It probably is not surprising to most that I am a news guy. I was raised in a house where the news was on regularly. As a kid, I hated it. I found it to be boring and pointless, but it was a habit that was ingrained in me and has become part of my life. If you are like me and watch the news routinely, you may have noticed that many of the stories are negative in nature. Psychological studies on humans show that we desire negative content, in fact we are drawn towards negativity and gravitate towards it. If you recently started to watch the news, it would be easy to deduce that the world we live in is at a historical level of depravity and is constantly getting worse at an exponential rate.
As I have been reading through the Bible this year, I have noticed that there are lots of instances of bad news in the Bible. Joseph’s brothers threw him in a pit, where he was found and sold into slavery. Numerous times the Israelites would turn from God and He would use other kingdoms to punish them. During Jesus’ time on earth, there were many people who were ill and banished from their city. The difference between the biblical stories and the news, is that the Bible doesn’t always stop a passage after the negativity, but rather we can see the hand of God reach out and provide the good news. Joseph was put into a position of power where he was able to save his family and kingdom from famine, Israel realized their sin and turned back to worshipping God, and Jesus healed many people and restored them to their homes.
As Christians, we have an opportunity to provide not just good news to our world, but the BEST NEWS to all of creation. Yes, this world has sin, but through Christ, God has provided us the opportunity to break free from the sin. God has also commanded us to share this information to the world that He has placed us in, so that the work of Jesus on the cross will be known and bring glory to Him. We should always be prepared to:
• Share the Gospel message with our world. Yes, we are sinners, but Christ has overcome sin and will be victorious in the end.
• Tell others what God is doing in our lives. Share specific examples of where you see God working, so others can be encouraged.
• Share our testimony of how God took us as a sinner and how we, as Christians, need to continually repent of our sins so our personal relationship with Him can be maintained/restored.
Unfortunately, what we put into our body often controls our emotions and our attitudes. We should expect that society will continue to be subjected to negativity and bad news, but as Christians we can be the light to our sphere of influence. Remember to reflect the work that God has done in your life and share the good news of Jesus with others through our words and actions.
Desmond VanHouten
