Media

No matter which side of the political aisle you find yourself sitting on, it's hard to deny that there is biased media reporting in this country, or around the world for that matter. As an example, Fox News and The Wall Street Journal tend to favor conservatives while other media outlets like NBC and The New York Times tend to favor liberal viewpoints. Why is that? Shouldn't the truth be the truth?

Well, the problem of course is "us humans." The reporters and the editors of the news are human beings and, as a result, they all have their own opinions of what is right and what is wrong, what is fact and what is fiction. They report things through their own eyes.

This past weekend my wife was watching NBC's Today Show. She always watches The Today Show on Saturday and Sunday because she loves to watch Lester Holt. It's kind of cute really. It seems as if her and Lester are old friends the way she talks about him. ANYWAY . . .

NBC is a liberal-slanting media group. They tend to favor liberal issues amidst their reporting. They tend to favor the democratic side of things - President Obama, gay rights, pro-abortion, social justice issues, global warming, things like that. They also tend to report very little about Christianity, unless The Pope says something to support one of their issues.

This is all background for the story I am about to tell you regarding a news report on NBC's Today Show this week about the downed passenger plane, Flight M17. Lestor Holt cut to a story by one of NBC's reporters - LIVE . . . ON THE SCENE.

The reporter told a story focused on a husband and wife who had just arrived at the crash site from the United States. Maybe you saw it. Their daughter had been on the plane that had crashed just a few days earlier. They laid flowers on a piece of the wreckage. They hugged all the workers at the crash site and thanked them for their all they had done. And then they prayed . . . the Lord's Prayer. And then they did something the reporter had a hard time understanding. The obviously Christian couple went over and hugged some of the Russian soldiers who were guarding the crash site. Russian soldiers who likely were part of the group responsible for shooting down the plane. That act affected the reporter rather dramatically.

He then reported back to Lester what he had just witnessed and questioned why our country had not made it to the crash site yet while this Christian couple from the United States had. Live, on the air, the reporter questioned both the democratic president and acknowledged that this Christian couple seemed to care more about the victims than our country did - even reaching out in love to those who had just killed their daughter. You should have seen the look on Lester's face as one of their own reported something contrary to the company line. It was priceless! Amazing is the power of God and the testimony of His children.

In regards to this story there are two questions that seem to jump out at me. The first question is "Where do we find truth these days. If news networks slant their coverage one way or the other, how do we know what is truth and what has been "spun"?

The second question is "Who is our media serving? Are they providing a service to us? Or is their reporting part of a larger agenda?

It is my opinion that the media these days tend to be either left-leaning or right-leaning. Actually, that's more of a fact. It is also my opinion that media, representing both sides of the political aisle,  is interested in reporting things in such as way as to favor their side of things. They tend not to report things that negatively impact their sides agenda.

That's what surprised me about this report I saw. The reporter went against the company's desires to ask some very real and hard-hitting questions. It kind of makes me wonder if he still has a job.

So where do we find truth these days if everyone's news stories are slanted this way or that? And just who should we be serving? Ourselves? Or the ones we were created to serve? Please, open up your Bibles with me and read these verses.

"14 “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” - Joshua 24:14-15

And this . . .

“16 My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. 17 If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. 18 The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood." - John 7:16-18

We, as followers of Jesus, are not to place our faith in men, but in God. We are to take everything that man says, whether we agree with it or not, and compare it to what God says before we can determine truth from a lie. It is not for us to decide what the truth is. That is God's job. Our job is to follow, to worship and to serve. And to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30).

We are not to slant our words and opinions in favor of one political party or another. Instead we are to align ourselves with God's Word. In doing that, there CAN be no opinion in our statements. Only truth.

Voice of Truth - Casting Crowns