For long I too was stuck in the paralysis of fear. Not knowing how one, or some, would respond to writing. But hey, who cares? Unfortunately in today’s world, we’ve relegated our opinions and thoughts to short (or not-so-short) tweets, posts, videos, and Tik-Toks. This is immensely damaging for a plethora of reasons. Perhaps the primary reason is we’ve lost our ability to rationalize and process information. We have immediate and seemingly endless access to information, never mind that it may not be true or completely out of context. I’ve watched many commentators give their knee-jerk take on any number of issues–politics, religion, health, sports, fashion. The list is inexhaustible. And the problem is the validation his following brings. Whether he is well-informed or not is irrelevant. Whether he’s within the bounds of truth is immaterial. All that matters is he has a platform and speaks what he believes to be true. We’ve lost our ability to understand nuance, research difficult topics, and chiefly, our ability to listen. As soon as an opinion is contrary to our belief system we automatically turn it off. Certainly, that’s your right. I am not arguing to listen to nonsense just to not be accused of being narrow-minded. But a sincere discourse of any type is stifled and silenced. We have become masters of the echo chamber, and its servant to our detriment. As is often said we must believe nothing we hear and only half of what we see–although in today’s AI-generated world, even half is generous. The power of the written word is clear. Writing is more than just a reaction. There must be some type of thought process. Even if it’s flawed. At least I’m thinking. That process becomes refined and improved. When submitted to the authority of God’s Word, my thinking can even change. As it should. Conversations do the same, but again we rarely take the time to engage in meaningful conversation with an alternate (read opposing) viewpoint. On anything. We’ve found our group and we stick with that.
Even if we claim to have the truth, it must engage with error. It will undoubtedly tangle with falsehood. That’s the nature of truth. But we will fail to convince the gainsayers until we can learn to express truth in a form that is both edifying and engaging. I’ve yet to see a Facebook or X debate that was truly beneficial. I have yet to watch a Tik-Tok video and truly be edified. We live in the day and age of the sound bite. Everything is geared toward getting the 10-15 seconds that will reinforce one’s already strongly held beliefs. Let’s take a step back. Truth needs no sound bites. Just a simple, faithful declaration. Not insensitive to the heady winds that blow against sound doctrine, but rather, immensely aware and engaged and faithful regardless from which direction the prevailing winds may come.