Nothing but News?

One of the great moments of gospel advance in the early church is when Paul preaches in Athens in Acts 17. We have Luke’s summary of the speech, along with this curious leading comment on why Paul was invited to speak at the Areopagus: 

Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. (Acts 17:21)

Now, Luke does not appear to be impressed with, nor does he commend, the Athenians’ use of time. However, he does observe that their otherwise unhealthy fascination with news provides a surprising opportunity, contrary to their intention, for the ultimate news, the good news of Jesus Christ.

So, here, in Athens — this one time — their fixation on news works for the good news. But then what? What will happen when the good news is no longer new to such people, and they move on to the next new thing?

Perhaps, like me, you grew up assuming, or still assume, that keeping up with the daily news is a good, respectable, even virtuous habit. Responsible people diligently apply themselves and expend daily effort to stay informed of the news, and perhaps especially Christians. I think that is a bad assumption.

But the main issue is not whether you stay up on the news in some modest way, but at what cost. Or more precisely, Have you come to lean on news, and give daily attention to news, in such a way that it has become, however so subtle, a replacement for, or competitor to, God.

To test yourself, you might ask, Where do I turn first in the morning? Once I’m awake, and have my best attention and full focus ready, where does it go?

We might also ask ourselves about where we default to, or return to, or what we naturally meditate on, in the spare moments of the day. Is it news? Is it the pretense, I want to know what’s going on in the world right now?

Paul writes in Colossians 3:1–2 with what might be clarifying words for us as Christians on how to orient to the news:

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

The issue is, Where do we go to set our minds? What, and who, gets our priority time, and our most engaged attention? Is it Christ, and his good news, or is it too often the daily news of this age? Do we seek Jesus and set our minds on him, or has something else crept in — perhaps something as seemingly virtuous as the daily news — and taken his place of priority?

Note well, this is not a call to be oblivious to our times or separate ourselves artificially from the world into which Christ has sent us. But it is a reminder to get the order and balance right.

So, the exhortation this morning is this: let’s make Jesus and his good news, through his word, the first and foremost news in our lives, not the world’s news. It is inevitable, and even helpful at times, to receive the world’s news — and as we do, let’s be among those whose minds have been set on things above, so that we might wisely weigh and respond to daily news from below as Christians.

Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we confess our ears, and our focus, have too often been more attentive, and more attuned, to daily news than to your Son, and what is ultimate. Whether politics, or ESPN, or the pandemic, or online updates from friends and family, we are prone to lose our bearings, lapse in our priorities, and mishandle the proportions. 

And now, in this moment, gathered with your church, with your Spirit among us, we see our folly afresh. We acknowledge our sins of attention and diversion, both subtle and grievous. And we ask for your forgiveness in Christ, as we search our own hearts, and confess our sins, in the silence of this moment.

Father, be our vision. Make Jesus, your Son, and his good news, through his word, to have our best thoughts, and be our prioritized focus. 

Keep us from letting the course and pattern of this world, through its news, shape our minds and hearts, and perspective, and control how we approach Christ and his word. Rather, we ask, make Christ and his news, through his word, to so shape us, that it transforms how, and when, and how often, and how much we give ear to the world’s news through whatever flawed and distorting channel it comes to us.

Father, we praise you that you know it all. Every event, every detail, every happening. And you know all that matters most, and typically goes unreported, in our world. So, set our minds on your Son, and in him, give us wisdom to live in this age, wise as serpents and innocent as doves. In Jesus’s name, we pray. Amen.