Sucked into the Spin

 Over the past few months one of the issues that I have been thinking about is how so many in our world are sucked in by a narrative of events either spun to paint a false understanding of reality or simply made up to propagate something that is false.  I have watched as the media will commentate with a blatant double standard to spin a story or events in such a way that fits a narrative that they what to sell.  This is especially true when it comes to politics.  I have watched it happen on main stream media outlets as well as cable news outlets.  I have also experienced people get sucked into conspiracy theories that have no basis for truth.  This is true of QAnon theories propagated by a person who is known as Q.  However, this past week I encountered this in a more personal way.  Someone who I love dearly and know to have a heart of gold was researching something that caught their attention, and clicked on a video that was couched as secure about a pizza place in Washington DC that functioned as a base of operation for child sex trafficking and abuse in some kind of satanic operation involving well known celebrities and high powered government officials.  They were referring to Pizzagate.  It was a debunked theory that took place in 2016 that appealed to the emotions of people that likely already mistrust the government.  It appealed to one man from North Carolina so much so that he felt obligated shoot up the restaurant in an effort to "save the children" because no one else was doing anything about it.  The main voice that gave rise to this theory was an alt-right commentator named Alex Jones.  Even he later apologized for his roll in helping to spread this theory.  As I looked into the theory, even though it has been debunked, it made a resurgence through the QAnon community in 2020.  People are believing these theories because it appeals to your sense of justice and moral center, after all who would not be sickened by child sex trafficking and horrific abuse.  People, who believe these kinds of theories are not terrible people.  They are usually people with a big heart who already see government as completely corrupt and evil.  To be fair, the double standards of politicians and the wickedness of the human heart make something like this possible, but in this particular theory it is just not true.  Nonetheless, people get sucked in and can't sleep for days because of what they saw from a doctored picture or falsely produced video.  O, how easy it is for us to get sucked into the false narratives.  Whether it be conspiracy theories or that white evangelical Christians are all racist and don't care about other people in this world.  Life experience has taught me that people are quick to latch on to a narrative that they already lean toward without really asking honest questions about the claim being made.  "If it fits the narrative I like, then it must be true, because I want it to be true."  Too many times people get sucked into the spin.

How do we keep from getting sucked into propagating a false understanding of reality?  Let me suggest a few ideas that may help you guard your heart from false realities.

Be Quick to Listen!  This is the advice that James, the brother of Jesus, gives to us in James 1:19-20.  "Everyone of you should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires." This may seem rather odd for me to suggest, but what I mean by this is to listen to an opposing view.  If you got sucked into believing a narrative that all those who voted for Donald Trump are white nationalists, open up your ears to hear from those that did vote for him.  Be slow to speak and slow to become angry.  If you believe that someone cannot truly be a Christian and vote for a candidate who is not represented by an elephant, then open your ears to hear from those who did not vote for the candidate you did.  You just may be surprised by their answer.  If you find yourself getting sucked into conspiracy theories, truly open your ears to hear from other sources that challenge those theories.  Be quick to listen.

Understand the Deceitfulness of the Human Heart!  Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?"  We cannot trust our heart because it can and will deceive you.  So what do we do?  We humble ourselves before God, asking for discernment.  We approach people with humility with the realization that our perception about them or their perspective is flawed.  Unless your heart somehow is not affected by the fall and your perspective is always the right one (sarcasm inserted).  

Take Every Thought Captive, Making Them Obedient to Christ!  It is interesting that we use this verse from 2 Cor. 10:5 to guard ourselves from sinful thoughts such as worry, lust, etc., but the context is talking about false philosophies.  There are plenty of ideologies and philosophies that we adopt (often time unknowingly) that are not rooted in the Scriptures.  So to take a thought captive and make it obedient to Christ is to bring that ideology or philosophy in to alignment with the Scriptures.  We need to think Biblically.  We have to center our thinking on what we know to be true... God's Word.  We need to evaluate everything through the lens of Scripture, working hard to keep your personal biases at bay.  This means you have to remain open to changes in your thinking about an issue.  

Fix Your Eyes on Jesus not the Narratives!  Hebrews 12 reminds us that we can get so distracted by what the author calls "weights".  He seems to be referring to distractions that hinder our journey of faith.  The narratives being flung to and fro in our culture are a dime a dozen and they can be a real distraction.  We become so preoccupied with them that we find ourselves placing our hope in the things of this world.  Instead, the author tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus.  Why?  Because He alone is the author of our faith and the perfecter of our faith.  He alone is our hope, and the truth is that true justice and righteousness will not be realized until the evil one is removed and the righteous King Jesus comes again to reign on this earth.  Do not allow the distractions of the narratives to divert your eyes from your true hope.

My encouragement to you is to be humble, gracious, and self-aware as you find yourself processing all the different narratives that exist.  I am not saying you should not have an opinion about a certain narrative, but to be humble about that opinion and listen to other Christians who perceive the narrative differently.  My fear is that the extremes control the narratives in our culture and polarize people through manipulation of what is actually true.  I don't know how to fix that, but I can be aware of how I process the narratives and where I am truly placing my hope.  I hope you find this helpful.