Spiritual Disciplines and News Stories, Part Two
In the last post, I reflected on how not to respond to the news as the world does and outlined some suggestions for receiving the news in distinctively Christian ways. We must let the fruits of our devotional time with God (Bible reading, biblical meditation, and prayer) flow freely into news consumption time, interpreting the news for us. Pray for how you receive the news, and pray from the news! Here are four more ways to maintain this godly news perspective.
Meditate on the Bible in Light of Current Events
During your scheduled Bible reading, make it a practice to stop at the end of every passage or chapter to meditate on what you have just read. When we meditate from the Bible, we “pause and reflect on his words, which we have read, heard, or studied.”1 Usually, we apply such wonderful truths to ourselves. But why stop there with ourselves? What if you started meditating on Scripture and applying it to what you are hearing and reading from the news? That would bless you twice.
First, it would strengthen your Christian worldview regarding issues as you stop to ask about God’s viewpoint on them! Second, it would give you more opportunities to meditate. As a Christian, Psalm 14:1 (“The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God'”) will never apply to you. But when you read this verse, you could stop and pray for famous atheists in the news who have been living out their unbelief in public ways. For example, you could stop and pray for Richard Dawkins, who, without acknowledging God, has recently made the bizarre claim to be a “cultural Christian.” Other believers mock his inconsistency or doubt his sincerity, but when you read Psalm 14:1 and Dawkins comes to mind, pray for him from that verse that he might genuinely be saved!
Meditate from Current Events to the Bible
The type of meditation you are most familiar with, as described above, is “scheduled meditation,” moving from the Bible to life. But in the Bible and Christian history, examples abound of moving backward from experience and news to biblical truths. Think of David’s “spontaneous” meditation from creation to its Creator (Psalm 19:1-6). You, too, can begin to practice pausing after getting the news and working backward from what you have heard, seen, or read to what God says about it.
For example, suppose you read about the Nashville, Tennessee, woman who shot and killed her husband for adultery. You could reflect on this violation of the sixth and seventh commands (Exodus 20:13-14), even as you pray for God’s saving grace and mercy for that family: "May God raise up Christians around that family to comfort them and point them to Jesus, who alone can bring good out of the double evil of this tragedy!"
Selective Ignorance Can Save Time and Open Doors!
Inform yourself about the major issues and stories, and then ignore the rest. There is value in “selective ignorance” so that you can stay focused on the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33).2 Like submarine crews who are “habitually spared bad news while underwater to avoid undermining their morale,” believers are to pursue God’s priorities. They cannot waste excessive hours being concerned with the things of this quickly passing present age. Ignore the cultural assumption that to be intelligent, we must be “in the know” at every moment on every topic!
As a pastor, I have discovered that not knowing the most recent news flash sometimes opens the doors to opportunities to minister. The conversation begins, “Pastor, did you read/hear that…?” If I reply, “Yes, and that was clearly a case of…! “I cannot believe he said that…!” or “Well, you know things are …! " I can short-circuit a developing conversation with a troubled soul.
Usually, what I need to do is to ask questions. “Tell me about that situation. What happened? How do you feel about that?" The Christian is obviously disturbed by something and wants to tell me all about it. I learn the news and get their take on it at the same time. That opens the door for me to minister to them in response to their need. Those are teachable moments! After having honored them by listening to them, then I can gently provide a biblical worldview interpretation of what has happened.
Read the News Instead of Watching It!
The godly can watch newscasts or breaking news videos and respond righteously, but that is harder to do than if you are reading the news. First, reading allows you to pause to pray. You do not have to rush. Stop when you read something that prompts prayer. Then, keep reading. Second, visual images naturally stir our emotions, and the new media intentionally designs videos to capture our attention through our emotions. As Neil Postman observed, the “now…this” sequence of rushed, disconnected, and fragmented stories and images does not benefit us.3 Why fight against emotional provocation that can border on manipulation? You could have read the news more objectively and calmly. Third, print news is easier to transfer into your prayer list. If you have your prayer lists on your phone or tablet, you can either type or copy and paste the names of those for whom you will be praying.
May we practice better stewardship of our hearts and minds as we receive the news, reflect on it biblically, pray about it, and respond with appropriate words and actions!
Here is a helpful, related article:
"Why Pastors Would Do Well to Stay In Our Lane" by Mike Leake
1David Mathis, Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines (Wheaton: Crossway, 2016), 5.
2Scott Slayton, “5 Helpful Tips to Cultivate Selective Ignorance,” Crosswalk, 1 Mar., 2017, https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/5-helpful-tips-to-cultivate-selective-ignorance.html. While Slayton has developed this idea, he credits Tim Ferri in The 4-Hour Work Week for the use of this specific term.
3Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (New York: Penguin Books, 1986 ), 98-100.
Comments