As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“Some people feel like we’re accelerating headlong toward a precipice, uncontrolled and uncontrollably. And on the heels of such thoughts inevitably come fear, despair, desperation, rage. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.” - Olinger
“As writers like Maryanne Wolf worry, our daily deluge of ‘eye-byte-sized information’ creates the illusion we are well-informed and, at the same time, strangles our critical thinking capacities.” - TGC
“When, like Timothy, you’re facing a challenge that seems too big for you, it’s helpful to know that … our Father has not given us a panicking kind of spirit. But it’s also helpful to know what he has given us. Paul specifies three gifts from an omnipotent, gracious, knowledgeable, and sympathetic Father.” - Olinger
“Education doesn’t make sense in a worldview that is only about survival. … But with a worldview that says that the world itself came from a first cause that is intelligent, reasonable, knowable, and … wants to be known, there is solid grounding for actual knowledge, and therefore education.” - Breakpoint
I’ve written previously about the role of good sources in the exercise of discernment. To flesh them out, I’ve also offered some practical tips: closest is best, deprioritize opinion, and look past headlines.
Here we consider three more tips for better use of sources.
“For many Christians, taking precautions to avoid catching and spreading COVID-19 is embracing not a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.” - Lifeway
“…most people obtain their worldview by unconsciously absorbing it from the culture rather than consciously adopting it from Scripture. Identifying and mastering the components of the biblical worldview will strengthen the faith of any believer, help us to detect and refute error, and live consistent with the way the world really works.” - P&D
“If your ‘news’ sources know what you believe and like (and they do) and you believe what you like to hear, then it should be no surprise that you are presented with more of it, magnified and deepened.” - Ken Brown
“We live within a society (and sometimes even attend churches) that views law as intrinsically negative. Commands equal negative restrictions. … But, a proper distinction between the law and grace does not conclude that the law is negative – only that it is insufficient to save us.” - Zach Dietrich
(Posted in July of 2020)
My thoughts below predate COVID-19, masks, hydroxychloroquine, or churches defying public health emergency orders. Last fall, different controversies were exposing problems in how believers evaluate conflicting claims and decide what to believe.
But those problems are still with us, and the current raft of controversies is exposing them even more painfully.
Discussion