𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠-𝗨𝗣
• On average, how much time do you spend online every day? Which sites or apps do you use the most?
• What are the determining factors on whether you will watch or read something online?
• What was the worst fake news you encountered or saw online?


𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗
𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯, “𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺, ‘𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯’?” 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵, “𝘞𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, ‘𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯, 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘵, 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘦.’” 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯, “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘦. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭.” 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗦 𝟯:𝟭–𝟱

The truth matters.

This is especially true for followers of Jesus. If there’s ever a group of people on earth who should be known for truth-telling, it’s the Christians. We are a people of the book—our Bible reveals the highest ethical standards of integrity and the entire Christian faith is hinged on the truthfulness of the words of Christ. Our faith must therefore be known for the truth we bear witness to. But that is not always the case today. If you are on social media, you know how anyone can fall victim to fake news, conspiracy theories, and all kinds of half-truths and lies.

The problem with lies is as old as humanity itself. When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, the snake insinuated, “Did God actually say . . . ?” It was a clever question meant to grab attention and sow seeds of doubt. Satan did not blatantly oppose God’s words—at least not at first. He pretended to only ask a question. And when the tempter saw that the woman didn’t push back but instead misquoted God’s words, he launched the biggest lie of all—“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘦.”

The world today is broken because of that one lie.

This should give us all a pause. The story of Adam and Eve tells us of the cosmic devastation that resulted from a single lie. Its damage is so huge that God’s method of overturning the lies necessitated the death of His Son, Jesus. This is why truth matters, whether grand biblical truths or factual matters of daily living. And this brings us back to the problem of fake news—along with misinformation and disinformation—which stands opposite to the truth of the Christian message.

The Gospel of John gives us two reasons we should be cautious about fake news:

𝟭. 𝗪𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵.
𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮, “𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘦.” 𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗡 𝟭𝟰:𝟲

The biggest reason Christians should be cautious about fake news is because we serve a God of truth. The Bible says that it is impossible for Him to lie (Hebrews 6:18; Titus 1:2) and no deceit is ever found in His mouth (Isaiah 53:9; 1 Peter 2:22).
How have you learned to counter fake news? Why is this important?

𝟮. 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀.
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮, “𝘈𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.” 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, “𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘈𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘮’𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘈𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘮 𝘥𝘪𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘎𝘰𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘈𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘮 𝘥𝘪𝘥. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘥.” 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮, “𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳—𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘥.” 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, “𝘐𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺? 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴.”𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗡 𝟴:𝟯𝟵–𝟰𝟰

Jesus had a fascinating argument with some Jews where He said that the truth will set them free (John 8:32). The Pharisees took issue with that and claimed that they had never been enslaved because they were Abraham’s children. What followed next was a noteworthy interplay between truth and lies. Jesus argued that if they really were Abraham’s children, why would they seek to kill Him when He is only telling them the truth? The real reason for their murderous attitude, Jesus said, was because they take after the father of lies, the devil himself, who 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

This is an astounding pronouncement from the mouth of Jesus. He was saying that the sharp contrast between God and the devil is hinged on the issue of truth. The devil is a liar and he is the father of lies; Jesus is the God of truth and He speaks only the truth. One of the tell-tale signs of the followers of the devil is seen in the way they stand in opposition to the truth of Christ.

Here are some of the practical things we can do to promote truthfulness in our online engagements:
• Fact-check first. Be wary of news items that do not come from legitimate sources.
• Share only what is true and helpful to others. Making sure it’s helpful is just as important as making sure it’s truthful. Do not sow intrigue and discord.
• Be patient. Avoid hot takes about developing news stories. When details are scarce, hold off your opinions for a bit.
• Be open for correction. When your post is proven to be false, graciously admit the error and delete.

The biblical admonition to 𝘣𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 (James 1:19) is the ancient equivalent of listening patiently, keeping our mouths shut until we have all the facts, and tempering our extreme reactions. Yes, we care about being truthful, but we also do it in a way that is winsome and gracious. We don’t always need to have a say on controversial issues. Sometimes, the wisest thing a Christian can do is to be quiet. If you must speak out to offer correction, do so with gentleness and respect. Why is being patient in your online engagement harder than it looks? How are patience, kindness, and self-control possible?


𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡
• What do you think happens when we condone lies, halftruths, and fake news? What do you think happens when we value the truth? How do you want to live, starting today?
• How do you do fact-checking? What is your way of making sure you are not sharing fake news online?
• How do you graciously deal with close friends and family members who post or share fake news?


𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥
• Thank God for His word that shows us the truth. Pray thatyou will speak and value truth, turning away from half-truths,lies, and fake news.
• Ask God to check your thoughts and speech this week.Pray that you would be full of both grace and truth in your thoughts, words, and actions.
• Ask God that you would be filled with the Spirit and the fruit of His Spirit would abound in your life every day. Pray for those you interact with offline and online to encounter God’s love through you.