Is It REALLY True?

Finding Truth Among the Sources We are Influenced By

Have you noticed how hard it has become to figure out what’s actually true?

I mean, seriously. You can watch one TV channel and hear a story, flip over to another channel five minutes later, and wonder if they’re even talking about the same event. Then you get on Facebook, somebody posts a video that sounds completely convincing, someone else says it’s been taken out of context, and before you know it, you’re 14 comments deep and know less than you did when you started. 😊

And now we have AI, Lord help us.

We have more information available at our fingertips than any generation before us, and somehow, I think we’re having a harder time figuring out what to believe.

I’ve been thinking about this for several years. Social media changed things. What shows up in our feeds isn’t simply everything our friends and the people we follow posted that day. Algorithms help decide what we’re likely to see, based partly on what we’ve clicked, watched, liked, shared, and interacted with before.

Which means, in a strange way, the internet can start looking a whole lot like us.

And that’s where I think things get dangerous.

I’ve always valued free speech. I don’t have to agree with you to believe you should be able to have an opinion. In fact, I WANT to hear perspectives that aren’t exactly like mine. How in the world am I ever supposed to examine what I believe if the only people I listen to already agree with me?

I feel the same way about faith. I believe people should be able to practice their faith openly and talk about what they believe without fear. You don’t have to believe what I believe. I don’t have to believe what you believe. But somewhere along the way, we have to be able to sit at the same table, listen to each other, ask questions, and think for ourselves.

What I don’t like is being intentionally misled.

And here’s where this gets a little uncomfortable.

The problem isn’t only THEM.

It’s us too.

Because if I’m being completely truthful, I am much more likely to believe something when it already agrees with what I think.

Aren’t you?

We hear something that confirms what we’ve believed for years and immediately think, SEE! I KNEW IT!

Do we research it?

Maybe.

Do we research it with quite the same enthusiasm when it says something we want to be true?

Well…

That’s where our own little monkey brains can get us in trouble. 😊

We like being right. We like people who agree with us. We like articles that prove our point, commentators who reinforce our opinions, and friends who tell us, “Exactly!”  It is in our human nature to want to fit in and to hear, “You’re Right!”  And honestly, I think most of us are too tired for more conflict, so it is always easier to go with the flow, and agree with those around us, than to try and dig deep enough to determine truth. 

And the internet has gotten remarkably good at giving us more of whatever keeps us looking.  Especially shoe ads.  (Or is this just me??)

But agreement and truth aren’t the same thing.  I for one, haven’t always been right. And thankfully, on some occasions, when my perspective changed, so did my life.  And for the better.  A lot better.

That’s the part I think we sometimes forget.

Something isn’t true because the person saying it is a Republican.

It isn’t true because the person saying it is a Democrat.

It isn’t true because CNN said it.

It isn’t true because Fox News said it.

It isn’t true because your pastor said it.

It isn’t true because your best friend shared it.

And for goodness’ sake, it isn’t true just because it’s on the internet or AI said it. 😂

Truth doesn’t need to know whose team we’re on.

So maybe the question we need to start asking isn’t:

“Does this agree with me?”  Maybe it’s: “Is this actually true?”

Where did this information come from? Can I find the original source instead of somebody’s interpretation of it? Is there context I’m missing? Is someone presenting an opinion as though it’s a fact? Can I find credible information that challenges what I currently believe?

And here’s probably the hardest one:

Am I willing to discover that I was wrong?

Because if I’m only willing to investigate information that challenges the other guy’s beliefs, I’m not really searching for truth.

I’m searching for ammunition.

I don’t think there’s an algorithm in the world that can fix that for us.

We have to decide that truth matters more than being right. That learning matters more than winning an argument. And that occasionally changing our minds because we’ve learned something new isn’t weakness.

It might actually be wisdom.

And I am a HUGE proponent of wisdom. Honestly, that’s pretty much the whole reason I started writing Sass & Sense in the first place. I don’t just want to share information or education. There is plenty of that available with one quick Google search. What I hope to share, and gain myself, is something deeper: God-breathed wisdom.

Because wisdom is more than simply knowing things. It requires insight. Experience. Discernment. Sometimes instinct. And certainly faith. It’s taking what we know, holding it up against what we believe to be true, asking God for discernment, and then having the courage to act accordingly.

And THAT may be the harder part.

Because sometimes, deep down, we know something isn’t right. But recognizing something is wrong and being willing to do something about it are two very different things.

Standing up for what you believe is right isn’t always easy, popular, or convenient. Sometimes it may require going against the crowd. Sometimes it may cost you something. And occasionally, it may become a pursuit that lasts for years.

But here’s where I think discernment matters again: not everything deserves a battle.

We can spend an awful lot of our lives fighting over things that ultimately don’t matter. So before we plant our flag and prepare for war, maybe wisdom requires another question:

Is this worth fighting for?

Protecting someone from abuse? Absolutely worth fighting for.

Helping someone who’s hurting? Worth it.

Sharing the faith that has changed your life? Worth it.

Generously serving someone who cannot repay you? Worth it.

Standing up when someone is being genuinely harmed or mistreated? Worth it.

Those are the kinds of things that can make a life matter. One wrong that you help make right may ultimately be more significant than a hundred arguments you managed to win.

And maybe that’s another difference between being right and doing right.

Being right can feed our ego. Doing right requires something from us.

So, the next time something pops up on your screen that makes you immediately think, “I KNEW IT!”, maybe that’s precisely the moment to slow down.

Read a little further.  Validate. Check another source. Look for the whole story.

And maybe, every once in a while, ask yourself the uncomfortable question:

Do I believe this because it’s true…or because I really WANT it to be?

Now THAT might be worth thinking about.  Or in my case, praying about.  😊