I do this thing, and maybe you do it, too. I make fun of people in my head while they’re talking to me. But because it's hard to make up funny things and still look like I'm listening, I mostly do it when I’m listening to other people's conversations. Luckily, it’s all in my head, so it’s anonymous.

I do this other thing, and maybe you do, too. When I’m online, I let my cynical sense of humor and Irish anger get the best of me. I post some humorous stuff, and other times I post mean-spirited, hurtful, rude, and very unnecessary things about the government, celebrities, and sometimes other Christians that I know I wouldn’t have said to their faces. There were even times when my mouse wandered onto a dirty website. Sometimes they’re done anonymously, and sometimes they’re done as Nate Beaird.

There's the old saying, "Integrity is what you do when no one is watching." Do you think that applies online? Do you think online integrity is as important as real-life integrity?

Scott McClellan, editor of Collide Magazine, wrote an article called “Who We Are Is Who We Are” in which he calls out the people who click “publish” and then walk away, anonymous or not:

“We craft posts, status updates, and comments that drip with bile, cynicism, bitterness, hopelessness, anger, jealousy, and self-pity. We set out to attack organizations, celebrities, and peers because they need to be taken down a peg. Then, we click the 'Publish' button.”

Considering online integrity, the old saying could be rephrased, “Integrity is where you surf the web when no one is looking” or “Integrity is what you say when no one really knows it’s you saying it.”

David had a few things to say about something that we seem to forget while we’re online:

“O righteous God, who searches minds and hearts…” Psalm 7:9
“… you probe my heart and examine me at night…” Psalm 17:3
“Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind…” Psalm 26:2
“…Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7

God always looks at your heart, plain and simple. Even if no one else is in the room, the person who disagrees with us isn’t in front of us, or the clueless celebrity "deserved" that hilarious low-blow, we are held to a higher standard by God. He challenges us to spread love, the story of redemption, and purity. 

Can I be honest with you for a minute? I’m not sure I can do it—I’m way too opinionated and immature to hold in my comments. It's something I’ll have to continue to work on. I’ll need God’s help, and I’ll need yours, too. Let's do this together. Let's work toward showing people Jesus through our online conversations. Let's ask for accountability from a trusted friend and avoid the secret website rendezvous. I’ll go first. Will you join me?

Nate Beaird is the Creative Media Director at Cornerstone Family Church in Des Moines, Iowa. He blogs at www.natebeaird.com