Journalism, particularly newspaper journalism, is sometimes referred to as “the first rough draft of history.” This phrase is usually attributed to Philip Graham, former publisher of the Washington Post. It’s a useful phrase because it is flattering to journalists to know that their work is important and meaningful, but also a reminder that their work is inherently imperfect and in need of later revision. Particularly under deadline pressure, it is impossible to know all the relevant facts and potential angles of any story. Unavoidable and expedient choices and compromises must be made. The saying came to mind when I recently read Psalm 33:10-11, which says:
“The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.”
As I’ve written before, total objectivity is “theoretically impossible for anyone but God Himself.” The best any news reporting can do is cover a tiny piece of what happens in the world, screening it using whatever judgment they decide to use, and applying imperfect ethical standards. As I’ve also written, “The dots of the pointillistic narrative are never the full picture and sometimes aren’t the right color.” Thus is the “counsel of the nations” – incomplete by necessity, biased by choice, and morally imperfect by nature.
In contrast, what God says is true is always true, unlike the 24/7 news cycle where truth is constantly under revision. The “counsel of the LORD” contains everything we need to know about His plans, is designed by His choice to benefit those He loves, and morally perfect because His nature is holy. If better counsel existed, He would know about it. His counsel reliably informs us about how He wants us to view the events of the world, rather than the other way around. His plans frustrate and overcome the “plans of the peoples”, rather than the other way around.
When Jesus said on the cross that “it is finished,”[1] His payment for our sins was complete. He lived a perfect life in our place, so that He could be a perfect sacrifice and atone for all the sins of His people in all times and all places. This was not a rough first draft, but the flawless consummation of God’s plan for salvation “to all generations.” Jesus made no flawed choices for the sake of expedience, and His work can be trusted at all times. Whatever you see in the news today, the Good News of the kingdom of heaven is more important, more trustworthy, and provides comfort for your soul.
His Story is the first draft, but it is also the only draft because none other is needed. His Story needs no revision.
Therefore: “Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you.” – Psalm 33:20-22
“while the [Old Testament] prophets train their attention on the eternal, kairos drama of God’s words and actions, they remain intimately involved in the events of their historical time. Being caught between these two times can be quite painful and disorienting, particularly when it is difficult to see the hand of Providence in the daily news. Near the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring, Tolkien articulates this predicament well. When Gandalf, acting in many ways as an heir to the biblical prophets, tells Frodo that Sauron has risen and is searching for the ring that Bilbo gave him, Frodo’s reaction to this news is quite natural: “I wish it need not have happened in my time.” Frodo would prefer to step out of his time, to escape the confusing and frightful events of chronos. In this regard, he is much like King Hezekiah, who is pleased when Isaiah tells him that his sons will be carried into captivity and made eunuchs- at least, Hezekiah thinks, “there will be peace and security in my days” (Is 39:8). Gandalf’s reply to Frodo balances empathy with a bracing call to courageously and faithfully inhabit the tension between the messy demands of chronos and the divine call of kairos: “‘So do I;’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” The biblical prophets likewise repeatedly urge their hearers to decide how to respond to the events of their time by the standard of God’s eternal word.”
From “Reading the Times”, by Jeffrey Bilbro, P. 95-96
One of the most significant ways the media influence us is by what’s called “agenda setting,” which means is that they tell us what is important and what we should care about by choosing what issues or topics to cover most often and most prominently. For example, if a topic appears regularly on the front pages of newspapers or the covers of magazines or in the “Breaking News” of a TV news program, those editors have decided those items are more important, and want us to feel the same. Unfortunately, there’s also an old saying in journalism that “if it bleeds, it leads,” meaning that bad news should get more coverage because it’s good for the business of journalism.
Related, but not the same, is “framing” which means the way the media covers something (the words they use, the sources they cite, etc.) affects our attitudes about it. When the media consistently use words like “radical” or “extreme” to represent only the other side, or if they lump all the news that bleeds to a specific group of people and not another, they’re employing framing.
