Christians in Counterfactual Chaos
by Paul Annala | 2 January 2025 |
Fake news. Fact resistance. Filter bubbles. Troll factories. Alternative facts.
It is said that we live in a post-truth era; post from the Latin word for “after.” A time after the truth, a time where interest in what is true, correct, and factual has waned.
We live in counterfactual chaos.
The waning interest in what is true has also affected those of us who follow Jesus. I have seen fellow believers sharing untruths and distortions of reality. I have seen fellow believers who have been unable to distinguish satire from fact. This has been going on for a long time, but with the advent of social media, the chaos has increased copiously.
We Christians need to speak out about this, and not float along with a zeitgeist that has turned its back on truth. I would therefore like to share with you six “memory rules” which I use to navigate the counterfactual chaos of our time.
- Don’t be deceived
In Matthew 24:3-4 the disciples ask Jesus, “What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus’ answer is long: the whole of chapters 24 and 25. You probably remember what Jesus is talking about there: the gospel will reach the whole world, signs will appear in heaven, and so forth.
But do you remember what Jesus begins his answer with? “Watch out that no one deceives you.”
There we have the first rule: Do not be deceived.
How do you avoid being deceived? The answer is, practice source criticism. Ask the basic questions. Who is making the claim? What is the source? What is the intention? Is there other support for the claim?
Source criticism is not a modern invention. We find it already in the Bible—for example, in Paul’s advice in 1 Thess 5:21-23, “Examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.”
In other words, be critical of your sources. When you hear or read something that “itching ears want to hear” (2 Tim 4:3), do your homework first. Examine, fact-check, don’t be deceived.
- Stick to the truth
This should be obvious, but my experience tells us that we must reiterate the obvious.
The ninth commandment says, “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor” (Ex 20:16). Later, God says, “You shall not spread false reports…. Have nothing to do with a false charge” (Ex 23:1,7).
In plain language, it is disobedience to God to claim that the pope has said that Jesus did not really die on the cross, when the pope has not said so. It is disobedience to God to claim that the Church of Sweden has stopped calling God “He,” when this is not the case. It is disobedience to God to claim during Sabbath School that “other Christians” preach “cheap grace,” unless you’re able to provide evidence for the claim.
We do not have to hug the pope, or pretend that we don’t disagree with the congregation across the street. But we must—we must—at least stick to the truth if we say anything about them. If we claim the fourth commandment is valid, we must also believe that the ninth commandment is valid. Everything else is hypocrisy. If keeping the Sabbath holy is important to God, then sticking to the truth is also important to God.
- My roots, your fruits
Ours is a time of evaluation and assessment. Social media is awash with likes and emojis. The comment sections are overflowing with assessments and opinions. The next tweet assesses the previous tweet.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives this basis for assessing things: “By their fruit you will recognize them” (Matt 7:16). Or as Luke quotes him, “Each tree is recognized by its own fruit” (Luke 6:44).
If we are to judge something, we should do so by its fruit. Not by the trunk, not by the leaves, not by the roots. In the parable of the weeds (Matt 13:24-30), the servants want to pull up the weeds, but the farmer says no and wants to wait until harvest time, i.e., until the fruit is visible, so that the wheat can be safely separated from the weeds.
The fruit is the criterion for assessment. The fruit is visible. But when we judge the visible, we should also be humbly aware of the limitations of the visible: “People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart,” God tells Samuel (1 Sam 16:7).
The fruit is the visible outside, and the roots are the invisible inside. The inside includes motives, intentions, and values. The inside is not visible. The only roots I can possibly see are my own. Regarding my roots, Jesus has an invitation to me: “Remain in me…. [You cannot] bear fruit unless you remain in me” (John 15:4).
However, I cannot see the roots of other people. Regarding these, Paul says,
“Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand” (Rom 14:4).
Do you see the distinction between my roots and your fruits? This distinction is easily forgotten. You don’t have to read far in any comment section to find assessments of other people’s motives, character, sincerity, etc. Invectives and character assassinations are a dime a dozen in the smellier Internet swamps.
In our Christian mud puddles, the tone is usually a little better, but even there we tend to be overly generous when judging other’s sincerity and intention, i.e., we judge each other’s roots. But according to Jesus, it is the fruits that we shall assess, not the roots.
Therefore: my roots, your fruits. Let’s promise each other to let our next assessment pass that filter before we hit the “send” button!
- Salt and light
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks about us being the salt and light of the earth, and that people “may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt 5:13-16). People see and note our actions. We represent not only ourselves, but we also represent God.
Carelessness with source criticism, carelessness with the truth, or speculation about other people’s roots is therefore not just a negligible dent in our personal image. It is also a loss of saltiness. It is hiding the light under the bushel. We are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We are not gaslighters of darkness, but light-bearers of the Kingdom of God.
- Truth is a person
In the post-truth era, we sometimes become eager to defend truth and facts. Nothing wrong with that, but we mustn’t forget that Truth with a capital T is a person. “I am the way and the truth and the life,” says Jesus in John 14:6. Ultimate Truth is not facts, not a certain idea, not a certain theology nor a certain denomination.
Truth is primarily a Person: Jesus Christ.
“When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:1-2).
Our defence of truths must never obscure the Truth.
- Credible communicators of good news
Our mission is to communicate good news, because that is what “gospel” means. Credibility is essential to this.
Credibility takes a long time to build but can be destroyed quickly. Our credibility erodes if we cheat on truth and objectivity. If we spread fake news about earthly matters, why should people trust us when we claim to bring good news from heaven?
However, credibility is more than merely refraining from spreading fake news. Credibility is not being fake yourself. If we talk about God’s grace and love but do not live lives of grace and love, then we are fake. If we hide our brokenness behind a facade, then we are fake, like the whitewashed Pharisees in Matthew 23. Credibility is not superficial home styling, but a construction site where the carpenter from Nazareth works daily.
Credibility is not negotiable. Jesus himself is “the faithful and true witness” (Rev 3:14), and as his followers we cannot be anything less. It is essential if we want to communicate the truest and best news on Earth.
We live in counterfactual chaos where the truth is often put on exception. In this chaos, let us keep our heads cool and our hearts warm, and with God’s help make a difference, so that “our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess 1:12).
Paul Annala writes from Linköping, Sweden. He’s married, has two children, earns his living as a senior software designer, and is an elder in his local church. This article was originally published in the June 2019 issue of Missionären (today AdventLiv), the magazine for the Adventist Church in Sweden. Due to the volatile nature of the internet, some of the originals require a link to archive sites—but there is no shortage of examples.
