1 John 3:18 summarizes the Christian pursuit of truth: “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
Unfortunately, we live in a world in which the truth is becoming harder and harder to find. Trust in one of the most important purveyors of information, the media, has plummeted.
Although this issue was highlighted during the 2016 Presidential election, it has continued to slip ever downward since that time. Morning Consult reports that there has been a 16-point drop in trust for nine leading media outlets—including such titanic names as NBC, Fox News, Wall Street Journal, and NPR—since 2016. [1]
This fact is alarming because many people have historically received their information from media sources that fall into one of the four categories highlighted by the Morning Consult research: cable news, newspapers, or broadcast news. Brain World stated in 2019 that “two-thirds of U.S. adults now receive their news from social media,” indicating that many have abandoned traditional news sources and lost faith in their value. [2]
The explanation for this loss of faith is simple: no one knows who to believe anymore.
We live in a world in which there are simultaneously pieces published on Vox that seriously debate whether President Trump is a fascist [3] and pieces published in The Daily Signal that extoll President Trump’s defense of civil liberties. [4] These views are utterly contradictory; it is literally impossible for someone to both defend civil liberties and be a fascist.
Everyone knows that someone is not telling the truth but the average American is unsure who to believe. As a nation, we are losing our ability to believe in and trust our sources of information.
It is entirely possible that Christians are being harder hit by this more than anyone else, especially given the numerous commands to seek the truth that are found within the Bible.
Fortunately, there is hope, while it may be hard to know which news outlet is reporting the “the truth,” the reporter of the Good News, Jesus Christ, can most certainly be trusted. John 14:6 records the words of Jesus “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Our world is uncertain and fearful, while many have expressed hope that a new year will bring new hope, the fact is that there are many trials ahead of our nation and world. Now is the time to place our faith in God. While it may be hard (nigh impossible) to know which reporter is telling the truth, the truth of the Lord will endure forever.
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[1] Joanna Piacenza,“News Media Credibility Rating Falls to a New Low,” The Morning Consult (April 22, 2020), https://morningconsult.com/2020/04/22/media-credibility-cable-news-poll/
[2] Ralph Bernardo, “Where and How Often Do Americans Get Their News?” BrainWorld (September 3, 2019), https://brainworldmagazine.com/where-and-how-often-do-americans-get-their-news/
[3] Dylan Matthews, “Is Trump a fascist? 8 experts weigh in.” Vox (October 23, 2020), https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/21521958/what-is-fascism-signs-donald-trump
[4] Rob Bluey, “Trump Administration Takes 3 Steps to Boost Religious Freedom,” The Daily Signal (January 17, 2020), https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/01/17/trump-administration-takes-3-steps-to-boost-religious-freedom/
