Faith and Fake News by Rachel I. Wightman

Author:Rachel I. Wightman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Published: 2023-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

What other types of content can you think of that you’ve fact-checked or wished you had the skills to fact-check?

Finally, as we walk through different ways to fact-check and evaluate what you find, I’ve chosen a number of different examples so you can see the skill in practice. Remember these are just examples and not meant to convey a specific political or social view. These are things I’ve seen online over the last couple of years and have found them helpful to illustrate the different skills.

As we walk through these different ways to fact-check and evaluate the things you find online, it’s worth reminding us all again that this is kingdom work. Being willing to check something before sharing it is part of what God has for us—that we’d be part of finding and telling the truth, not spreading false information. I often refer to this work as discipleship work. If discipleship is about becoming more like Jesus, then seeking truth is part of that too. Like in other areas of discipleship, we can listen for the still voice of God as we do this fact-checking work. That’s not to say that we should replace our truth-seeking only with the voice of the Spirit but that when we combine our willingness to seek truth through fact-checking with our ability to listen to the Spirit, we’re much more holistic in how we pay attention to the world around us.

And as with all discipleship work, we need to be familiar with the Spirit’s voice. In all the areas we try to be more like Jesus—growing in the fruit of the Spirit in all areas of our lives—we need to practice listening to his voice. If we don’t recognize it, we may miss his promptings. As we learn to listen, his voice will also help us as we engage with fact-checking. In the past, I’ve heard the ministry leaders say, “As you listen to someone, listen to their words with one ear and to the Spirit with the other” as a way to not speak into someone’s life without thinking. We can adopt a similar posture in our online spaces: listening to the Holy Spirit but also paying attention to our fact-checking skills. We’ll be able to combine his promptings with what we find and learn, allowing us to see both the spiritual and physical parts of our world.

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