If the truth sets us free - just as Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” - what will fake news do?

We live in a world where information seeks us and we also seek information.

In some places, people are totally confined to their homes. In Singapore, we are partially confined. We are confined to the restricted space called home, and so news outside would excite us and we want to hear more. This situation is just right for fake juicy news to proliferate. We hear about police road blocks that stop and find people whose addresses on their IC are not the same. A video of dead bodies floating at the seashore went around and the news said this country threw its dead COVID-19 patients into the sea. Another fake news said our Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong tested positive for the virus. Before the announcement of the first COVID death, deaths were reported as early as 25 February. And another one on 26. And another on 27. And 28. Just a week ago, the speaker received a list of people who had tested positive in the True Jesus Church. He saw two familiar names, one from Singapore and one from Malaysia. Upon checking, he found it wasn’t true. News can be twisted and totally fake because people just like to create it. Some fake news are just silly and harmless, but there are others that can be harmful and even deadly.

Iranians have died because they drank commercial alcohol, having read it cures COVID-19. Alcohol is inaccessible in Iran so they just drank the commercial one. When the speaker first read about it, 27 people had died but more recently, it has been reported that about 700 people had died from consuming 100% alcohol.

The Bible also warns us to be careful of false teachings that spread like diseases.

2 Tim 2:17
“And their message will spread like cancer.”
These are false teachings that spread like infectious diseases. How do we guard ourselves from false doctrines? They sound believable. What are some of the things being taught today that seem right but are actually wrong? How do we discern the voice of the Lord from the confusing noise around us?

We consider some fake news that had been circulating.

1. Masks can be worn both ways

What is the fact? It cannot be worn both ways. The outer layer repels water so cough droplets will not get out. The middle layer filters germs and microbes that cause disease. The inner layer absorbs moisture to ease breathing for the wearer.

2 Pet 1:20-21
“knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”

Prophecy (the Old Testament Bible) is not just free for anyone to interpret. There’s no multiple ways to interpret Scripture. We can’t even say there’s 2 ways (like the mask). The word of God is not like roti prata that can be flipped. Of course we know certain Bible verses are intended to have double meaning. It’s one message built on top of another; it doesn’t conflict. We hence cannot interpret the Bible in 2 different ways that conflict and say both are right.

Consider the following example.
Acts 19:1-2
And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

When a person believes in Jesus Christ, proclaims Him as his only Saviour, or even when he gets baptised, does he receive the Holy Spirit automatically? Let us consider two interpretations and see if they can be right at the same time.

Interpretation 1: The conversation between Paul and the Ephesians believers shows that one does not receive the Holy Spirit automatically upon believing. Otherwise, Paul’s question would be meaningless. This is corroborated/supported by Acts 8 where the Samaritans believed in Jesus and were baptised, but then Holy Spirit had not fallen on them. They only received after Peter and John came down to lay hands on them.

Interpretation 2: When Paul asked this question, he was just checking whether they were genuine believers. Because when a person’s faith is genuine, he will receive the Holy Spirit as soon as he believed.

Can both interpretations be correct? Cannot be. Either Paul believers a person receives the Holy Spirit when he truly believers, or he does not. He cannot believe and not believe at the same time. Because he knows when a person believes in Jesus Christ, he has to pray for the Holy Spirit. These are two different things. He was very concerned whether the Ephesians had received the Holy Spirit or not.

Let us consider the next fake news.

2. COVID-19 is large in size. So any mask will prevent its entry.

The middle layer of the mask which acts as a filter may not even filter very well unless it’s of good quality. We may ask, “Why do we wear a cloth mask (provided by the government) then?” The main reason for any kind of mask is to protect others not ourselves. It can protect us too, but that’s minimal. The main reason is to protect other people. It may not filter out the virus but when you cough and sneeze, at least your droplets won’t fly a few metres away. When somebody coughs into your face, these droplets won’t directly touch your skin because there’s a barrier. Of course it doesn’t provide the same level of protection as surgical masks and N95. So we wear cloth masks for this purpose: to stop droplets, not to stop the virus itself. That’s why the cloth masks are not meant for medical personnel.

