This world we live in is bursting at the seams with information. It’s everywhere – ads, magazines, articles, social media posts, billboards. It’s on our TVs, our phones, our computers. It’s even on giant blinking signs above the interstate. The thing I’ve come to realize though, is that all this information is not only overloading our senses but it is also overloading our hearts. I think that in general, we as a society (myself included!) have forgotten that not everything presented to us is fact. That most of it is actually skewed to get us to purchase something, believe a certain way, or to make us feel a particular emotion.
In the chaos that has surrounded us lately, it can be overwhelming to hear all the voices. Another death. Another crisis. Another injustice. Another thing I need. Another …
Beyond limiting my exposure to media (social and mainstream), I wanted to come up with guidelines for myself so that when I felt overwhelmed or confused, I didn’t just assimilate new information as fact. When we are tired and discouraged and confused, we tend to just take what we hear and believe it. We are easily angered and tend to get defensive. But when we monitor what is entering our minds and hearts and have guidelines for where to assign the information that we do let in, I think we will feel less burdened. I think we can be more understanding of others’ views while holding fast to our own convictions. I think perhaps if we take the emotion out of what we are hearing and seeing, seeking just the actual facts, that we will stop being led by arbitrary hearsay and start leading with truth and certainty.
In this age of information overload, here are some tips for processing all that information presented to us as fact.
Fact Check…and then Fact Check Again.
Remember junior high? If your experience was anything like mine, somewhere around those pre-teen/teen years, you were a victim of falsified information. Someone spread a rumor or told a lie or just misunderstood and by the time it got back to you, it was like a crazy game of telephone. The truth was nowhere to be found. Unfortunately, the world we live in today is much like a game of telephone. Someone important says something that someone doesn’t like. They write a report about it, but their opinion (consciously or subconsciously) seeps into their writing. Suddenly, you get to the end of the article and you feel something. You are pulled a certain way. But instead of good writing and objective journalism motivating us to stand up and fight wrong-doing, we’re now emotionally drawn in due to a specific reporter’s version of the truth.
I’ve started to feel like a college kid writing a paper as I navigate all the information thrown at me. I no longer trust any one source, any one political party, any one social justice organization. Just because someone I admire shares their motivational speech on instagram doesn’t mean I automatically jump on board. If I’m honest, I used to just avoid it all. It was easier, let me tell you. But I don’t want to be oblivious anymore, and I can’t afford to if I want the world my kids grow up in to be better than the one we are trudging through right now.
Expand Your View.
We are blessed enough to live in a free country, where it is not a crime to have differing opinions. Just because you think differently than your neighbor or family member doesn’t make one of you better or worse. In fact, tuning in to how others see the situation can be powerful. Putting ourselves in others’ shoes can open our eyes to issues we never would have seen before. Expanding your view doesn’t mean changing your core values and beliefs, but it does mean being willing to listen to the other side.
So, I’d encourage you to put your research hat on the next time you come across an article, a facebook post, an insta story, or a news report that makes you feel something. Is what they are saying true? Are the numbers and data presented accurate? Why are they telling you that? What’s the end goal that the people who created that content have for you – the consumer? Don’t take it at face value, but do your own digging to find the truth and THEN decide how you feel about the issue.
Ask your friend that thinks differently than you to explain their point of view. You may be surprised to find that you have a little common ground. Seek out non-partisan news sources and read reports from both sides of political lines on the same issue. Compare the live stream that you tuned in to with the reports that come out afterwards. Check more than one source before you believe data and numbers flippantly mentioned. Seek out smaller social justice organizations and read about their missions rather than just hopping on board with bigger, more well known, organizations.
Say No To Bandwagons.
I think jumping on board with the next big hype is one of the most frustrating parts of our culture. It goes back to that age old response to “But they were doing it!” … “If they were gonna jump off a bridge would you?!”
Please hear my heart in what I am about to say. I know there is pain in this world. I know there is injustice. I know lives have been lost due to the pandemic. I’m not in any way trying to lessen the gravity of that. However, I think the fact that I’ve just now been able to buy name brand toilet paper for the first time in 6 months is proof that we as a culture have a “bandwagon” problem. Fear, politics, social justice… When we don’t have a filter for the information we consume, we find ourselves doing things just because they were doing it. (Who is they?! Why are they doing this?!)
Not to sound too much like a mother here, but just because someone else is doing something doesn’t make it productive – or right! There have been numerous examples in the last several months, but I’ll go back to the toilet paper. It was the last few days of Spring Break. I had heard rumors of “the sickness” as Logan calls it, and had seen a few people with very full shopping carts the week before and wondered what that was all about. (This was before daily updates and taskforces.) I was going to Costco for my monthly stock-up, and drove up to all out panic. People were putting gallons and gallons of milk into their trunks. There were overflowing carts everywhere. People were avoiding eye contact and rushing to their cars. Paper and cleaning products were nowhere to be found. It was very clear that people were seeing others grab extra and started to panic, so then they started to grab extra. I found myself getting swept up in it as well. Not because of any facts that told me ‘toilet paper will prevent coronavirus’ but because of the fear of those around me.
I love having children for many reasons, one being the perspective they offer me. If I think about how I would boil this down for them it would be “don’t let fear or other people’s strong opinions make up your mind for you. Do your own research.”
If you’re seeing a group of people stock up on TP or protesting something or shouting something in all caps on Facebook, stop and ask yourself why. Why are they doing this or saying this? What do they believe? Are their core values the same as mine? If so, is this an issue that I need to learn more about? If so, start asking more questions and doing more digging until you get to the facts. And friend, do not allow fear to be the guiding factor in your decisions, your beliefs or your words. Fear has no place here. We serve a God who is bigger than the pain and suffering in this world, and He has already overcome. (More on that in Part 2.)
Trust But Verify.
Don’t think I’m telling you that no one is trustworthy and everyone is out to get us. I’m not. What I am very convinced of, however, is that we must not blindly believe anything. We can trust, but we must verify facts. Sometimes people make mistakes or stumble over their words. And sadly, sometimes people mislead on purpose.
My Daddy always said not to just believe blindly, whether it was a preacher, a friend, a stranger or even him. He always said to take it back to Scripture, hold it up to God’s words and see if it stood as truth. Then, and only then, to take that and make it a belief.
I think the loss of that compass is the root cause of all the pain and dysfunction in our world today. We’ve lost the measuring stick and instead each have our own method, our own measuring stick, our own “truth”. And that is dangerous as Christians. When we decide that our “truth” is worth fighting for more than God’s truth, then we start to turn our hearts away from the God who loves us and is fighting for GOOD.
I’ve found that in all areas of my life, asking myself questions to get to the heart of the matter is helpful. What have I taken in as truth that doesn’t line up with what the Bible says? Am I believing a lie about myself? Am I viewing someone as less than made in His image? Have I been fighting a battle that I was never made to fight? Are the things I stand up for what Jesus would stand for? Am I standing up for the hurting in a way that pulls them to their feet and encourages others to do the same? Am I responding to others who disagree with me with love and mercy?
As a Christian, I trust in God and I give others the benefit of the doubt. But I have learned that I must verify the information that is thrown my way in these chaotic times, because as you know – much of it is contradictory! But now that we have some guidelines to keep us focused, perhaps we’ll be able to better love those around us and calm the anxiety in our hearts. Check your facts. Expand your view. Say no to bandwagons. And don’t be afraid to take what you’ve heard and dig deep into why it bothers you so much.
Now that we have guidelines on how to take in all this information, how do we respond? More on responding (specifically as followers of Christ!) in Part 2.