Worthless Things?

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

It’s for a very good reason that Paul makes an in-depth statement in Philippians 4:8:

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. (NKJV)

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (NIV)

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (KJV)

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

The words chosen by the apostle Paul were specifically chosen by the Holy Spirit to breathe truth into our hearts. All too often today though, there seems to be anything but noble things to contemplate. Society has become plagued with ignoble, treacherous, evil, corrupt issues and situations that constantly push against us and our thinking, seeking to continually interrupt us from our praise of God via our thoughts and prayers. More often than not, we are held captive by the constant negative undercurrent of “news” that continuously cycles throughout society, creating a tension that is difficult to set aside.

Consider the time of Noah as recorded in Genesis 6:5-9.

⁵ The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶ And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. ⁷ So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” ⁸ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

The brief description above is enough to tell us that God had had it, that He found reason to destroy what He had previously and sovereignly created. Why? Simply because of the tantamount evil that had come to define humanity. That evil was continuously increasing. Everything people did then – starting with their very thoughts – culminated in evil actions. These evil actions not only affected other people, but it also affected the animal kingdom and earth itself. Apparently, God knew that He could not necessarily salvage humanity…except for one person and his family: Noah, who, according to God’s Word, found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Notice also that the Bible does not reflect or even dwell on the nature of the evil that had so corrupted humanity at every level. There was no specific breakdown of any examples of just how bad things had gotten with human society. Yes, we read of Cain and Abel and other instances of evil intent throughout Scripture, but generally not in gory detail.

It is enough that God simply tells us “every intention of the thoughts of (people’s) heart was only evil continually.” God saw no point in listing the various grievous sins that human beings committed on a continual basis with specificity. We can only try to imagine what those sins might have been, but we probably should not. If God had wanted us to know, surely He would have told us, but deliberately chose not to do so and He must have had a very good reason.

Even Jesus, God the Son, in the Gospels, when He relates that the end of human history (still yet future), would resemble the days of Noah and the days of Lot, did not go into specific details about how egregious those societies were in their heyday. Jesus simply says that at the end of the coming human history, things will resemble the days of Noah and Lot. Moreover, in spite of how evil things would again become, people would continue doing the same things people have always done: marrying and giving in marriage. In spite of the obscene levels of evil that would become obvious in global society of the last days, many of the things that people would involve themselves in are the things that have always been done.

It almost seems as though God does not necessarily want us to be focused on the abject horrors of what evil people can accomplish. Is that because by focusing on those things, we tend to become less able to see and hear God? Put another way, by focusing on the level of atrocious evil that people are able to commit and practice, do we then lose a measure of sensitivity to God because of it? Are we redirecting ourselves from God to Satan? Would this be why Paul commands us to be focused on those things that essentially lift us up, rather than tear us down?

Since the establishment of social media, is the world better or worse off? Is misinformation and evil purposes the norm on these platforms, even under the guise of trying to “educate” others? There is simply so much there that seeks to activate a person’s inherent bias and drags people toward the negative; everything from anti-white racism to migrants breaking the law to Venezuelan gangs taking over apartment complexes. The major divisions throughout society are largely created by false information presented on social media platforms.

Many of the videos on social media almost seem designed to pit one race against another, or people against people (whether Republican/Democrat, white/black). This creates nothing good in society and makes people wary of others when out in public.

One of the biggest problems I have is related to just how much on social media seems to delve into the obscure and the trashy. It is amazing to me and it is very easy to get caught up into things of that nature because it is often in your face while scrolling through social media.

Do I really need to know about the “Red Shoe Club” in all its filthy details? Do I need to know just exactly how depraved and evil someone like P Diddy may allegedly be with his “freak out” parties? Do I need to have a better understanding of adrenochrome allegedly used by elite and how that adrenochrome is obtained by those individuals? What happens to my mind when I take the time to focus on these things? Certainly, when I choose to look into those things, it may well be that I end up harming my self and my mindset before God.

Again, the apostle Paul makes a case for not looking into those areas. In Ephesians 5, he takes the time to outline how we Christians are to walk in love and it is by avoiding things that have no benefit to us.

3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. (vv 3-4)

Notice Paul does not provide any examples of what he means, because it is self-evident. While saying to avoid sexual immorality, he doesn’t feel the need to describe in detail what he is referring to, because it is really obvious.

11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. (Ephesians 4:11-12)

Again, note the absence of Paul’s description of “works of darkness.” He doesn’t make a list. He simply assumes his readers understand what he is referring to and tells them to avoid it. In fact, notice in verse 12, Paul goes onto say that “…it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.” Seems clear enough. So Paul makes two cogent points: don’t physically engage in immoral practices and don’t even discuss what is done there. It is too easy to get caught up into those areas even by just talking about immoral practices.

Yet, in today’s society, what are we doing? We often read or talk about just exactly how evil people are and in detail. We want to hear the details concerning Diddy’s alleged “freak out” parties (under the guise of “education”). We want to know who was there and who did what to whom. Yet, Paul says we shouldn’t discuss it, much less participate in those things? Why is that?

While it’s one thing to be aware of possibilities that might occur in society (like a potential coming civil war foisted on us by the Left), it’s another thing to be caught up in those things allowing them to focus our minds on the downsides of things. Knowing that gas and food prices are going to go up is a good thing because it allows us to plan. Being focused on those things to the point where they cause us to fear about shortages is not a good thing.

I’ve come to the conclusion that by thinking about or discussing the evil nature of many of those events and gatherings, we actually end up giving glory to Satan, who created those things. While God created sexual union between a man and a woman, Satan has sought to distort that union as much as possible. Because of that, everything is on display today. Because it’s so openly seen and discussed, people become a bit enamored with it (because of its prurient nature), even when speaking against those things. They simply don’t need to be listed, discussed or thought about.

Social media platforms are the worst for this. There is very little that one cannot find on a social network. I’m on X and I’m seriously considering deleting my account. I go there for the news because I avoid mainstream media news bureaus. However, because there is so much garbage on X, I have to ask myself if it is worth it. I thought originally when Elon Musk purchased X, it would become a different place. This has turned out to not be true at all. Conservatives are still censored nearly into complete silence (or outright suspended) and there is very little engagement unless a person is a large account. But even apart from this, the content on X is not generally uplifting or as Paul would say, noble, right, pure, lovely, or praiseworthy, etc. In fact, it’s generally the exact opposite of those things. So why continue going there if the majority of what I see does not help me follow Philippians 4:8?

True news is important and for that reason, Telegram is probably much better. There, I can simply see one conservative news article after another and I don’t have to get bogged down with all the inane comments attached to each story. In fact, the way Telegram is set up, it’s fairly easy to ignore the comments entirely and just focus on articles.

Social media, the reality appears to be that much is simply not useful because it’s not necessarily noble or praiseworthy. That may also extend to what passes off for prophecy in current prophecy circles. Under the guise of providing “information,” too many go into the gory details of something that serves only to create fear, mistrust and serious concern.

Folks, we need to take seriously Paul’s admonition to think purposefully about things that are beneficial to us and do our best not to get caught up in those things that simply end up tearing us down. I’m taking the time to rethink my priorities and asking why I’m involved in certain things that result is negativity and mental disharmony?

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective