Like so many others, I suffer from “news junkitis.” I came down with this sometime in the last ten or fifteen years. I remember back when I was a young man, hearing older Christians pontificating about geopolitical issues, wondering how in the world they knew about that stuff—the world economic forces, the issues behind the Vietnam War, the fate of Taiwan and Afghanistan (yes, even back then). They could argue politics and contend that the opposing party would bring ruin to civilization as we know it if we didn’t oppose them. They insisted that Judeo-Christian culture was in danger and the mark of the beast was right around the corner.

Some could identify national characters based on prophecies and eschatological interpretations that varied widely. One pamphlet that circulated widely was “88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988” (of course, sales dropped off in 1989). The book The Late Great Planet Earth was a bestseller, and the film “A Thief in the Night” was watched by every Christian youth group.

Many things that seemed so certain had to be modified with the coming of the so-called “information highway” and the increase of voices, all speaking with authority and certainty. How can people be sure about anything?

The free news (and by that I don’t mean freedom-of-speech news, but no-cost-to-read-online news) is no longer news in an objective sense, but more opinion, curated-with-an-angle, propaganda. However, we may point out that totally objective news would be boring. It is the very problem of biased-presenting news that makes it interesting. It is passionate, and that is what makes it compelling.  But that is also what makes it less factual, and, well, less a source of actual news.

Even gossip is dull if it is only factual. Heresay that is nuanced, the juicy info—that’s what grabs our attention. It’s not what people did, but our interpretation of why they did what they did. It’s not that Bob crashed his car, but that he was not wearing his seat belt and was reading a text on his mobile phone when he crashed—now, that’s interesting (that was a dumb thing for him to do; I would never do that!). You will be more interested in the story if I embellish it a bit by adding, “I wonder if he just left his house in an angry fit with his wife.” So the facts get massaged to make the “news” more newsy, more interesting and worth discussing and passing on.

But certitude suffers. How can we know what really happened, what is true? Years ago, I had dinner with an older Christian whom I respected as a godly man and great teacher of the Word, one of those who spoke with confidence and certainty. I asked him, “What do you have to say to me as a younger believer?” His response took me aback, but I have never forgotten it: “The older I get, the less certain I am about many things I was once certain about.” And then he paused. He was probably in his 70s, so I knew this was not superficial fluff. My mind whirled between confusion and questioning. Before I had a chance to spill out my frustration that I was building my life on gaining the certainty I heard in others’ voices, I was confronted with my own assertions of certainty over many things I had pontificated on, including spiritual truths and assertions about life and other people’s behaviors—then he continued on. “But of things I am sure about, I am more certain.”

As I have become older now, I agree with his wisdom. The field of truth keeps narrowing to what is most important and vital in life. The quest for the knowledge of God was bullseye-center in Paul’s mind when he wrote:

I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord … so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him … that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death … (Phil. 3:8-10)

Christ is the target of our quest for truth and certainty. Not contemporary news that riles us up and unsettles our inner peace. We may be wrong about our perspectives on present-day events, responses to pandemics, and governmental interference in our lives. But we must not be wrong in knowing God and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, and we must continue pursuing that knowledge. Paul sets for us the example:

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead … (Phil. 3:12–13)

A faithful, biblical Christian will focus on knowing Christ more than knowing the current events of this world.

Lord, I want to be a faithful, biblical Christian, and I renew my commitment to keeping my focus on You, my Savior and my Lord.