Feed Test

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1 Thessalonians 5:21–22 (NKJV): Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.

What it is speaking to me:

I saw a headline the other day that stated researchers have found that an entire generation has started deciding what's true based on how something feels rather than whether it can actually be checked. It confirmed something I already suspected about culture, it came from a couple of "respected" universities, and I thought I should save this for a sermon illustration.

But there was that caution in the back of my head, learned from long experience of dealing with the internet, that made me go looking for the actual study instead of the headline about the study. Turns out the real research was much narrower than the headline implied: specific questions and areas of inquiry using specific age brackets, ultimately not some sweeping, verified consensus about an entire generation of people abandoning facts. There was a tiny kernel of truth in there. It just wasn't the whopping big ole kernel the headline was selling.

That's the trap, isn't it? Not the outright lie, but the partially true thing dressed up much bigger than it actually is. And the algorithmic feeds we get from our phones, computers, radios, and TVs are experts at dressing things up. Too often we hit share without thinking, passing drivel onto our friends, driven by the emotional pull of the post, not its factual accuracy. Or we take into our hearts the news that is being plastered on our screens 24/7 without considering the political and monetary leanings of those news channels.

Are we testing all things?

Paul isn't writing to a congregation drowning in technology, but the same temptation existed in the church at Thessalonica: in this case it was prophetic words flying around, some real, some not, and a congregation that had to learn the difference between despising every claim, which would throw out the good prophecies, and swallowing every claim whole, which would lead to error.

The Greek verb Paul uses for "test all things" is a refining term. It was used in metallurgy for applying heat, so the impurities would rise to the surface and could be skimmed off, leaving what was actually good. That takes a little more effort than quickly hitting the "share" button on social media. It always has.

And honestly, it always should, shouldn't it?

What is it saying to you?

• What's the last thing you shared or repeated without actually checking the source underneath it?

• Where have you let a claim's emotional pull substitute for its actual accuracy?

• Is there a "trend" you've been quietly panicking about that might be smaller and messier than the headlines have made it sound?

• Do you ever look deeper and research claims you see on the internet?

What are we going to do about it?

Apply the "test everything" mandate to the latest claim from a news source, expert, or cultural trend.