Several years ago I was invited to give a talk to some high school students at a church in Toronto. During a question and answer time at the end one of them asked me this question: How do we know what is or isn’t true online?

Wow, what a question! In short, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to know what (or who) to trust.

The issue is even more urgent today. When that question was first asked, Artificial Intelligence hadn’t really gone mainstream. Given what we’re experiencing today, it’s even harder to know what’s true and what isn’t.

In this moment in time, when you don’t know what is or isn’t true online, you need to be more rooted in the word of God than ever before. Psalm 119:130 says it with a certain enduring majesty: “All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.”

In light of this, when forming an opinion about an issue after some friends or family members have sent you some information, the Word must always have the last word.

When watching the news and trying to figure out what “really happened,” the Word must always have the last word.

When deciding on alliances and making decisions—in part or in whole based on what you are digesting online—the Word must always have the last word.

I don’t see this problem getting easier any time soon. Even many of the “fact checkers” often seem to have an agenda. That’s why devotion to God and diligence in God’s word need to be your permanent trajectory through the fog.

The Word must have always the last word.

Notes:

-Bible quotes are from the NIV.