We’ve been through a lot these last several months. Between COVID-19, the killing of George Floyd, and the subsequent riots—this world appears to be spinning out of control. As Christians, we know that behind all of this, God is still sovereign. He is working his plan, and he wins in the end.

Knowing all of this, I am still concerned about what I have seen in our culture and the church’s response. Why? To understand, let’s start with Ephesians 4:14-15, “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” Paul instructs Christians not to be tossed to and fro by the winds of doctrine. That term, doctrine, just means teaching. Christians should be rooted in the core teachings of the faith, and this should produce a steadfastness. While Paul is primarily addressing religious teachings here, any form of teaching could toss us to and fro. Lately, Christians have been tossed to and fro by many things.

As I consider how Christians responded to both COVID-19 and the George Floyd situation, it is clear we are being steered. By that, I mean the world sets our agenda. Instead of us calling the world to leave everything to follow Christ, we are constantly following the lead of those in the world. I fear many Christians have forgotten the media is not in the business of telling the unfiltered truth.

Media Bias

In my undergrad, part of my coursework was on media bias. It’s not hard to find bias and spin in today’s world. This happens in both political directions. Yet, it is also fair to point out that the majority of traditional media is biased in favor of progressive leftism. Take this piece from Van Gordon Sauter, who served as the president of CBS News on two separate occasions. Sauter argues that back in the 1980s, he recognized a “liberal tilt” in the media, but he believed it could be corrected. He rightly believed that journalists should attempt to be impartial and objective. That is no longer the case in today’s media.

Sauter recognizes that the bias is so bad in the media today that it can no longer be corrected. As he explains, the liberal bias has it has only intensified. He writes, “The highly influential daily newspapers in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, and Boston are now decidedly liberal. On the home screen, the three broadcast network divisions still have their liberal tilt. Two of the three leading cable news sources are unrelentingly liberal in their fear and loathing of President Trump.” Sauter argues the media should just openly acknowledge their bias.

Anyone attempting to pay attention with any sense of honesty knows what Sauter says is true. There is little attempt to hide the agendas on our screens today. The media, with a few exceptions, is decidedly leftist, and this impacts how they report the news. To put it plainly, the media is pushing an agenda.

Why is this important? Bias happens in many ways, but two deserve our attention, first, by gatekeeping. That is, not every newsworthy story receives coverage, and not all stories receive equal coverage. Those who report the news show their bias on what they report on and what they refuse to cover. Second, how stories are reported on or spun, also shows bias. As Sauter points out, the “loathing” of President Trump is evident in many forms of our media. This is not to deny that conservative media also spins things; they do. But that the “mainstream media” has an agenda. This agenda has tossed us to and fro. Sadly, this includes Christians. Whether you like Trump or not, it doesn’t matter. He is an image-bearer, and much of the reporting about him has been slanderous and sinful. He is not the only president this has happened to, but such sinful slander has reached a new low in our day. Whether you vote for and like the president, whether the President is Trump or Obama, Christians should never support slander because it’s sinful. As Christians, we should never partake in slander, even if we don’t like the person.

COVID-19 and Racial Injustice

If we recognize that just about every media channel is offering us spin, it will help us cut through the fog. I admit, it is hard knowing what is true in today’s world, and it can be hard to distinguish truth from bias. If we start with the knowledge, that in our hyper-politicized age, most news reports are biased and are meant to adavance a certain agenda, then we will be less likely to be tossed to and fro by the headlines. Moreover, Christians will be less likely to used as pawns to advance wicked ideologies. Christians need to start setting the agenda, and stare down the angry mobs and refuse to give in to their demands.

A couple of recent examples demonstrate this bias. From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of reputable scientists has spoken with more caution than the headlines of CNN, MSNBC, or NPR. They predicated, based on real-world data, that the death rate would likely be well below 1%, even though the WHO was predicting a death rate of over 3%. Those predicting millions upon millions of deaths in this country received all the headlines, but as more and more data has come in, it is clear the worst-case scenarios were dramatically wrong. Yet, for some reason, we still trust the media.

We were steered not by science, but by politics. The media emphasized some scientists over and against others. It silenced the very debate and critiquing which is central to the scientific process. Fast forward to today, for over a week now, the daily death totals in the US from COVID have been on a steady decline, despite reopenings. Can you find this fact in the major headlines? No, instead, we are being told about spiking case numbers and the threat of a ‘second wave.’ As Christians, we must recognize that our media, and our politicians, are often not motivated by the truth. They will selectively report things to fit their preferred narrative. The truth is often more complicated than news headlines.

A second example is in the apparent unjust killing of George Floyd. This was hailed as an example of systemic racism, yet deaths similar to this happen regularly, to white people. A few years ago, Tony Timpa, a white man, was killed in the exact same way by police. Yet, through the gatekeeping of the media, Timpa’s unjust killing did not receive the same coverage. Why? It is hard not to see the disparity as resulting from to the media’s bias.

Sadly, many within the church seem oblivious to this gatekeeping bias. I received a statement in response to Floyd’s death from some Christian leaders which read in part, “This news comes after a seemingly regular cycle of reports of unarmed Black people dying at the hands of police.” To an extent, it is true, there are regular reports from the media on such deaths, but that is largely shaped by the gatekeeping principle listed above. For the last year we have stats, nine unarmed African Americans were killed by the police in our country. Unarmed does not mean not dangerous. Of those nine, several who were “unarmed” used their vehicles as weapons against police. Several other of the cases, it appears the police were in the wrong, and they charged. The kicker is, every year, nearly twice as many white people are killed by cops than African Americans. These deaths of white people do not receive the same amount of coverage. This is media gatekeeping, and it is done in part to push an ideology and an agenda. By saying all of this, I am not suggesting there are not real problems we need to address, but before we do that, we need a balanced view of the facts, not the spin of an openly biased media pushing a wicked agenda. Christians, we must for justice, but if we want to do that, then we need to do so as Christians who gather all the relevant information first, not just follow the narrative set by talking heads on our screens.

Standing Firm

What’s my point? This is not a call to dismiss some real issues in our society. It is not a call to vote for certain people. Rather, it is a call for Christians to practice discernment in how they engage the news, politics, and cultural issues. We must stop letting the world dictate our responses. We must stop following their lead. The world does not get to demand of the church who and what we speak on. The job of the church is to call everyone, everywhere to repent. We cannot do that if we are being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine spewed out by the media. What I want is for Christians to lead by speaking as Christians, not as partisan hacks. Scripture should shape how we think and speak more than what cable news channels we watch.

Levi J. Secord