Taming the Fingers: Heavenly Wisdom for Social Media

Jeff Johnson

Reviewed by: Johnson

Taming the Fingers: Heavenly Wisdom for Social Media, by Jeff Johnson. Reformation Heritage, 2023. Paperback, 88 pages, $7.50. Reviewed by OP member and Video and Social Media Coordinator Kerri Ann Cruse.

If you have decided to be present on social media, have you taken the time to think through how you will conduct yourself on these platforms? We tend to change how we speak and what we share when we find ourselves face-to-face with a screen instead of another image-bearer. People who are seemingly meek and gracious in person become biting, vindictive, and cruel once they log online. What can we do to ensure that is not true of us?

Jeff Johnson helps us apply the truths and wisdom of the Scripture, mainly the Proverbs, to our tweets, comments, and status updates in Taming the Fingers. The purpose of this book is to help us think carefully about how biblical principles of communication should guide us in our use of social media. Johnson does this by having us think through five key questions (each given its own chapter): Am I controlled? Am I calm? Am I careful? Am I compassionate? Am I conscientious?

An obvious issue on social media is how we interact with others on political, social, or biblical issues. There are some on the internet who do not have an unpublished thought regarding these matters. Johnson reminds us that it is “a fool [who] vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds back” (see Prov. 29:11). And while we are permitted to argue, “don’t mistake rudeness for boldness” (16). Particularly when it comes to hot-button topics and controversial subjects, we must ask ourselves: Am I controlled?

If you only use social media to post updates about your own life, you may not feel like these reflections apply to you. However, in the chapter “Am I Compassionate?” Johnson reminds us of Proverbs 27:2— “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips”—and of the temptation of “scratching our itch for self-glory” (44). Is your selfie at the soup kitchen showing how thankful you are to serve, or are you virtue signaling?

I agree with Johnson that it can be “beneficial for a pastor to be on social media since it can keep him informed of what society and the people in the pews see as the pressing issues of the day” (27). But the few “minutes” you spend here or there on social media can be taking away from the effectiveness of your in-person ministry. Further, there are numerous examples of pastors bringing disrepute upon their churches and their Lord through untamed behavior online.

Are you reflecting Christ in what you type, share, and post? This short book will help you discern the answer. I highly commend this work to all Christians, but especially Christian leaders.