The problem is that the same issues aren’t always as important to all people, and often the media’s agendas don’t align with what should be each person’s agenda. It’s like news coverage is designed to make us think the world is so evil that we can’t do anything about it, but also that very little is our own responsibility (or fault). As Corrie ten Boom wrote about her time in a Nazi concentration camp: “this was the great ploy of Satan in that kingdom of his: to display such blatant evil that one could almost believe one’s own secret sins didn’t matter.”
Is it really good or healthy to feel all the world’s problems are on our shoulders? However, all media have to make choices about what to cover and how to cover it, so there is no avoiding these problems…unless you have another source for your agenda and the framing of it. That source is God, and here are some verses from His word that can guide us:
Cast Your Anxieties “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” – 1 Peter 5:6-7
We can recognize that there is a sovereign God, and ultimately His agenda is the only one that matters. With that knowledge, we know that there are many times where all we can do is pray to the One who sees all the bad news we do, and much more. He is in control.
If It’s Worthy, It Leads “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.” – Philippians 4:8
We can recognize that good news isn’t always easy to find, but we should seek it out, even if it’s in our own homes, families, or neighborhoods. There is always something worthy of praise to pay attention to.
Frame Your Responsibility Locally “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:10
Too much attention to the big picture problems of the world can distract us from the work God has put right in front of us, which we were created to do. God wants us to be faithful, not to save the world (He has already done that!)
I agree with C.S. Lewis, who wrote: “I think each village was meant to feel pity for its own sick and poor whom it can help and I doubt if it is the duty of any private person to fix his mind on ills which he cannot help. This may even become an escape from the works of charity we really can do to those we know. God may call any one of us to respond to some far away problem or support those who have been so called. But we are finite and he will not call us everywhere or to support every worthy cause. And real needs are not far from us.”
Yes, global problems matter and there is always a lot of bad news, but today let God set your agenda and frame it through the lens of His eternal victory in Christ.
Here is another “Quint of Quotes” from my collection. These five somewhat related sayings are about the way news is reported and used today. I hope you find them thought-provoking, or at least interesting, but please don’t fight over them!
“The news media has decided that the way to arrive at neutrality is to put two opposing voices together and let them yell at each other.” – Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales
“In my experience, the more I know about a subject, the less I’m impressed with related media coverage” – Howard Marks, investor
“Most of Washington punditry is private letters, written to other pundits, appearing in public space.” – Christopher Hitchens
“The truth is, most of us read the news to gain ammunition, not information.” – Bill Haslam, former governor of Tennessee
“Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent.” – Proverbs 11:12
Sometimes you watch a movie and years later only remember one or two things about it, and the rest is just “meh”. In Undercover Blues, released in 1993, Stanley Tucci’s character Muerte, a mugger, is the best part of the movie. He growls lines like: “My name is Muerte…it means death! Remember my name!” before or after attacking his victims, with Mariachi guitar accompaniment. It’s a bit silly, but Muerte isn’t to be trifled with – he brutally takes out multiple guys in the movie.
Dennis Quaid and Kathleen Turner play a married couple of ex-spies (their last name is Blue) on maternity leave in New Orleans who are harassed by muggers, including Muerte, along the way. Unfortunately for Muerte, Jeff Blue is an experienced and confident fighter who isn’t intimidated by Muerte’s speech, and just says: “Well I’m pleased to meet you Morty. My name is Jeff”
Then Jeff Blue beats up Morty and his crew with a stroller! Evil Muerte had met his match. Watch the one-minute video below – I’ll be referring back to it later.
A Conspiracy of Muertes While Muerte picks up his lost tooth, here are key verses for this post, from Psalm 2:1-3:
“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us”
The Psalm refers to the rebellion of nations, peoples, kings, and rulers against the “bonds” and “cords” of “the Lord” and “his Anointed”, or God the Father and God the Son. Nations are rivals, not just with each other, but also with the kingdom of God.
