As we were promised in the 1990s, the internet has created an information superhighway. Trouble is, much of that information is unreliable. Some subjects are easy to handle. You can verify scientific and medical facts by tracking down reliable authorities. The same is true for history and other traditional school subjects.
But other topics do not lend themselves to easy verification. What source can you turn to for the truth about people? How can you determine what to believe about famous celebrities or politicians or preachers accused of some indiscretion? In this age of conspiracy theories, we are assaulted by a cacophony of voices, each louder and angrier than the last, everyone claiming to possess the truth.
“And there was a lot of discussion about Him among the crowds. Some were saying, ‘He’s a good man.’ Others were saying, ‘No, on the contrary, He’s deceiving the people.’ Still nobody was talking publicly about Him because they feared the Jews …
Jesus went up to the temple complex and began to teach. Then the Jews were amazed and said, ‘How does He know the scriptures, since He hasn’t been trained?’ …
Some of the people were saying, ‘Isn’t this the man they want to kill? Yet look! He’s speaking publicly and they’re saying nothing to Him. Can it be that the authorities already know He is the Messiah? [The notion that the authorities are hiding information from the masses would be a classic conspiracy theory today.] But we know where this man is from. When the Messiah comes, nobody will know where He is from.’ …
However, many from the crowd believed in Him and said, ‘When the Messiah comes, He won’t perform more signs than this man has done, will He?’” John 7:12-31.
What advice would you give first-century friends trying to figure out this Jesus? They could search the scriptures for prophecies about the Messiah. But what if your friends are poorly educated? They may have no choice but to rely on authorities, rabbis and Pharisees who have spent their lives becoming experts on scripture. But scripture can be difficult to interpret, even for the experts.
But Jesus gave us advice on people:
“Stop judging according to outward appearances. Instead, judge according to righteous judgment” John 7:24. That is, don’t judge by the most obvious detail—like Jesus breaking the Sabbath, but judge what is truly right or wrong—like Jesus healing a broken man, no matter the day of the week.
Even better, Jesus said “You will know them by their fruit” Matthew 7:16.
When you are not sure how to judge among people, look at their fruit.
When you must make judgments among people, look at two things: (1) where does righteous judgment point you?, and (2) what fruit does this person bear?
ΑΩ
Jesus said the end times would be characterized not only by “wars and rumors of wars,” by earthquakes and famines and the beginning of the birth pangs, but by DECEPTION. “Take heed that no one misleads you” Matthew 24:4. I have never seen such a chorus of misleading voices. Between anti-intellectualism, social media, Artificial Intelligence, Deep Fakes, incompetent Influencers, the predatory wellness movement, biased reporting masquerading as journalism, the ignorance of expertise, plagiarism and other factors decimating scholarship and the peer-review process, the rise of false religions, cults, and new age spirituality, I am more inclined to call ours the end times than ever before.
Household Words: 