In the last two weeks I’ve heard at least three people lament “the world is on fire.” They might be referring to any number of issues and I’ve thus far refrained from asking them to elaborate on which one they’re focusing on. Because the truth is, the world is always on fire somewhere.
On any given day there is societal upheaval (with varying degrees of cultural awareness about it) proportional to the algorithms Facebook and X like to rage bait us with. I’ll bet everyone reading this is at least somewhat concerned about devastating events occurring nowhere near their front door. A shooting, a war, a genocide, persecutions, protests, encroachments, civil strife: There’s always a cause du jour to embrace. Hundreds, in fact, all across the globe.
One person kills another. One person’s family member is dead, and another person has to live with the reality that they just killed another human being. Others witness it, or saw it online. All are traumatized to some degree. Many more become desensitized, or worse, celebrate it. Nightmares follow, and more hate, and more justifications.
It doesn’t matter the circumstances; the enemy loves it, delights in it. It’s all he cares about. We care about the who, what, when, where, and we debate who’s behind it and why.
The enemy doesn’t. He just wants more.
More anger, more scrolling, more arguing, more fear, more time, more death!
All of this raises the question: Why are we so viscerally affected by the current thing?
And why are we doomscrolling and arguing with people—often people we think of as friends—about things we have no control over and no proximity to?
[Note: If the world is “on fire” in your community or right outside your door, this post is not necessarily for you. You need to follow the Holy Spirit’s lead, not man’s.]
Also, why are we cursing the state of our nation or other parts of the world with inflammatory declarations?
We should care about the parts of the world that are, so to speak, on fire. They’re important, and real people’s lives and livelihoods are on the line. Disregard the plight of humans anywhere, and we quickly violate the second greatest commandment: to love others as ourselves.
That said, everyone needs to take a step back—or a step away from the screens—and ask ourselves what Jesus would have us do about the current thing, whatever the current thing may be.
Truth be told, there may not be much we can do about that issue that’s blowing up our social media feed. We can rant about the current thing with like-minded friends, but that serves little purpose other than to cement us into tribes.
Pretty soon we’re slapping labels on people and bloviating about the unquestionable rightness of our position; and also ridiculing those who disagree, regardless of whatever knowledge or experience those other people possess, which we don’t really want to hear anyway.
Healthier people might choose to enter into grown-up conversations about the current thing with people of differing opinions. That can be rewarding, but at the end of the day if all we do is agree to disagree, was the time well or ill spent?
What is a Christ follower to do?
Answer: Set down the phone and pause. Pray. Turn off the internet or the TV.
I know that may sound strange coming from writer, but less time swimming in the information swamp is likely the cure for many of these fires. Let’s commit to less time on the internet and more time listening to the voice of God.
Lord, align my thoughts with your thoughts, my priorities with Your priorities. If something is breaking my connection with You and what you want to communicate with me today, remove it from me.
If something it distracting me from hearing Your heart about an issue, remove that accusing spirit as well.
If some dark force is feeding off of my anger, fear, words, attitude, or anything else, I rebuke it in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who was born, died on the cross, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father, and who has all authority over heaven and Earth…and over my social media feed.
If any accusing spirit is whispering to me via the news, internet feeds, podcasts, or conversations with others, deafen me to that foul spirit’s lies. Bring me back into communion with the Holy Spirit who reigns in me. And put the words in my mouth that you want me to speak, and keep me silent when I need to be.
If you’re still wrestling with that agitation so prevalent in modern discourse, still lamenting the world being on fire, or rushing to finish reading this so you can go back on Facebook or wherever to check what so-and-so replied to your last thread, perhaps go back and read those prayers out loud.
Or just say the name of Jesus aloud. The enemy hates that and can’t stand being around it.
I know it’s easy to get sucked into daily, sometimes hourly, outrage. It happens to me all the time. But self-control is a fruit of the Spirit for a reason. We need to practice it to get good at it. Do that and pretty soon we’ll attain that sweet spot of being able to know what’s happening in the world without getting disconnected from God over it.
We’ll be able to see the terror that strikes at mid-day and not be shaken by it. We’ll be able to assess the latest atrocity and not lament the world being on fire, but rather intercede for it as a job requirement. The news of the day merely highlights to the lost how desperately each of us need the Savior.
With Holy Spirit perspective, we’ll be able to see the supernatural underpinnings of the current thing and pray effectively against it. And we’ll also begin seeing our fellow image bearers—and that’s everyone, by the way—as humans, even if they’re doing things we find abhorrent.
Chances are we’re only seeing those “bad guys” as the enemy wants us to see them; there’s probably another side to the current thing you don’t know about. Our echo chambers may not reveal that, and only occasionally are we interested in hearing about it.
Jesus calls us out of that posture. He knows that even His people are capable of becoming situationally vicious.
To counter that, again I say: Put down the phone and step away. Ignore the static and get in His word. Play a game with your kids. Or maybe, before you put that phone down, call up your friend and arrange to go out for coffee first.
Much of the world’s fires could be extinguished by calm people sitting over a cup of coffee, or merely turning off the news.
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