The Real Pandemic…

Somebody smart recently said, “The real pandemic is how stupid people are becoming.”

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Anyway, it’s very true and I couldn’t agree more. I think the Bible gives us a good clue as to the nature of the problem, in 1 Romans 1:22-32, all of it really, but summed up,  “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”

We have access to so much information, more than at any other time in human history, but we also have really short attention spans. So today people will watch a 15-second video clip and decide they just know everything there is to know about a subject. Or worse yet, a celebrity has a certain view on something and I hold that celebrity in esteem so that is now my view. Or, all the cool people think this so it must be true.

Pride, arrogance, and ego also tend to make us incredibly stupid and we are now living in a really narcissistic, self-absorbed culture, so the world is actively engaged in trying to make you even stupider than you already are to begin with.

It’s so important to immunize yourself against “teh stoopid” by practicing some humility, and by reminding yourself you do not always know what you think you know. Something that makes me crazy is that the Bible clearly tells us in 1 Peter 3:15, “….be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you….”

Judging by the answers that so many Christian people give on the internet like, “You’re an idiot,” “You’re delusional,” or “Go to hell,” I’m going to conclude that people are not prepared to give an answer. A whole lot of people don’t seem to know what they believe and why. That’s why they attack when they are challenged.

If you actually know what you believe and more importantly why you believe it, you are far less prone to react to other people as if they pose some kind of genuine threat to your entire belief system.

Now of course, people can be annoying, irritating, inconsiderate, and grate on your last nerve. There is plenty of grace needed here. Things can get heated, people can get snappish, and conflicts happen. I’m not lamenting the existence of hotheads, relational dysfunction, and poor communication skills, so much as I am lamenting what it reveals. It reveals that many do not know what they believe in and why. It’s not enough to just pick a position or take a stand on something, one also needs to know what they believe in and why they believe in it.

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