If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
Gal. 5:25

What speaks into our culture daily with a voice that drives conversation and shapes its citizens beliefs and actions? The news. In American society, the news plays a central role in its citizens lives. But what is it fundamentally? C. John Sommerville, professor emeritus at the University of Florida, argues “the news really is…an industrial product, and how consuming too much of it has affected our minds.”¹ As a product the news must make profit and it must have your attention to make that happen. That doesn’t make the news necessarily bad but it does demonstrate a bottom-line influence. Thus, the news must decide what it thinks will grab your attention and keep your attention weekly, daily, even hourly.

Sommerville gives the example of Princess Diana. He states, “For two weeks after Princess Diana died in that sad accident in 1997, one might have assumed that nothing else was happening in the world. We didn’t hear about it if it did, since only a few events get to be news.”² The struggle with news is, as Sommerville argues, “The product of the news business is change, not wisdom….they have to make us want to come back tomorrow for more news—more change.”³ The news must concentrate on what sells and they do that through “change, variety, [and] shock.”⁴

Getting information daily leads to a measure of being informed⁵—a very small measure when you consider how big the world is and what makes it in the news cycles—but does it make us wise? Wisdom requires much context, study, and time. With the news being a bottom line financial product consisting of daily, even hourly change, wisdom will take additional effort on the listener’s part.

Why are you talking about the news pastor Sean? I wanted to bring this topic up because I think it is one that affects us more than we know. Personally, I know more about famous celebrity’s than I do my own neighbors. I spend more time “knowing” what’s going on in the world than I do with my extended family members. I can bounce from podcast to podcast just scratching the surfaces of a topic. That is not the life I want to live. The news has its place but when it takes over the wrong place in our lives—becoming the daily and dominant voice—it can breed anxious thoughts.

Pastorally, I don’t want us to be an anxious people because of news consumption. I want us to exist as a people that are too focused on giving, loving, praying, and worshiping God in our communities than to be caught up in a latest headline. The news is a product designed to draw you in and keep you coming back. The Gospel, however, is designed to set you free to serve God in true righteousness and holiness.

Let us not become idle consumers, but those who walk in step with the Spirit, as Paul instructs us in Galatians 5:25. The Spirit’s life giving presence, power, and direction are essential for us as Christians. Thomas Schreiner says, “Life in the Spirit is not on automatic pilot, for the battle against the flesh continues (5:17), so that believers must continue to walk by the Spirit (5:16) and be led by the Spirit (5:18).”⁶ The Spirit is gracious to lead us against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Let us look to Him and seek to walk by Him in it all while bearing His fruits. “[T]he kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Rom. 14:17)

Reflect

Consider a news fast. Consider taking a week off of watching/listening to the news and replace it with something for the Lord. Consider one good book to dive into rather than hopping from headline to headline. Let us contemplate the glory and grace of God more than the news.