How do you feel after thirty minutes of watching the news? Relaxed or anxious? Angry or peaceful? Encouraged or discouraged? Does God seem more or less prominent in your thoughts? Are you more encouraged to live in lockstep with biblical principle, or do you find yourself pulled in the other direction? These are important diagnostic questions to consider, because they address how our viewing habits affect our spiritual health.
How should a Christian respond to the news? A number of passages are relevant to this discussion, but let’s focus on two texts that I pray will help us answer that question. The first illuminates a danger in our viewing, and the second provides a remedy.
Psalm 1:1, “Blessed is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.”
The problem: Our viewing habits are not innocuous. They are a vehicle for an extremely subtle form of transformation in our thinking. In other words, anything we watch, including the news, influences our thinking. When we allow ourselves to watch a carefully thought-through and professionally delivered presentation without passing it through the filter of Scriptural truth, we are in real danger of allowing the ungodly to subtly inform our thinking contrary to the Word of God. We are in danger of losing the blessing Psalm 1 tells us is given to the person who has his or her mind informed chiefly by Scripture.
II Corinthians 10:5, “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
The remedy: Passing all content through the filter of God’s Word and bringing our thoughts in line with Scriptural truth. Should we bury our heads in the sand and disregard all news? Of course not! But we do need to prayerfully consider how much news we really need and what effect it is having on our minds. It may not be a bad idea to take a break if you are finding yourself struggling with sinful thoughts.
The key to successfully navigating the news is found in II Cor. 10:5. Here are two steps that the passage commands.
We have to weigh everything said by newscasters against what we know to be true from Scripture. This means we have to know the Bible and be able to apply it at a moment’s notice. God is able to help you reach this level of spiritual maturity as you practice spiritual discernment in this area (Phil. 1:9-11; Heb. 5:14; 2 Pt. 1:3-11).
When we sense our mind drifting from Scriptural truth because of what we see or hear, we need to pray and ask God to help us bring those sinful thoughts into submission to Christ. As we make this our consistent practice, we will begin to see “the peace of God ruling in our hearts” (Col. 3:15; see also Phil. 4:6-8).
I found the chart below to be helpful in setting a priority of gathering wisdom and knowledge. The author describes it kind of like a food pyramid with the most spiritually sound source at the bottom. The chart has challenged me to consider where I turn for wisdom and what content is dominating my time. I trust that this week you will be able to use God’s Word to help you process the news in a Biblical way.
Love in Christ,
Pastor Ben
