Happy Sunday,
The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.
Proverbs 4:7
Does the news make us wise?
Imagine with me that you’re a leader of the fledgling first-century church in Corinth, and it’s not going great. People are showing up to Communion having already, er, partaken of the wine. So you write Paul a letter.
Then… you wait.
You wait for months, maybe even a year. Because in the first century, even the most important news traveled at the speed of foot. But, ministry doesn’t stop while you are waiting for Paul to find his quill, scratch out 16 chapters, and send back his reply. You keep gathering on Sundays, and are forced to get on your knees and wrestle through these theological knots. In other words, you do the slow, patient work of turning a question into wisdom.
The waiting—while annoying—isn’t a bug; it’s a feature. Had you simply been able to shoot Paul a text, you’d have gotten the info faster, but you would’ve lost everything that happened in you while you waited.
Our world of instant communication and relentless news updates, is information-dense and discernment-scarce. While on a walk last week, a friend asked me what I thought about what's happening in Iran. I had opinions and headlines in my head—oil prices, negotiations, death tolls—but I didn't have anything resembling wisdom. I've been sprinting with the rest of the world, living update to update, without ever really stopping to process it and wrestle with all the knotty theological and ethical implications.
It turns out, much like moss doesn’t gather on a rolling stone, wisdom doesn’t tend to grow on a mind that is never at rest.
We aren’t called to merely accumulate information; we are called to get wisdom. And because the news isn’t slowing down for your soul to catch up with your mind, if you want wisdom you’ll have to choose to periodically unplug—and stop long enough for moss to begin to grow.
What do you think?
Peter Nittler
P.S. In May, our Instagram is hosting daily challenges to boost our news health. I think it's right up your alley. Check it out here!
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