Credibility

We should be seekers and speakers of truth, devoted to being reliable and credible in the words that we say, and being attentive to the Holy Spirit when He leads us to information that can provide caution for us as we navigate this world. Philippians 4 provides insight into governing what we place into our minds:
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.
9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

In our exposure to information, we perhaps will come across statements that might seem untrue or exaggerated - when we find those, it's important to verify, to look to multiple sources, and to not quickly relate what we discover. But, there may be information that we need to know in order to act responsibly, even though it may be hard to believe.  We don't need to become a free-flowing fountain of flimsy facts, but we also can allow God to direct us so that His people are knowledgeable and wise.

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We should be diligent to pursue and to communicate truth with credibility, honoring the name of Christ. Proverbs chapter 4 says:
23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.
24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you.

The subject of what are called "conspiracy theories" has received some play in the media, even Christian media.  And, LifeWay Research decided to do a survey about it, which indicates that half of pastors surveyed have heard congregants repeating so-called "conspiracy theories."

The survey summary relates:

A new study from Nashville-based Lifeway Research finds 49% of U.S. Protestant pastors say they frequently hear members of their congregation repeating conspiracy theories they have heard about why something is happening in our country. Around 1 in 8 (13%) strongly agree their congregants are sharing conspiracy theories, defined by Merriam-Webster as “a theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators.”

Pastors in larger churches - those with more than 250 members, are more likely to agree that this is occurring - at 61% vs. the average of 49. Half of white pastors and a-third of African-American pastors say they frequently hear conspiracy theories being spread by congregation members.  

The overall summary, unfortunately, fails to define any specific theories - and we all know that it is convenient and common for people to label a point of view with which they disagree a "conspiracy theory."

But, there was a well-known conspiracy theory that traveled throughout the Church for quite some time - in fact, it was so pervasive that Faith Radio ran an announcement letting people know it was not true.  Bobby Ross wrote about this recently at GetReligion.org:

In that July 2001 piece, I highlighted the claim that an atheist group formed by the late “Madeline Murray O’Hare” had collected 287,000 signatures and was pushing to remove all Sunday morning worship service broadcasts.

“The good news is, the prayers have been answered — many times over,” I wrote. “Since the false petition related to the late Madalyn Murray O’Hair (that’s the correct spelling) began circulating in the late 1970s, the Federal Communications Commission has received more than 35 million signatures asking it to block her efforts.”

Two decades after that column ran, well-meaning religious people’s susceptibility to conspiracy theories has not waned.

After those comments, he stated that social media has made things worse. Quite frankly, from that point on, I thought the article took a downward turn, but I did appreciate the reminder about the O'Hair rumors.

In the LifeWay summary, Christian apologist Mary Jo Sharp is quoted; she says: "Irresponsibility with information unravels the impact of a Christian’s witness to those in their community, and, with social media, to the broader world,” adding, “The non-Christian may begin to believe or become further ingrained in the culturally popular belief that Christians are anti-intellectual, including anti-science.”

So, credibility should be a concern for believers - the Bible warns against gossip and slander, which you could consider in the same category, and calls for us to adhere to truth.

But, I have observed a tendency to label points of view with which a person disagrees as "conspiracy theories."  If two people research the same topic or historical events and come to different conclusions, does that mean that one of them is a conspiracy theorist?  That does seem to be the nature of the game that is being played.  We've seen it with information relative to the pandemic, to the election and its aftermath, and other areas in our social consciousness.  I guess you could say that each of us needs to be responsible for what we share and make sure that the points we make or questions we raise do not lead to our being discredited as Christian believers.

Certainly, there are those who want to capitalize on what they call "misinformation" or "conspiracy theories."  But, do we need government to decide what is true and what is not?  FoxNews.com reports:

The New York Times is turning to the Biden administration to "help solve our reality crisis" and calling on the new president to appoint a "reality czar" to combat "disinformation."

Times technology columnist Kevin Roose sounded the alarm Tuesday about the popularity of right-wing QAnon conspiracy theorists, the unsubstantiated election fraud claims President Trump pushed ahead of the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot, and what he called "the baseless theory that Covid-19 was manufactured in a Chinese lab."

CBN.com states: 

George Orwell's novel "1984" was a warning about his dystopian vision of a government that will do anything to control the narrative, creating a "Ministry of Truth". Such a suggestion for a "reality czar" shows that Orwell's work appears to be timelier than ever.

So, the new "reality czar," to combat what he or she considers "disinformation," decides what is true?  What if this person is hostile toward Christianity and decides that our belief system is a myth?

Well, there is at least one applicant for the job...Gary Bauer of American Values writes:

Well, if Biden is accepting applications I'm happy to do the job. But I'm going to begin with the reality that there are only two genders or sexes, not dozens.

I would point out the reality that life begins at conception.

I would note the, reality that the climate has been changing long before the combustion engine and the advent of fossil fuels.

And, he believes that public officials changed election laws, resulting in a tainted election outcome, a view that has been branded as a "conspiracy theory."  Interestingly enough, I saw yesterday where you have a number of states where election laws are being addressed legislatively, which is where election laws should be changed, under the Constitution. 

We should not be quick to embrace everything we hear, certainly.  But, there may be trends and occurrences in our world that we should not dismiss, either.  Believers should set the examples and be passionate seekers and defenders of truth - the truth we find in God's Word and developments around us that have factual evidence.  And, we can guard against allowing the enemy to divide us because of convictions or even opinions.  But, if something sounds outlandish to us, we should have a network of trusted sources to which we can go to discover more facts - do your due diligence.