I heard Frank Luntz being interviewed on the radio today. He said something that I thought was profound: “We don’t watch the news any more for information but for affirmation.” (That’s as close as I can get on the quote, sorry if I missed a word.)
Are you looking for affirmation in the news? Have you tuned in to any of the “opposition” channels in the last 6 months? Do you ever read editorials that really torque you off when you read the headline? If not, why not? If you’re right you shouldn’t mind checking out what the “other side” has to say, should you? What if you’re wrong? You might never know if you don’t listen to the opposition. Try it, you might learn something.
In our spiritual lives we don’t want to listen to the opposition. Satan is right outside our door 24×7. His voice is already very loud in our popular culture and lives. He’s even in church with us from time to time. Do we need to listen to him? I don’t think so. But part of the arrogance of Satan is our arrogance in being sure we’re absolutely right about everything on this Earth. If you don’t recognize his voice from time to time, you’re probably not listening closely enough.
How do we avoid that arrogance in our lives? Dive deep into The Word. Listen to your pastor on Sunday and think about that message. If the pastor’s not preaching from the Bible with citations, is it their message or God’s? Read your Bible. Pray. Think about what Jesus would do based on the Bible, not on current social conventions.
And with less than two weeks to go before the elections, I urge you to again look at your candidates and ballots from a Biblical perspective. You might win the argument about something with your mother, brother, or best friend if you vote a certain way and your side wins. But is it the vote that God would expect of someone who wishes to enter His Kingdom of Heaven?
Weigh the issues. Examine the candidates. Examine the Gospels. Once you’ve balanced the first two with the third one, then you will be ready to vote. Are you ready?
Chicken! It’s too facile to take the WWJD path.
If Jesus were alive today and living in Peoria, he would be asking his Father to send frogs. Lots of frogs.