The ultimate example of this rebellion is referenced when the first two verses from above are quoted in Acts 4:25-26, followed by: “for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and our plan had predestined to take place.” The crucifixion of Jesus was the result of a massive conspiracy, including possibly six separate trials by both Jewish and Roman authorities, resulting in the death of Jesus, who was not guilty of what He was charged with, but also is the only human to never participate in insurrection against His Father. The Jews hated Him because He was not the political messiah that would lead an insurrection against Rome. The Romans, led by Pilate, answered the call to crucify Him, to avoid a Jewish riot that would result in their punishment or removal by higher Roman authorities. Jesus was a threat to their authority and had to go.
So, they literally succeeded in killing God. Brutally. But then Psalm 2:4 tells us:
“He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.”
A Surprising Victory Surprising even His followers, on the third day, He was resurrected from the dead, and after a few weeks, was raised “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” (Ephesians 1:21). This Jesus is the one laughing in heaven, and He can laugh because in a way He is like Jeff Blue in the scene from Undercover Blues. At the 27 second mark of the video, after Muerte draws his switchblade, Jeff smiles and says “This is a really bad idea Morty.” Muerte rages and plots in vain, however is no threat to Jeff. Likewise, Jesus knows all nations are no threat to Him and His kingdom.
In “More Than Truth”, I wrote about how some truth “describes the world as it is”, such as Proverbs 14:20: “The poor is disliked even by his neighbor, but the rich has many friends.” Jesus knows all of the descriptive truth about the problems of the world, including subjects of earlier posts:
That since the Fall in Genesis 3, “mankind became inclined to make things that glorify themselves, rather than God,” from the tower of Babel to kingdoms such as Edom
That “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” – Pr. 14:12 and 16:25
That every “Pax Romana” is just a narrative designed to make the state appear to be more than it is
That mankind is incredibly creative in attempting to thwart God’s purpose in creating His kingdom, populated by His family
That even the “religion” of the Old Testament Bible could not produce righteousness
However, all rulers and nations opposed to God are doomed to fail, because even killing God was not good enough to keep Him down. Jesus laughs because He knows His plan will work. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus told Peter that “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
In Acts 4 above, Peter and John quote Psalm 2 after they were released by the religious rulers of Jerusalem, and they testify that Jesus’ enemies only do “whatever your hand and our plan had predestined to take place.” Peter and John were eyewitnesses to the resurrected Jesus, and knew that all the powers of the world could not keep Him down. His plan would not fail. They did not quote verse 4, but they knew that Jesus was exalted and laughing at the opposition to them. They rejoiced that the same God who had resurrected Jesus had freed them from prison!
Therefore, take comfort that Jesus, knowing all the evil and rebellion of the world that we may feel threatened by or anxious about, laughs. All who challenge God are Morty, not Muerte, even if they once “succeeded” in killing Him.
I read Psalm 2 if I am feeling stressed by the political state of the world, about the political state of my country, or about the 24/7 barrage of bad news online and on TV. “He who sits in the heavens laughs” reminds me that Jesus is laughing at the cause of my stress – He is not threatened and He is in charge. In some ways we are like the baby in the movie scene. We would be helpless against Muerte, but Jeff Blue does not let anything happen to his child. At the 34 second mark of the video, Jeff even checks in on the baby, who slept through the whole thing. In our case, we are tethered to our forerunner[1], Jesus, our King laughing in heaven, who says: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” – John 10:28-29.
I’ll end this post here on a note of confidence, but there remains a trickier and important question…
Do we also laugh? Is the laughter of Jesus descriptive, or prescriptive? What is the truth that is like Proverbs 14:21: “Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor”?
What defines how subjects in the kingdom of the One who laughs should behave? More in Part 2, coming soon.
Driving Toward the Morning Sun 