Sometimes when I’m feeling silly I like to watch different news channels on the same day. You would think they are reporting on completely different events. When I was a kid the “news” used to tell us what happened. It’s true there was some editorializing based on what stories were covered and which were not. Today the “news” does that but more. The talking heads leave out pertinent facts, add their own spin, or just out and out lie. You probably think that there is some news source that you can trust and that you rely on, but the truth is that source probably is just better at telling you what you want to here. It seems no one gives us The Whole Truth.
As Christ Followers, we are supposed to go to His Word for The Whole Truth. Even there we have to be careful. We can’t pick and choose what to read. We can’t filter out what we don’t like. We can’t just focus on what we believe are the good parts. When we do that we become our own newscasters, telling ourselves what we want to hear, failing to absorb The Whole Truth.
If we focus too much on a “news” channel, not only will we get a slanted version of what’s happening; we will develop a slanted view of what’s important. For years, for example, I didn’t watch local news. What is happening in my home town is at least as important as what’s happening in Washington or Iran. I’ve changed that and now I have a more local perspective. The same warnings that apply to national news applies locally. So be careful, but we can’t have The Whole Truth if we don’t know what’s happening in our town and state.
This is why we need to spend time in scripture. That too will give us a “slanted” view of what’s happening and of what’s important. But it will be slanted God’s way. It will help us see things as He does. That’s really all that’s important. We can’t just read the parts we like. We have to read and deal with the “hard sayings.”
I have to admit that I’m addicted to news channels. I have the TV turned to one of them as background “noise.” Sometimes I have my radio tuned the same. I have noticed how much better my day is when the TV is off and the radio is tuned to Christian music. I need to make that my more consistent habit. Be careful of the “Christian” talk channels. They can have a slant as well.
Maybe I’m just more a music person and, especially lately, the news is not music to my ears. His word in verse and song. Now that’s music to live by.
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