People have often heard that if a lie is told often enough, people believe it; they take it as truth. In the age of social media, we are finding the discussion of “fake news” to be a daily concern.
Increasingly, from across the political spectrum, claims are asserted as facts and accepted because of their constant repetition.
Christians have a responsibility to seek and embrace truth and to avoid error. This responsibility directs our thoughts as we engage others in casual conversation. We should not be guilty of spreading lies, especially when a few moments of research would disclose the truth.
In the church, especially, we should be aware of the sinister power of a repeated lie.
Much error has come into religion when an attractive lie has been repeated and expanded over time.
In recent decades for example, many in the religious world in the U.S. have been repeating the false way of salvation commonly identified as the “sinner’s prayer”, and continual repetition of this doctrine by many at services has given it a veneer of truth.
Falsehoods, repeated enough, will be accepted as facts.
Jesus spoke of this in Matthew 15:13 where He said, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.” He was speaking of defilement of the human heart, and that what comes out of a man defiles him, not what goes into a man. Falsehood that is present today will eventually be removed and dispelled, but we must not wait for judgement, we must search the scriptures daily as the Bereans to see if what is said on Sunday morning it true!
While indeed, no individual Christian, congregation or institution is without shortcomings, we must understand that part of our faith includes continually searching for truth in much the same way we continue to feed our physical bodies. Jesus spoke frequently about being the bread from heaven, and we clearly see the parallel.
Harsh criticisms of the faithful, however, are repeated without evidence, and with sheer force of repetition, they are accepted as true. When outrageous claims are made against the Lord’s church, we should remember that Jesus warns us these things would happen. Hopefully, we have a feeling of responsibility to do something about it to dispel the falsehood, either on our own or with the help of brother or sister to try and proclaim truth and counter the lie. God forbid that we should let it pass without a word!
God’s people are called to wisdom, and wisdom entails seeing things as they really are. We must be neither cynical or gullible.
Sometimes, following the truth may fly in the face of conventional opinion. But God has called us to the narrow way of truth, not the broad way of error.
Let’s be giving our soul it’s daily meal.
Grace and peace,
Tony
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