Christians cannot choose what we care about
There was a guy who said that you have to read your Bible and the newspaper side by side as a way of saying that acts of piety and acts of justice are interconnected.
I am ashamed to say that when I am in exclusively Christian circles, more than any other group, I hear the sentence, “Oh, I don’t watch the news. It is all horrible and awful.” Following that sentence, any number of people chime in and talk about just how much they dislike the news for whatever reason. I have yet to be in that conversation where someone stands up for watching the news as a critical element of being a Christian.
We no longer read the paper and Bible together.
I not only do not understand how we can decide that we do not want to watch the news because it is too depressing, but I also do not understand where we got the idea that we could choose not to care?
Christians cannot choose what we can and cannot care about. We are to die to ourselves and to conform our lives our wills our desires to that of Christ’s. We do not have the freedom to choose what we care about. We do not have the freedom to choose who to love. This is, in part, what it means to serve Christ.
Christians care about what Christ cares about. Christians care about who Christ cares about.
And who has Christ chosen to care about? The marginalized. The victims of violence. The beaten, the broken, the hurting, the sick, the dying the horrific events in the world.
And where do we learn about where the people Christ cares about?
The news.
Sure I would rather be entertained and binge watch my favorite show. I would rather check status updates, view follow twitter feeds, view filtered Instagram pictures and laugh at #FailVine.
But we do not get to choose when we want to care about who and what we want to care about.
Christ, our Lord and Teacher, already chose for me.