How does all this apply to us? Some Christians think their fuzzy understanding of the Bible, like the cloth mask, can protect them from false teachings. Yes, it’s better to have some understanding instead of no understanding. But we can’t expect a fuzzy understanding of the Bible to protect us from everything. That’s like medical personnel dealing with patients using a cloth mask. That’s like thinking: “I’ll just go to the casino to watch. I won’t gamble. I know what’s right. I won’t be influenced.”

What does the Bible say?
Heb 5:13-14
“For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

The author of Hebrews realised many of the Hebrew Christians were not mature in their faith. A person not mature can only drink milk, he cannot eat solid food. But we need solid food. Why? Because solid food are for those people able to discern right and wrong. So we need to grow up and be mature. We cannot just remain at a level of milk drinking; having some kind of understanding of the Bible but not enough - not enough to discern properly. Or able to discern but not able to resist the wrong.

The Bible talks about being skilled with the word of God. Having a fuzzy understanding is not enough. Just like saying any mask will protect you from the virus.

Paul tells us in Ephesians that we have to put on the full battle gear - the armour of God - then we can withstand the wiles of the evil one. The shield of faith - hearing the word of God gives you faith. The belt of truth. The sword of the spirit which is the word of God. The helmet of salvation. The shoes of the preparation to preach the gospel of peace.

We need to slowly learn more and more and go deeper into the word of God.

3. Safe distancing is a useless rule. Pictures apparently show that even while people are standing far apart while queuing for food, people are still packed in the MRT.

Just because we may not be able to practice safe distancing taking public transport, does that mean we shouldn’t try to practice safe distancing at all?

What should be the right attitude? We do what we can, as much as we can. At first when we didn’t have the advice to stay home, employers were advised to let people work from home as much as possible. That would slowly ease the traffic in the MRT. We do as much as we can, and we do what we can.

Some people apply this same thing to the doctrines that we have. “Because we can’t do it all the time, it’s meaningless to do it at all.”

These are some disagreements people have:
“We can’t keep the Sabbath all the time, some jobs don’t allow that. So the teaching to keep the Sabbath is meaningless.”
“You say receiving the Holy Spirit must be evidenced by tongue speaking. Some people are dumb. They don’t have a tongue or can’t speak. So you mean God is excluding such people from receiving the Holy Spirit?”
“You say baptism is necessary for salvation. But what if you’re in a desert with no water. Or what if you go to prison and preach to the prisoners? They can’t come out to be baptised! Or people who are very sick can’t be baptised. So you can’t say baptism is necessary. Or if a person dies before he is baptised, or worse still died in the midst of getting baptised?”
“You preach the necessity of footwashing. How about people who don’t have feet?”

There are some things that can’t be practiced in some situations. But does it take away the truth of the Bible? If it can be done in a majority of cases, are you not going to do it? Just like how we can practise safe distancing in many/most cases, even in the MRT. So instead of challenging what we know is workable/works, just because it can’t be done sometimes, let us do what we can, as much as we can.

Instead of challenging the word of God, we do it whenever we can, and God will know what to do. We’re not God. Don’t use our limited human wisdom to challenge the infinite wisdom of God.

4. Gargling with warm salt water eliminates the virus. If the virus is flushed down from our throat into our stomachs, our stomach juices will kill it.

This isn’t true at all. But it’s very dangerous if we believe it. People wouldn’t fear catching the virus. There would be no need to wear a mask or wash hands since the virus can be washed down and eliminated.

This is a little bit like the Gnostics who believe anything one does in the body won’t affect one’s soul because the body and soul are totally separate.

But what does the Bible say?
Eph 4:27
“nor give place to the devil”
Do not give even a little place to the devil. Don’t let even one bit of virus enter your throat!

Jas 4:7-8
”Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
Don’t give place to the devil, we must resist him instead. v8 says to cleanse our hands. Wash your hands.

Conclusion

Let us not believe fake news. Worse still, don’t spread fake news. There’s one more thing worse than fake news.

There was a post on FB that someone from the opposition party told a Bangladeshi worker to riot like at Little India. “Don’t like the food the government gives you? Don’t eat la! Go riot.” That’s even worse than spreading fake news. We should be united during this difficult time. Let’s bring cheer to everyone, especially those in the frontline.