I am not interested in knowledge for its own sake. Many people have accused me of "having my head in the sand" because I don't care to fill my head with newscasts and articles about things I can do nothing about. They seem to think merely knowing something has virtue without any plan to "do" anything about what they hear.
This mentality is called "Gnosticism." Gnosticism is a worship of knowledge whether or not it has value.
The reason I equate the knowledge of most Christians today with Gnosticism is that the people who want to know every detail about everything going on in the world seem to have much to say and do little to nothing, in terms of their knowledge. They spend more time in the news media online than they do in their Bibles. God never commanded us to go into the world and heap up knowledge, just the opposite.
1 Corinthians 8:1 "Now concerning food sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes one conceited, but love edifies people."
The people I have known who continually search the internet for worldly knowledge seem to always be angry. Anger dwells within them as breathing does. Their mouths are often repeating the ugliness of the world as though "speaking about them" is actually doing something to change it.
I asked someone once why they repeat the crud of the world, and their answer was; "to inform." I then asked;' "why do you want to inform people?" The answer that came back was not so they could do something to improve the situation but simply so they would not be uniformed. It's a little like gossip, there is no good reason to tell someone else about dirt on someone unless it is to warn them to avoid the person they are gossiping about. Gossip relays stories about people completely unrelated to the person hearing and the person speaking, the life of the one gossiped about has nothing to do with either the speaker or the hearer, so the information is useless and more often than not mostly untrue and without enough details to prove what is being said.
Our world is full of more deception than it is truth in these last days. Those who repeat news articles have no way of knowing if what they repeated is actually true.
Matthew 24:24
"24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."
Christians are being deceived by all these false news reports.
Most things we read or view in the media we would never see in our daily lives nor would we be a part of the solution. No one can even prove what they heard is true, they merely believe it and repeat it.
I recall the sad movies I have watched when I cried at a particular tender scene. The story of the movie was not real, it was not a part of my life nor did it impact me except to make my "feelings cry", as a child once said. It had no value other than entertainment "amusement", amuse meaning to "not think."
Those who follow news sources on the internet are often and mostly getting it without thinking. They just believe what they hear and pass it on to others who are just like them. Amusing, not thinking but believing.
God told us to guard our minds so that we would not be distracted from Christ and His mission on earth for us. Many Christians are passing on news stories without any way of vetting them. This is a form of gossip.
Proverbs 4:23
"23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."
When we are continually agitated at the useless information of the world we cannot be exhibiting the joy of the Lord. Ugly information about the world destroys our joy and replaces that joy with excessive pride and angst. A sense of pride overtakes those who think they know so much more than others. It gives them a sense of superiority.
Those who are following the muck of the world often act superior while accusing others of "having their head in the sand" if they are not interested in this worldly gossip. I was accused of this when the Lord gave me this retort to people like that. God gave me this to say to those who were attempting to draw me into their worldly deceptions, "It seems to me you have your head in the sewer. "
Romans 12:2
"2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."
The more time we spend with someone or something the more we become like that person or thing.
1 Corinthians 15:33 "Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
Those who are spending more time in the news and media than in the Word of God are corrupting themselves.
Matthew 6:23-25 "…23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
25 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?…"
When someone attempts to intimidate us by mocking our desire to remain untouched by the world we know they are not spending time with God in His Word. And, we know they are not our friends, they are used by the devil to distract us from God.
God's word cleanses us from the world and gives us hope and joy that surpass this life. It is a lie that "the more heavenly minded the more useless we are in the world," as some have said. (sadly I heard missionaries say this very thing)
The more heavenly-minded we are the more we are able to serve God His way in the world. It takes time with God, lots of it, to learn His heart and carry out His desires.
God never said; "go into all the world and learn about all the filth you can.", He did say the following;
Mark 16:15-16 "15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."
We were never given a command from God to save a country, except to protect Israel.
Our mission on this earth is not to learn more worldly filth, our mission is to bring the gospel to the lost, that's it!!!!
Keeping our heads down in prayer and Bible reading will allow us to hear from God His marching orders, often NOT those of the worldly church, and not what they think we should be doing.
We are more likely to witness the love of Christ with our joy and plain speech about the gospel when we are not corrupted by the world.
James 1:27
"27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."
When we are too busy raking up muck from the world we will not have time to do what God told us to do, while corrupting our minds into useless mush.
My challenge is for believers to refrain from the news media on any level for one month, replacing their addiction to the media with Bible reading and prayer to learn God's will for you.
If you cannot refrain from the media for one month, that is proof that you are addicted to the media like an addict is to methamphetamines. Those who are addicted to media are also brainwashed by it.
When someone cannot have a conversation with another person without bringing up the muck of the world then we know they have an addiction. Life is so much more than the ugliness of the world for those who are in Christ.
How about an analogy? We love the sun when it comes out, it has value for us, but we also know the dangers of it, too much sun can kill us and if we stare into the sun without glasses fixated on it, it will blind us.
We cannot get out of the world, we will see things just going out and about to do our shopping but we don't have to indulge in the culture.
Many Christians are walking about in the culture blinded by the intensity of it, acting defenseless because they walk in fear and do not remove themselves.
James 4:4-9 " 4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
5 Or do you think that the Scripture says to no purpose, “He jealously desires the Spirit whom He has made to dwell in us”?
6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
7 Submit therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Come close to God and He will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Be miserable, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom.
10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you."
We cannot love two masters, the master of media and God too. Satan is the master of the media and is using it to distract believers from the Word and plunge them into depression and sadness, diminishing their witness in the world.
Philippians 4:8
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
