Recently, I made a decision to turn off the talking heads. No, I’m not talking about the popular rock group of the 80’s. I’m talking about the ones you can find on popular TV news networks and all over the AM radio dial. I used to be addicted to these talking heads. I had my favorite TV news network that most closely represented my political views and they were always right. I also had my favorite radio talk shows. Just to be clear, I still tune in every now and then, but they don’t have the same influence on me that they once had.
I came to the realization about a year and a half ago that allowing these voices to shape my thinking had caused me to become cynical. A cynical person is deeply distrustful of others and usually pessimistic. There is a conspiracy behind everything and nobody is to be fully trusted.
A wonderful truth was uncovered in my mind. God created me with the marvelous ability to think for myself, to come to my own conclusions. I started to see with new vision what it means to live and think from a renewed mind. That is why I named my blog site “As You Think.” Its purpose is to make you think.
It is very amusing to watch the news networks after a presidential debate. They will tell you what you’re supposed to think about the debate you just watched. If you’ve learned to think for yourself, you won’t need them to tell you. More importantly, if our mind is being renewed by the Word of God, we’ll know how to form our thoughts based on that. Here is a good rule to use:
Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious – the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. (Philippians 4:8-9 MSG)
One of the typical responses you’ll hear to this is “you’re being very naïve.” No, we’re being naïve when we allow our thinking to be influenced by voices that don’t pass the Phil. 4:8 test. We can’t simply compartmentalize this truth and somehow separate it from our political opinions. I have a hunch that if we could have a face-to-face talk with Jesus himself, we might be surprised at some of his political views.
I have narrowed down my spiritual quest to this one sentence – I am simply after His heart. I’m steadily losing interest in anybody’s opinion but His. If yours’ is in line with His, then that’s just icing on the cake. It’s good to be informed by paying attention to current events in the news, but always filter it through the Good News. If you’ve found yourself becoming cynical like I was, here’s some advice: Turn off the talking heads of cynicism and when you get up in the morning begin your day by thanking God for something good, and then remind yourself of it throughout the day.
Cynical no more,
Kevin.