What are you listening to?
What are you listening to?
I’ve been listening to Chris Stapleton a lot lately. In his song, “What are you listening to?” he asks are you listening to the real song or just some cheap cover band? It’s a fair question, what are you listening to? Or rather, who are you listening to? Where do you go to look for truth? In this age of information we have facts, thoughts, opinions at the ready whenever we go looking. We see airbrushed celebrities on the cover of magazines as we stand in the check out line. We watch the news, but we can’t get a straight story without some kind of bias twisting the truth. We’ve got social media telling us what to think, how to act, what to wear, how to be the best parent, what cause to take up. We can google any topic we want, read a paragraph and feel like an expert. We can go through our news feed and find conspiracy theories for all current world affairs. But where do we go to find truth, truth we can count on, truth that is the same yesterday, today and forever?
For most of us, the obvious answer is the Bible. But I wonder how often we go there seeking truth? How can we sift through all that the world tells us without looking through the lens of what God tells us? We hear from Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” I cannot tell you how many times I have gone to Google to find some trick or strategy for “fixing” a problem with one of my kids. But I will tell you, google never made me feel complete or equipped.
The “Edelman Trust Barometer,” a survey put out randomly throughout the world has stated that we have entered a “new era of information bankruptcy.” I don’t think it’s any surprise that after the year we had in 2020 and continuing on into 2021, that trust in our public institutions is at an all time low. The study tells us that worldwide, trust in media is at is 53%, down from 65% two years ago. Trust in social media is down to 35% and trust in the American government, 40%. Where do you look to find truth? What are you listening to?
In 1 John 4:1, John tells us, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” We need to test what we are seeing and hearing from the world around us. But how can we test it if we do not know it? Psalms 19 says, “the ordinances of the Lord are reliable and altogether righteous. They are more desirable than gold—than an abundance of pure gold; and sweeter than honey dripping from a honeycomb” (Ps. 19:9-10). His Word is reliable, righteous, precious, and sweet. How refreshing it is to know that we do have a place to go to find truth. Truth that will last from generation to generation. Truth that was for the Israelites wandering in the desert thousands of years ago, yet still applies to us in 2021. Only the God of the universe can speak such words.
So I ask again, “what are you listening to?” Are you going to the source of truth? Or just listening to a cheap cover? The next time you feel anxious about the world around you, will you read one more news article, google one more topic or will you reach for the Word of Truth? When you question something you’ve read in a book that just didn’t sound right, will you go and test it against what God has written in His Book. Will you seek His answers as to what to think, how to act, what to wear, how to parent, or what cause to take up? I pray that as a church body we will take His Word, treasure it, savor it, and be grounded in it, so that we may test what is true and share that with a world that is in desperate need of truth.
Kristen Robbins