facebook or Google+, etc., don't forget Jesus' words to forgive, forgive, forgive. You just might be the one that messes up next. (Matthew 18:21-22)

You might also be interested in:

• 5 Signs You Might Be Spending Too Much Time with Social Media
• F-a-c-e-b-o-o-k (an approach to sharing the love of God)