Fake News: Replacing our Self-Image Mirror with Christ’s
Acts 13:14, 42-52; Revelation 7:9, 14b,-17; John 10:27-30
Mirrors, many of them, is all you see, but how many want others besides themselves in that mirror? These individual mirrors have broken down the meaning of society and community, where we believe the same thing and have a common value. We no longer have a human society, a community of persons with one mirror for everybody, we have severed ourselves, defined ourselves, and chosen our individual paths – it is a new era, the era of fake news! In an era of fake news, “directionlessness” is the order of the day because there are many voices leading to many paths. In fact, you can buy and pay for these voices, and they repeat whatever melody/message you want. These voices come from all kinds of media – social, print and visual; oh yes, even human beings promote fake news – radio-without-batteries, as we call them in Nigeria. Those who like the confusion, caused by fake news, call it information technology; others call it propaganda. News has become a mirror, where each person sees himself/herself. When our dreams and aspirations are met, we subscribe to the news; when it is against us, it becomes fake news. Of course, you cannot see your neighbor in your mirror because you’re the one standing in front of it. But is that the case with a Christian?
Our readings today invite us to recreate a human society and community, from what is left behind by fake news – a fragmented world of ideologues. We are invited to put an end to fake news by smashing our individually designed mirrors and to listen to the voice of our Shepherd, Jesus Christ. It is only when we all have the same source of Truth and listen to this voice of Truth, that we build a human society of children of God. This is possible if we prioritize the message of today’s gospel: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish” (John 10:27). If Jesus has some sheep, as he claims, then, there must be a way he communicates with them, and their response will show whether they recognize him as their shepherd or not, and what the value of his voice is for them. Interestingly, what the Shepherd, Jesus Christ, gives his sheep, is not food or straw, but eternal life!
A Shepherd, a sheep, and a voice: how do they come together? The other day, we saw Mary Magdalene weeping at the entrance to the tomb. Jesus stood right in front of her but she thought of him as a gardener, someone else. All she wondered about was how to recover the dead body of Jesus Christ, the resurrection was very far from her mind. A voice changed it all: Mary! She could hear her name, she recognized the voice, her life was forever changed. The one voice that mattered, Jesus’, doused her confusion, returned her certainty, and restored the meaning of her life and happiness. This is what happens when we let Jesus stand before our mirrors, replacing our self-image mirror with Christ’s, then his voice will take over, and his personality will be molded in us. Mary recognized Jesus’ voice because there was a past relationship that the voice of Jesus re-echoed in her. Beyond physical appearances, relationship is what a voice creates between a sheep and a shepherd. But what relationship has our world with Jesus Christ?
Jesus Christ is the Christian mirror, before fake news arrived to contest it! Fake news thrives on jealousy and feeds on confusion – this is the experience of the early Church, which is also ours today. Many of us have been molded and shaped by fake news. We have created for ourselves our own mirror, our own voices – news outlet – and the voice of Jesus has no more place in us. We readily defend the news, but have no slighted courage to defend the gospel. We have all kinds of apps on our phones and computers, but our Bible and Catechism have no places in our rendezvous. According to our first reading, the Truth preached by Paul and Barnabas did not turn into lies, but fake news distorted it, sowed confusion, and bred disunity: “On the following sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and with violent abuse contradicted what Paul said” (Acts 13:44-45). Indeed, how does one survive fake news as it competes for space with the gospel of Jesus Christ?
Our first reading teaches us how to remain standing despite fake news – the Gospel of Jesus Christ: “The Jews, however, incited the women of prominence who were worshipers and the leading men of the city, stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their territory” (Acts 13:50). Yes, for fake news, the available spaces in contention are words, which make little sense to and have more or less no impact on the deaf. In order to weather the storm of fake news, a Christian stops looking into the mirror and becomes a mirror himself/herself. It is the example of one’s life that shuts up fake news and unleashes the power of a voice, though silent, but perceptible to the sight and to the heart. Everyone touched by the example of a Christian’s life does not forget in a hurry. The example of Christ, what he did for humanity through his death and resurrection, is the power that keeps him relevant today, and his message credible in a scientific age.
The credibility of Christianity is in the power of Christians’ example. The lifestyle of a Christian is his voice and his mirror. Up until a person becomes another Christ, then does he/she become a voice, a path, and a message for the world to see and emulate. Here is what Paul and Barnabas did, when under attack: “Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, . . . For so the Lord has commanded us, I have made you a light to the Gentiles, that you may be an instrument of salvation to the ends of the earth” (Acts 13:47). Oh yes, “I have made you a light to the Gentiles”: no one hears the light, but darkness disappears wherever it is present; the blind do not see the light, but experience its effects because they feel its heat/warmth and it grows the food they eat. Fake news continues because there are very few Christian lives to overturn it, the way light puts out darkness.
The best example of a Christian’s life is that of the second reading: “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14). You see, they have changed their robes from pieces of cotton and silk, their new robes are virtue-designer-clothes. How could one possibly get whiteness from blood that is red? The power of virtue, the imitation of Christ, makes that possible. Since they imitated Christ, they now stand before his throne, they are qualified to worship him: “For this reason they stand before God’s throne and worship him day and night in his temple” (Revelation 7:15). We are brought right back to our gospel: “I give them eternal life,” says Jesus, “and they shall never perish”. Here and now, fake news does not appear to be something to worry about, and the opinions and voices that shape our polity and politics. However, if we remember that we substitute the eternal life which Jesus offers us by listening to other voices, then, it is worth the while to stand up to fake news and dissenting voices just as Paul and Barnabas did. The most portent way to do that is to become other christs, and let our lives preach the gospel of Christ.
Assignment for the Week:
Do something this week that shows that you are a Christian.