Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is
commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of
praise, think about these things.
--Philippians 4:8
NRSV
Back
in the day when I still watched the evening news on one of the three broadcast
networks, I recall each 30-minute program basically breaking down into about 12
minutes of commercials, 15 minutes of headline news that was typically all
negative, and a final 2-3 minute story that was positive. (I assume this is
still the case?) This final feel-good story was sort of like an after-dinner
mint. It was a palate cleanser, so you didn’t leave the broadcast feeling bad
after watching all the “serious” news.
Today
it seems like the non-stop news updates on our phones, news stories shared on
social media and 24-hour cable news channels have left us only with the bad
taste in our mouths. Even the after dinner mint of good news is difficult to
find. In my social media feeds, I’ve seen this non-stop consumption of bad news
described with the term “doomscrolling,” as in continuing to scroll through our
social media unable to stop taking in the negative. Instead of merely being
informed about what goes on in our society or learning enough to do something
positive in order to make the world a better place, doomscrolling amounts to
a fixation on the negative for no real healthy purpose.
It
turns out there may be a reason for our doomscrolling. This morning the New
York Times had some interesting news about media coverage of the last few
years. A research study of national US media found it overwhelmingly negative
when compared to other Western media. The study didn’t offer a conclusive
reason for this negativity but did note that media outlets seemed to be giving
consumers what they want. News articles shared tended to be almost exclusively
negative. Most journalists, the piece noted, were less concerned with consumer demand
than with trying to expose the truth that politicians, celebrities and
powerbrokers want to hide. Yet, its author admitted, “our
healthy skepticism can turn into reflexive cynicism, and we end up telling
something less than the complete story.” Media consumers
who want “the complete story” may have to work hard to find positive news to
balance out the negative.
Minister and writer Vince Amlin shares about
well-meaning Christians overwhelmed by the deluge of bad news:
Most of us believe that being informed citizens and
compassionate churchgoers means faithfully taking our daily dose of world
tragedy. The results are predictably toxic. Bad news piles up until we feel
paralyzed with powerlessness.
I get this. Any who wish to follow Jesus need to avoid
denying just how bad the world can often be, but if we only focus on the bad
news, we do not see the full story of what God is doing in our world. In a
culture apparently obsessed with bad news, we need to be on our guard against
doomscrolling.
The word “gospel” literally means “good news,” but
maybe we have domesticated the “good news” into a religious formula that
amounts only to a ticket to heaven rather than a worldview. In order to remain
faithful to God’s demands of justice, peace, mercy and love, we cannot afford
to give into despair. Despair, or worse indifference, accomplishes nothing in
terms of making this world a better place. Instead, we must commit ourselves to
looking for the good news of where God is at work in our world, so we are
inspired to join in. This requires us to heed the Apostle Paul’s encouragement “whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is
commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of
praise, think about these things.”
The next time you find
yourself doomscrolling walk away from the phone, tablet, computer or TV and
focus on the blessings you have, the people you love and the good things of God
constantly happening all around you.
Grace and Peace,
Chase
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