PROPAGANDA: HOW CAN BELIEVERS PROTECT THEMSELVES?
Lest we forget, the heart of a man is evil above all (Ecl 9:3). It always has impure motives, and one of its most effective tools is, of course, falsehood. You can accomplish a lot by lying: stir anger, bring down rivals, promote yourself, and above all, rally others to support your sinister mission.
So, since you, as the believers in the Lord Jesus, are my people, I want you to be protected from the lies that often bombard us through the media. Remember, believers possess the Spirit of truth. We should be lovers of truth and be known as the people who stand for honesty, dignity, integrity and righteousness. Believe me, the world we live in is not a friend of these character traits, hence most of what we see from our scrolling is barely an accurate representation of reality. You need to take these steps below to guard yourself.
1.) Identify the source - The first thing is to take note of the person who is actually spreading that “breaking news”. Who are they? Do they have a record of being truthful and credible? What else have they reported on before—did it turn out to be true? Check back on the original source: who broke the news in the first place? If you have some technical ability, you can reverse search the shared images or videos to see where and when they were uploaded. Truth eventually comes out one way or the other.
2.) Examine the motive - Motives are one of the hardest things to discern in individuals. It’s not something that you can notice at first glance. However, here are the questions you need to ask as a starting point: does the person reporting the news report it as it is; objectively, or are they adding their own interpretation as to what you must believe? Are they encouraging you to check the facts for yourself, or would they rather you take their word for it? Are they open to any form of discussion about any discrepancies, and are they willing to get corrected wherever they are wrong, or is it all about what they think is right? Also, who do they stand for (work for): are they someone who is truly concerned, or are they reporting this because they are on the payroll of some company or organization? What about their emotional state: are they emotionally stirring (gaslighting) you about whatever happened, or are they calm and allowing you to make your emotional decisions?
All these things say a lot about whether the person has the motive of spreading truth or they are just looking for victims of their propaganda.
3.) Listen to the opposing views - One of the quickest ways to get deceived by cultish leaders is to shield yourself from other viewpoints. That is when you come to a point where you believe this person is all the truth there is. What they say can never be wrong, nor can there be anyone else with better insights. That is blind gullibility, something that God’s people must shy away from. Hear from me: always give yourself enough room for opposing ideas. Listen to those who stand against what you stand for, guaranteed, you will understand where they are coming from and, in turn, learn something about your own standpoint. Remember, in everything there are two sides of the story. Be willing to give it that chance before you make a conclusion. In the Bible, it is required that each report has three witnesses before it is accepted as truth (1 Tim 5:19, Mat 18:16). Also, there is a context to everything that happens under the sun (what happened before that? when? where?). Therefore, be wise and consider all these things before you take them seriously, especially in this age of smartphone Media.
4.) Learn to think for yourself - What makes propaganda even more dangerous is that it does not give you the chance to think independently about what’s being said. It usually conditions your mind to accept it at face value. You must be wise to break free from that. Try to look at what's being said from all angles. Examine whether the information that is being shared is accurate and interpreted objectively (without bias). Remember, there is a huge difference between facts and the interpretation of those facts. It is a fact that the time is 11:00 O’clock, to one person that is still morning, while to another, it’s already afternoon. Therefore, it can be factual that something happened, however, you have the right to consider the implications of that event in your own way, with as little bias as possible. Even if the outcome does not favour you. Truth is truth.
5.) Renew your mind with biblical truth - Do you know that you can have a really bad day, not because of anything in your own life but because of what you saw on Tiktok? Worldly media has the ability to poison your emotional wellbeing. Therefore, the only way to maintain your peace is to know what Scripture says about that situation: God is still in control, everything will work out for good and all evil will have its day before the Great Throne. You cannot get that assurance from your Local News channel—only from the inspired Text. Hence I would encourage you to immerse yourself in the Heavenly News outlet every day before you start and after you end your day. It’s a good concoction for your blood pressure.
Conclusion
It is definitely not wise to build your entire Christian life; passion, purpose and cause on something that was never true to begin with. In fact, most (not all) of the “trending news” that we hear across the world on Social Media do not have any bearing on our lives, nor are you going to do anything about them. They only leave you emotionally exhausted for no reason.
That is because God has not called you to carry the problems of the whole world on your shoulders. Your responsibility is towards yourself, your family, your neighbours, and everyone else that you can interact with physically. That is where the idea of “love your neighbour as you love yourself” comes from. Any other problem that happens across the river, God will raise up people to deal with it there. That is how you can maintain your peace of mind. Do that and you will do well.
Sinothi Ncube
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