Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
look full in his wonderful face;
and the things of earth will grow strangely dim
in the light of his glory and grace.

— Helen Lemmel, “Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus”, The Worshipping Church Hymn #452

I have a friend who can’t drive anywhere without using his GPS.  He uses it to get everywhere, even the grocery store. While perhaps not to that extent, most of us have become very dependent on these features of our cell phones.  It’s wonderful not only to be told when and where to turn, but how long it will take to reach your destination and what traffic problems might be along your route.  This is all coming from a device that fits in our pocket.  Technology is an incredible thing.  Pretty much anywhere I go, my phone can always tell me exactly where I am and where I need to go to reach my destination.

When we lived in St. Louis, the street we lived off was shut down as they tore it up and replaced it.  This project took several months, and they put a “Road Closed to Through Traffic” sign at the nearby intersections.  In spite of the sign and the clear evidence of construction (the lack of asphalt being a key clue), each day dozens of cars tried to get through.  After all, that was the route their GPS was telling them to take, so they had to go that way.  Our technological tools are amazing, and usually reliable, but should not be trusted blindly.

Over the past few years, our technological tools have advanced to the point where we can no longer trust the information we’re being given.  Photoshop has been able to alter photographs digitally for a long time, but now we’re able to do the same thing with video, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to spot the fakes.  Artificial Intelligence tools have ripped open Pandora’s Box so that any and every one can create fake images and videos.  Altered and edited photographs and videos are being distributed not just by questionable sources, but supposedly trustworthy ones as well.  News media, government agencies, and of course social media spread, and sometimes create, these fake images and videos with nary an apology or regret.  How are we to find our way?

In light of the long arc of human history, GPS is still a very new technology.  It’s hard for me to fathom being able to get anywhere without it, but we’ve only been doing so for a few decades.  For most of human history, explorers had to rely on hand-drawn maps and the stars to help them figure out where they were and where they were going.  It was easy to get lost, but if you did, you could just look up at night and figure it out.  Even though the stars moved throughout the night, there was always one that stayed put.  Polaris, the north star.  Once you located Polaris, you could figure out where you were and navigate from there.  Using Polaris as a navigational tool is about as old school as you can get, but as they say, “there ain’t no school like the old school.”

In an age of dis- and misinformation, when we can not trust our technological tools, the media, or even government sources, the Christian can, and should, hold fast to the only north star we’ve ever had, Jesus Christ.  He is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).  When we don’t know which way to go, we turn to Jesus who says, “follow me.” (Mark 1:17)  When we don’t know what is true or false, we listen to Jesus who says, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:37)  When we don’t know how to live, Jesus reminds us that “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” (John 10:10 MESSAGE)  In the same way that Polaris is always in the same place in the sky, Jesus is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).  If the most reliable sources are the oldest, well, Jesus is the one who hung Polaris in the sky at the dawn of time.  That which is truly good, and true, and beautiful, will look like Jesus, sound like Jesus, and act like Jesus.

The problem of disinformation is only going to get worse.  The technological tools we’ve come to rely on are going to continue to misdirect us.  Instead of doomscrolling on our phones, we need to “fix our eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2) and “look full in his wonderful face.”  Immerse yourself in the Word of God by reading the Bible daily and spending time in prayer.  If we spend more time looking at the face of Jesus instead of the glare of our devices, then we will know what is true and what is not, for we will beholding the Face of Truth Himself. When you can’t trust anything else, trust in Jesus all the more.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. — Hebrews 12:2-3

Blessings,

Rev. David Garrison