In wake of the recent incident in Orlando that targeted and shook the LGBTQ+ community, hundreds of thousands of people are pouring out their support on the Internet with statuses and tweets, many of which include hashtags that express thoughts and prayers towards those affected. As a Christian, my heart smiles when I see that there are people who are willing to say that they are praying for someone. There is nothing inherently wrong with this hashtag, but there is a problem with #ThoughtsAndPrayers.

The first problem is a convicting one: did people actually pray for those affected, or did they just tweet about it? Words are just words until you mean what you say. And your actions will speak louder than those words ever will. If you believe prayer is a valid response to a situation like this, which it is, and you didn't actually pray, your support isn't really there.

It's not a surprise that people take to social media to express their support to victims and those suffering when a tragedy strikes. However, tweeting #ThoughtsAndPrayers whenever something terrible happens in our world is not productive. There are many people who believe in the power of prayer, but there are more people who just don't. And as humans living under free will, we have the right to choose. But that doesn't mean we have the right to belittle, judge, bully, or actively seek out and undermine those who don't believe the same things we do. That goes for Christians and non-Christians alike.

When I saw the hashtag #dontpray surface on my Twitter feed, my heart broke. But when I stopped to think about it, these people have a point. If the only Christians I knew were those who would rather fight to the death for their gun laws instead of fight for the hearts of God's children, whom they are called to love, I would be angry, too. If the only Christians I knew were those who protested LGBTQ+ funerals and proclaimed that God sent the Orlando shooter, I would be furious and would want no part in praying either. So I get why #ThoughtsAndPrayers are not enough.

But we are not all like that. The Westboro Baptist Church and other people filled with hate who claim to love Jesus are not accurate representations of Christians. Anyone who is spewing hate towards the LGBTQ+ community and its allies do not know my Jesus. And I'm sorry the minority made you think they were the majority.

We are called to do something, whatever that something is, to better the lives of those around us. For we cannot truly love someone until we serve them. And to serve someone, we have to do something for them. It may come as a surprise to some, I believe all Christians should be allies to the LGBTQ+ community simply because we are called love all people. It's God's role to judge, not ours.

We may not be able to do much, but what we can do is show our love and support. We can talk to our political representatives, educate ourselves on LGBTQ+ rights, and invest in the life of an LGBTQ+ youth in our community. But above all, if you see something, say something. Be an ally.

Because when it comes down to it, Matthew 7:1 and Mark 12:31 mean far more than Leviticus 20:13 or Leviticus 18:22 ever will.

For they will know we are Christians by our love, not our tweets.