Help, I’m being trolled on Facebook!

A few days ago, I made a quick 60-second video in my pajamas from my recliner that began, “What is the gospel?” based on a few verses I had just read in 1 Corinthians 15.

But then trolls invaded my tiny corner of the worldwide web. People I had never heard from before, not followers of my page but men and women around the world who must have searched it out, started commenting on my post:

Have you ever been trolled? A troll is someone who makes inflammatory comments just to get an emotional rise. They try to manipulate a conversation by making provocative jabs. Basically, they are a bully. Maybe you’ve been trolled online like I have. Maybe there’s a troll in your neighborhood who becomes irate whenever you mention anything about your faith in God. You might even have a troll in your own home who delights in tearing you down. What’s the best way to handle a troll? How will you respond when you are intentionally, meanly provoked?

If you search out my post, you will see that I didn’t always handle this perfectly. Thankfully, a couple of days later, still reading the apostle Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, I found the strategy for how to handle a troll a couple of chapters later. Let’s see what Paul says, then we’ll break it down:

“The testimony of our conscience is that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, with godly sincerity and purity, not by human wisdom but by God’s grace.”
2 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭12‬

TESTIMONY Paul is very aware that his actions are a witness. Every conversation and interaction leaves a mark on the world. Especially online, there is a trail of every careless word we have ever spoken or tapped out with our thumbs. Every like, every share – it’s all there, forever. (see Matthew 12:36-37). Trolls are especially talented at twisting our words and using them against us.

CONSCIENCE Beyond our public testimony, there’s also an inner knowing of our own motives. Paul is confident that’s he has conducted himself to the glory of God. Sometimes our intentions and others’ perceptions are two very different things!

CONDUCT How we behave in real life and online matters, even when dealing with people we don’t know. When I’m provoked anonymously, I want to respond vehemently. It’s hard to remember that behind the mask of a troll is a soul with their own hurt, sorrow, joy, and longing – a soul Jesus loves as much as he loves me.

Here are three questions to ask before responding to a troll: 

Is my heart pure?

The root of this word means “found pure when unfolded and examined by the sun’s light.” Purity means you have no hidden agenda, you’re not trying to trap or bait someone, there’s nothing veiled or disingenuous in your communication… unlike the troll.

One thing to avoid at all costs is HUMAN WISDOM – you will never outsmart a troll. There is no stunning debate, unassailable argument, concrete logic, or list of facts that will win a fight with a troll (or anyone else for that matter). They are incapable of understanding spiritual things, so don’t even use Bible verses or doctrine as your defense (1 Corinthians 2:4, 14; 2 Corinthians 2:16 and 4:4). Even if you’re right, you’ll seem self-righteous. Trolls are smart, and they like to fight. Don’t go under the bridge with them.

The one thing you need more than anything else when dealing with a troll is GOD’S GRACE.

• It was grace that enabled Jesus to look with love at someone he knew would reject him (Mark 10:21-22).
• It was grace that washed the feet of Judas, who would betray him, and Peter, who would deny him (John 13:1-11).
• It was grace that stood silently as people threw insults and accusations at him (Matthew 27:11-14).

By definition, grace means loving and merciful kindness. Since we were led to repentance by God’s kindness, restraint, and patience (Romans 2:4), trolls deserve the same from us.

It’s only by God’s grace that we’re not all trolls. There was a time when I hardened my heart toward God and wanted nothing to do with his word, his ways, or his worship. His people especially annoyed me. I justified myself on my own terms. Maybe “some of you used to be like this” too, before “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians‬ ‭6‬:‭11‬)‬‬.

It’s easier to love a troll when I remember that I used to be one myself.