The Dominant Voice

We are called to be sharp in our pursuit of godly principles and to have our minds trained to follow the teachings of God's Word. Romans 13 encourages us:
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

The armor of light, referred to in verse 12, is predicated on the presence of Almighty God and His truth in our lives.  He has given us His Spirit to lead us into the truth and to empower us to walk in it. The Bible speaks of being renewed in our minds, and we have to recognize when the enemy is trying to deceive us to get us to think unbiblically or in an unsound manner - we don't have the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and...yes, a sound mind.  It's the mind of Christ, and when He is the dominant voice that we hear, it makes a drastic difference in us. 

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The Bible instructs and encourages us to be prepared for whatever comes our way and to allow His truth to govern our minds. 1st Peter 1 says this:
13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;
15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
16 because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."

The role of what is termed, "Big Tech," in our lives continues to be a debated subject.  And, two surveys conducted by polling companies that represent an ideological diversion seem to come to similar conclusions.

Last fall, Politico reported on a survey conducted by the organization Data for Progress, which was described as "progressive" in the article, which states that, "About 65 percent of likely U.S. voters think the economic power held by tech companies like Amazon, Google, Facebook is a problem for the U.S. economy, according to a survey on antitrust and the tech industry..."  

The article goes on to say: "Overall, 56 percent said they would strongly or somewhat support breaking up tech companies to promote competition, compared with 26 percent who said they oppose or strongly oppose such a move and 19 percent who didn’t offer a view."

Now, fast forward to a poll from McLaughlin and Associates just a few weeks ago - this firm actually did polling for the Trump campaign.  According to the Washington Examiner, the McLaughlin survey "found a backlash to Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms that have erased Trump for his comments on last Wednesday’s Capitol protests." The Examiner article said, "The fear found in the survey is that if Big Tech can ban the president, there is nothing to stop it from censoring regular members of the public." The survey revealed that "70% believe that technology firms, including Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, Google, and Apple, are too powerful and need to be regulated."

The article quotes John McLaughlin who stated, "Voters strongly prefer that Congress deal with fighting coronavirus and not impeachment. Impeachment is viewed as a waste of time and money."
Voters in 17 states, many of which would be considered so-called "battleground" states, said that 60 of voters surveyed held that view about impeachment.

So here you have two polls, taken months apart, with seemingly similar results - about two-thirds of Americans have concern with "Big Tech."

How do we respond?  One thing is to recognize that there are people and institutions that are out there who seem to want to be the dominant voice in your life.  When you hear of media people and others that want to "deprogram" an entire group of supporters of one particular candidate, that has a chilling effect.  Certainly, Christians want to persuade people to see things from our worldview perspective and to come to know Jesus Christ, but our aim is not to be compulsory; rather we are called to be compassionate in our convictions.

But, let's consider what we want to be the dominant voice in our lives.  We have to reject the world's ideologies and embrace the truth of the Scriptures.  There are those who would want to retrain or reprogram your mind, even to reject your deeply held beliefs and violate your conscience.  We, as the Bible instructs us, have to train our minds for action - if we have sharp minds, that will be reflected in action that reflects the character of Christ in us.  His Word is to be the dominant voice that governs us each day.