For the following few paragraphs, I want to address a severe addiction I see in the church today. This addiction has struck people of all ages, crippling them, sapping their power and ability to mature, trust God, find hope, and leave countless people enslaved to its power.
So addictive this drug has toppled ministries, churches, leaders, attendees, and split churches. The addictive nature of this substance shows no favoritism. It does not discriminate between males or females; it has no preference of color, economic or educational status.
Bad news. No, not an announcement but rather the addiction that has infected people of God within the church. People in faith communities across the nation and world are drawn to bad news, conspiracies, and the negative like a moth to a flame these days.
This addiction causes us to “Rubberneck,” the collapse of people like we just saw an accident from which we couldn’t look away. Everyone is susceptible, and before you stop being my friends altogether, pointing out the irony of using a bad news intro to get us to examine an addiction to bad news, think about the reality of how bad news feeds something inside the average person.
The addictive nature of bad news is how media makes its money. Years ago, the legendary Paul Harvey (look him up if you don’t know the rest of the story) tried an experiment to do a good news network, people loved good news but loved bad news more, and the experiment failed because it could not make enough money. Jesus said it this way, “People like darkness more than light because the things they do are evil.” Bad news feeds a broken part of me.
So pervasive is this addiction; think how we filter our own personal bad news. When you experience difficulty, have you ever said - “Well, at least I still have… or at least I am not as bad off…”. We use other people’s bad news to soften the blow of our addiction to bad news.
Can I make an observation? (Or Two)
Bad news entices us. Bad news distracts us from the goodness of God and creates mistrust with God. Bad news turns into bad news. In fact, it was a really powerful tool of Satan in the Garden of Eden when he used it on Adam and Eve. Remember, Satan, in the middle of the PERFECT garden and PERFECT place for people, enticed Adam and Eve with Bad news. “God is not being straight with you.” When Adam and Eve took their eyes off the goodness of God, temptation drew them away from God and brought sin and death.
When we are distracted from the goodness of God, we tend to think life is not fair, and people are not fair. I am not appreciated as much as I should be, and that is not fair. When we are distracted from the goodness of God, we tend to trust our own thinking more and His less. When we are distracted from the Goodness of God, we tend to expect from God rather than anticipate His goodness. (When I expect, it usually means I have already figured out what the end result should be - that is why I expect it. When I anticipate - I do not know the outcome, but I know God is good.)
When we are distracted from the goodness of God, we are more easily seduced by bad news. We see mountains as immovable, we see people as villains or enemies, and we see the world driving as fast as it can on the Highway to Hell. When we are distracted from the goodness of God, we tend to settle for lesser goodness.
Is it possible that so much of the anger and anxiety that remains unresolved in us is because we feed it with more bad news? Paul, a writer of 13 of the 27 books in the New Testament, faced his share of bad news. The Emperors of his day hated this new and growing movement centered on Jesus and slaughtered Christians in mass. The religious heritage he had excelled in wanted him dead. Beaten, arrested, lied about, accused, starved, and suffering ailments from all this harm were in his life, and yet his words from prison instruct us so powerfully.
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
Try it this week. Turn off the news, and stare at Jesus. There are dozens of commands to look, stare, fix your gaze, keep your eyes upon Jesus, do that. One of my habits is to read long stretches of scripture. Just read it in big chunks, not trying to study, but just let my mind be washed by it. We are what we eat, and we go where we are looking.