Happy Sunday,

The following is a draft section of my book, Broken News, scheduled for release in ~Fall 2027. 

I add/revise/cut content based on feedback from this newsletter each week, so if something stands out as wrong, confusing, or wow-that-actually-helped-please-don’t-change-it… hit reply and let me know!

Scriptural Basis
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30)

How would Jesus consume the news?
(Given my job and the number of WWJD bracelets I had growing up, I probably should have asked this question years ago. Apologies to my youth pastors.)

Let’s start with an easier, unhypothetical question: how did Jesus consume news? 

The best I can tell from the Gospels, Jesus consumed a small amount of mostly local news, which He primarily heard about through friends. 

Now, this is more a product of the time than unique to Jesus. In His day, you had little way of knowing what was happening even 50 miles away, let alone on another continent. Almost all the news you heard was about places you’d been and people you could reasonably bump into. Any news from farther away was rare and important—maybe a census decree from the Emperor telling you to return to your hometown (Luke 2:1)—because it wasn’t worth sending someone on a days-long walk to share unimportant news. 

In rereading the Gospels, I was also struck by how Jesus didn’t consume the news.

Being fully God, Jesus could have been aware of everything going on everywhere in the world. But there’s no indication He did this; throughout the Gospels, He consistently hears news and then responds to it as if He’s learning it along with everyone else, like when He learns John the Baptist was arrested (Matthew 4:12) or when Mary and Martha “sent word” to inform Jesus that Lazarus was sick (John 11:3-6). He even intentionally opted out of that trickle of a news feed by frequently going off on His own, unplugging to commune with God (Mark 1:35-37).

So, WWJD if he plopped into today’s news environment? I think He’s already shown us. He’d make no particular effort to stay up to date, would respond to things as they came up, and would keep His focus on serving/caring for the people physically near him.

Honestly, that sounds nice. It sounds manageable.

Was this valuable? Was this heretical? Do you have a rebuttal? Should it not make the book?

Please hit reply and let me know! Your replies are genuinely a huge help and are massively shaping this book. I don’t have time to respond to each one, but I personally read every email.

P.S. New this week: News Health subscribers can pre-order an exclusive hardcover edition of my book Broken News. Books ship Fall 2027.

Recommended*: One book going straight to the top of my “to read” list? Embrace the Tension by Tommy Nixon.

I’ve been known to fist-pump alone when I find an ally in the work of getting Christians to choose peace over anxiety and fear. The premise here had me pumping: that our identity in Christ can hold steady even when partisan politics comes for it.

Embrace the Tension will equip you to engage today’s cultural tensions without losing sight of the gospel. Grab a copy and let’s dig in together.

*I’m fortunate enough to be paid to promote products I actually use and genuinely recommend. Embrace the Tension is one of them.