We must be mindful of the subtleness of the age, our Christian testimony, and our spiritual life when interacting with the Internet. The Internet is essentially an ungoverned venue. Now as Christians, we know that our lives must be always governed by the standards of God’s holiness. However, entering into the Internet is much the same as entering into a room in which you are all alone. Only in this room you are only alone in the sense that there is no material authority present. What is present is the avenue to every conceivable manner of sin and the ease of entering those avenues. In light of such scriptural imperatives as “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me” (Ps. 101:3), “Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties” (Ps. 141:4), and “For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil” (Rom.16:19), it is imperative that we take some action to at least bar, if not remove as many of these avenues as possible.

In the first verse we find that we must carefully guard the eyes, the most direct route to the heart. Whether we speak of the literal eyes or the eyes of the mind, we must not be guilty of setting (notice the sense of duration communicated by the verb here)—pondering, contemplating, considering, meditating—wicked things before them. And as we know that the devil is fond of utilizing fiery darts which are so often successful in reaching the heart, it behooves us to take the offensive and avoid situations where wicked things may be presented to our eyes. This is one of the primary reasons for utilizing content filtering between us and the Internet. It is nigh impossible, as long as we are in this world, to avoid every situation where a wicked thing can come before our eyes; however, there is in warfare an often fatal mistake made in attempting to defend too large of a front. Taking note of this tactical mistake, we can apply it in the spiritual warfare by reducing the size of the front presented to us through the Internet by the careful application of content filtering.

We must also note in this first verse the active tendency of “the work of them that turn aside” to “cleave to me.” Herein lies another issue which we must be aware of: Even when we are unavoidably exposed to “the work of them that turn aside,” it will be the tendency, the proclivity of those works to cleave to us. Furthermore, the imperative nature of this last phrase reveals that it is with us that the responsibility lies to cut off this cleaving of these things. Thus, we must be careful that when such works do come before our eyes, we apply the truth of 2 Corinthians 10:5 by casting down any ensuing thoughts springing from them. The second verse is part of a prayer to God for protection against sinning. This verse is a plea for protection against the very things spoken of in Psalm 101:3. However, the verbs here are passive on the part of the one praying. Dear Christian, if we are desirous and expecting of God to keep us from sinning, how much more careful should we be to keep our own hearts in so much as God has given us the grace, strength, and insight to keep it?

In the last verse, Romans 16:19, we find that obedience is tied to a certain simplicity concerning evil (as well as wisdom of good). The underlying Greek word for “simple” means “unmixed” and “free from guile” and indicates that we are to be, in a holy sense, ignorant of evil as a defense against falling into sin. The Internet can very quickly and without warning deepen our understanding of sin. This simplicity must not, however, extend into the area of discernment of evil. Dr. O. T. Spence often spoke of “the artistry of error.” We face a mature devil who has perfected the art of shrouding evil in good and innocent appearances. And so it is that even after we exercise our best efforts to narrow the front in the battle presented by the Internet, we must ever be careful that we are not deceived into viewing something as good or innocent which has the potential to either directly lead us into sin or enlarge the battlefront to a proportion which we are unable to ably defend. In short, we must “approve things that are excellent” that we “may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ” (Phil. 1:10). “Approve” here carries with it the understanding of trial by fire, and “things that are excellent” are things that differ or things that differ from one in the sense of excelling or surpassing one. The King James translators chose here the word excellent to convey the full understanding of this command: We must try in the fire of God’s Word things which appear to be superlatives to our life, things that appear to be of some benefit in bringing us beyond the point we are presently at in our Christian life. This extends down to the most granular level of our life. It includes not only those things which we obviously and logically recognize as things which would contribute to the advancement of our Christian life, but also the things which we see and believe will enhance the execution of the daily duties and pleasures of the appointment of God’s will for our life (which, in turn, will forward our walk with God).

The pivotal question then is this: In the light of the principles of God’s Word, is this thing truly excellent? Will it be a thing to draw me on to God? In the context of the Internet it is in this manner that the Sword of the Spirit must ever be drawn and on the defensive. It is here that I must point out that anything which through my own volition and will broadens a front in my life cannot be considered an excellent thing. If God, either directly or through providence, broadens the front, then I can rest assured that along with that broadening will come the resources of grace to defend that front. Again, some things we cannot avoid: they are thrust upon us in providence because of the age in which we live. In spite of that, the imperative remains: “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes.”

I would suggest to you that social networking Internet sites only needlessly enlarge the front line of the battle of our lives. There really is nothing available there which cannot be accomplished through other more benign avenues. And due to the anonymous nature of them they present a myriad of not only avenues to sin, but also simple natural dangers. They are, in reality, simply an avenue for self promotion. I do not say that is the conscious motive behind all who participate, but it is the spirit of this age in which existentialism is the governing philosophy. And the concept of social networking is deepening into a concept of virtual reality with some sites offering the experience of a total virtual world in which the individual can live out a second life through avatars (characters) which are basically free from all moral accountability. We must remember that man is working his way back to Babel. And this powerful observation made by God (not man) about man is again surfacing as a real possibility: “And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do” (Gen. 11:6). Social networking is finally an attempt to accomplish what the ungodly line set out to do at Babel: “Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth” (Gen. 11:4).

Dear Christian, we do not want to be in any way associated with the spirit and thrust of this age. And we must observe that we could take this to an extreme and just unplug the Internet. But that would be an imbalance. It is clear that there are some very legitimate uses of the Internet and that the work of God can be forwarded both in the ministry as well as in our own lives personally through this avenue. It is only a matter of approving things that are excellent and casting off things that are not. May God grant to us a receptive heart that ever desires to be deepened in its discernment of this wicked age so that it may be drawn into an ever-deepening walk with God.