Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash
We are living in a long, tough slog, and no one knows how long it’s going to last.
People were sick with COVID-19 and died in the spring, we locked down, cases dropped, we opened up, and now cases and deaths are rising.
We marched and protested and painted “Black Lives Matter” on streets, signs, and shirts, and still unarmed men of color are being shot dead.
Civility in this country, well, that didn’t have a recent increase to give us a modicum of hope. This has only gotten worse and I doubt I need to provide the evidence to make my case.
There are no quick fixes to any of the above.
More people will suffer while we work the problems.
That uncertainty will keep us on edge and unsettled for a long time.
But it’s not as if we can ignore what’s happening out there. It’s natural, and even necessary, to pay attention to the state of the world.
We need to know what’s happening to preach the gospel into the world as it is. We need to know what’s happening to live wisely, care for our neighbors, and bend the arc toward justice.
But knowing what’s happening has a trap that’s easy to fall into: we have to pay attention to the problems, and those problems contain threats. Threats to our values, our loved ones, our jobs, and our lives. And they are not idle. Not a single one of them.
And that’s what forms the trap.
You may have heard the expression, “You’re not paranoid if they’re really out to get you.”
The pandemic, violence against people of color, and increasing discord really do threaten loved ones, jobs, neighbors, and more.
In trying to get a handle on the scope and depth of these problems, it’s easy to fill our ears with more and more statistics, heart-breaking stories, and analyses of blame.
And because our brains are wired to look for those threats to keep ourselves safe, it’s easy to be consumed by them in an unhealthy way.
As a result, doom-scrolling is a past-time for many.
Doom-scrolling—reading, researching, and watching everything we can in order to gain a shred of sense of a feeling of control—is something I have to guard against myself. I become fascinated by a topic and deliberately search it out to learn more, even when it has no direct bearing on my time or well-being.
But doom-scrolling fills our ears with Threatening News and thus blocks them from the Good News, like:
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid (John 14:27, NRSV).
“I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20, NRSV).
And, “Outsiders and insiders, rejoice together! And again: People of all nations, celebrate God! All colors and races, give hearty praise! And Isaiah’s word: There’s the root of our ancestor Jesse, breaking through the earth and growing tree tall, Tall enough for everyone everywhere to see and take hope! Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!” (Romans 15:12-13, The Message).
As preachers, how can we tell when we’re crossing over from gaining essential knowledge for preaching into the world’s sorrow to too much information?
How can we guide our listeners to notice the same?
More importantly, how do we focus our attention on the hope that is in us instead of the threats around us?
Here’s something I’m learning that you may find helpful as well: an adaptation of the spiritual practice of minding our thoughts.
Minding Your Thoughts
The purpose of minding our thoughts is to keep them in the knowledge and love of God rather than the things of the world that corrupt and destroy our equilibrium, serenity, and emotional capacity to serve our neighbor.
Or better said by Paul to the Philippians:
“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”
Phil. 4:7, The Message
Three Questions to Ask
To allow Christ to filter the worries so we do not allow them to become the center of our lives, it helps to become a bit more objective—to get curious instead of reactive—by answering these three questions:
1. What’s the likely timing of this threat? Is God asking me to give it my full and longer attention right now?
Is the threat:
Imminent?
Inevitable?
Preventable?
Theoretical?
2. If I do need to continue, how will using my time this way:
Honor God?
Help me be safe and thrive?
Help my neighbor equally be safe and thrive?
3. Given the above, how are you called to respond to this threat right now?
Be aware?
Act?
Commend it to God’s care?
Paying Attention
One way we can evaluate whether our attention is well placed is to observe whether the fruits of the spirit grown or blocked.
Are we discovering new expressions of love, new reasons for joy, renewed peace, patience for the process? Are we moving through the world with kindness? Sowing goodness? Responding with gentleness? Are we remaining faithful to God, our responsibilities, and the good works we’ve been given? Can we still exercise self-control in the face of crises that anger us, break our hearts, or threaten our livelihood?
In other words, are we becoming more like Christ in our scrolling? That is, more self-sacrificing? More committed to our neighbor’s thriving? More committed to ushering in God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven?
Or are we becoming more obsessed with our own selves, suffering, and self-righteous anger?
To be Christian is to be communal. Spend your attention in ways that help the community thrive.