Bad Apple
Fake news is nothing new. Jesus warned about it two thousand years ago.
The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, "Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation." And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, "Watch out-- beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod." They said to one another, "It is because we have no bread." And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, "Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?" They said to him, "Twelve." "And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?" And they said to him, "Seven." Then he said to them, "Do you not yet understand?" - Mark 8:11-21
It is amazing ho wmuch quicker rumors spread than truths.
Speculate regarding someone's character and everyone will hear about it, but say something nice about someone, and no one may be interested.
Why is that?
What makes us so hungry for gossip?
Maybe, like the twelve, we are focused on the wrong things. Maybe we expect to hear something negative, so everything we do hear has the potential to be that way.
But Jesus wants them to know the leaders cannot be trusted to tell the truth. That's a big deal.
We expect that from totalitarian governments, but not from our own. Perhaps they would have expected it from Herod, but not the Pharisees who were their leaders, men of God.
What this shows us is that no one is safe from corruption. We can all fall into the trap, and we can even become corrupt ourselves.
Beware the yeast, he said, the small amounts of lies added to teh truth to make the outcome completely different.
We have an expression for that. One bad apple can spoil the whole bunch.
Jesus is warning us to keep our eyes and ears open so we can tell what is good and what is bad.
More to come...