I don’t know why it has shocked me, but it has: Christians stressing over the news media and their freedoms as United States citizens. The news media doesn’t always portray the truth? There’s a slant? Yes. When did we begin to think that we’d encounter truth on a regular basis in everyday life in our culture? And we think we deserve certain rights as citizens of a country? Is that the primary focus of our citizenship? 

I’m pretty sure God’s more concerned with his truth and his freedom, not what we expect from and demand from our everyday experiences and situations. That’s not to say we shouldn’t speak up for truth. But we don’t determine it. We don’t decide the expression of his truth and how he wants to reveal and spread it. And of course we should be concerned about freedom and rights but not for ourselves: for God’s people. And I’m not talking about the Christian church. I’m referring to his created people, the ones who have chosen him and the ones who haven’t yet. We don’t know. Yet we are pointing at people and accusing them as if God didn’t have a hand in creating them, as if he hates them, and we’re just doing his work. It’s absolutely heartbreaking. 

Refuse to get sucked in. Take an intentional step back. If your level of frustration comes from media sources, how much time are you spending on them? Are you unwilling to expand your sources for information, the same accusation you’re probably making of others? Do you spend, at minimum, equal time in the truth sources you claim to abide by? 

I’m not twirling in circles to randomly finger point at my Christian friends. We’ve had transparent conversations and admitted that our times of unrest primarily come when we hit a threshold of reading, listening to, and scrolling through questionable, emotional, often unfounded claims. If we don’t monitor ourselves and let God convict us when we are spending more time in media sources than in his truth, we’re going to drift. It often begins with following leaders and sources that share our basic beliefs. There’s nothing wrong with that: podcasts, messages, books. But when they become our main source of nutrition, we slowly drift without realizing it. There is enough truth we can point to, and the rest seems unalarming. Then it seems normal. Then we trust those sources as God’s truth instead of seeking God for his truth.

How much are you steeping in the foundation of truth? How much are you rationalizing?  Christians get sucked into a lot of the drama and justify it as trying to stick to the truth. We cannot rest in our past experiences with truth. As we grow, we understand at deeper levels. If we don’t steep in truth and grow into it, we carry our immature understandings into more mature settings, and we won’t fare well. 

Let’s quit coasting and be more intentional about our choices. Instead of information surfing and cherry-picking, let’s steep in the breadth and depth of God’s truth. Instead of relying on what verses and general tone we recall from God’s truth, let’s get more familiar with him. His character matters. It reveals truth. This is a journey. Let’s not get stuck.