We live in an age of despair.

When you look at the news, or social media, it’s very tempting to join in that despair.

All across popular media, we see deep, systemic corruption through events like the Epstein files. There seems to be a new war every year. Human trafficking and slavery are rampant worldwide. The world celebrates depravity and rejects godliness. 

For many, this is simply too much. And so the zeitgeist — the spirit of the times — is to despair.

I believe there are several reasons for this:

First, I believe, is a skewed perspective of the world. We have a bias to emphasize the tragedy before our eyes, and forget the tragedies of the past.

Do we really think that we are the first generation to live in hard times?

In the late 1940s the world was gripped by a crippling fear of atomic weapons, having seen the devastation of World War II.

“How are we to live in an atomic age?’’ Was the question on everyone’s mind. C.S. Lewis, in response to this question, said:

“Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.“¹

We’ve all already received a death sentence. This is the price of admission to life. We shouldn’t panic and despair — wringing our hands and bemoaning “these unprecedented times” — just because someone has concocted this season’s latest and greatest flavor of evil.

Lewis’s friend, J.R.R. Tolkien, approached this topic in his saga The Lord of the Rings. Frodo, leaning into the despair in his own life, turns to the wizard Gandalf, and says:

“I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.”

Gandalf replies:

“So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”²

There have always been hard times. And in those hard times, God has used the faithful to incredible ends, to bring a foretaste of his kingdom above down here, to the kingdom below. God, in his infinite wisdom, for some reason, has placed you here and now, for such a time as this.³ What will you decide to do with the time that is given to you?

More doomscrolling?

Because it’s more than just a skewed perspective, more than just a cultural amnesia.

We are believing a lie.

Popular media is designed to induce despair. It’s designed to show you the worst of the world — to spark outrage, controversy, and anger. Tragedy sells papers. Anxiety keeps you scrolling.

The world we’re presented is an out-of-control moral mess. And so, to give us some sense of control, we tune in. We scroll. We consume.

But this meal we consume can never satisfy. It is empty calories and MSG, and consuming only makes you want more.

But the real problem lies deeper. We may claim that we’re just trying to “stay informed,” but subconsciously, we are also asking the question: “What sort of world do I live in?”

Popular media gladly answers your question: “You live in a world of death. The world is out of control. You live in a world of poverty, of war, of injustice — of contagious diseases, of war crimes — and every movie is a bad remake and here’s why you should be upset about that.”

But this — all of this — is not the whole story. Not by a long shot. Popular media has no interest in the full truth — just in your attention, your heart. Just like Satan deceived Eve through half-truths, when we believe that these half-truths are an accurate and complete description of the world we live in, we are believing a whole lie.

Yes, there is death in the world — but hasn’t our God conquered death?

Yes, the world is changing every day — But our God isn’t. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. 

Yes, there are new flavors of evil sprouting up every day — but I’ve yet to see an evil that is powerful enough to defeat our God, or even clever enough to surprise our God.

The world may seem like it is chaotic and out of control — but — I must have missed it — when did God leave his throne? The world is under the firm, wise, and holy control of the Lord Almighty. He has not and never will be dethroned.⁴

The question is — where does your hope rest? Who do you trust? God tells us that he holds it all in his hands — from the lilies of the fields to the birds of the air.⁵ Nations rise and fall, and still our God is on the throne. Do we believe him? Or do we believe the lies of the powers and principalities of the world that say, “These are unprecedented times. The world is a cold, dead, place. Despair.”

At the end of the day, it’s not a matter of “staying informed.” It’s a matter of the heart. How we interact with the news and popular media reveals something about the nature of our hearts. What is yours saying to you?

In our media consumption, and in all things, we are called to take a stand against the lies of the world and the Father of lies. Far from the empty calories and despair the world has to offer, our Father gave us the Bread of Life — his uniquely begotten son — so that whomever believes in him will not perish but will have life everlasting.

This is where our souls find their rest — this is where our hope lies. If God is for us, who can be against us?

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.“⁶