Snippet: "Let's chill."
Snip·pet | ˈsnipit | noun a small piece or brief extract.
Here’s one from Justin Giboney, president of the (&) Campaign, on his Church Politics podcast episode from February 4, 2025 (slightly edited for reading vs. listening).
“There's a whole lot of misinformation on the Internet right now, on social media. A lot of Christians don't know what to believe. Sadly, some of this is making its way onto pulpits and into the feeds and the accounts of Christian leaders who are repeating it, not knowing that some of this stuff isn't legitimate.
“So, I want to ask everybody to slow down. Even if you don't like the other side, whoever that may be, you don't need to repeat the worst thing you hear about them immediately because while some of that stuff might be true, when it's not, you're losing credibility and freaking people out.
“…Let's chill. Let's be more thoughtful, more discerning, and more sober about the information that we put out. Not all the information that fits our narrative needs to be immediately put out there.
“…There are people on your side, regardless of what side you're on, that will feed you bad information to get a reaction out of you or get you to think a certain way.
“You cannot trust everything that comes from your side because sometimes people are trying to be provocative. Sometimes people are trying to make things seem worse, even if things are really bad already.
“So you have to be discerning and thoughtful with what you share, okay?”
Giboney believes there are real things we should be deeply concerned about, but repeating misinformation damages our integrity, and if we have a legitimate concern, it hurts our influence.
And remember, some of the most egregious misinformation is based on partial truth.
Recently I heard a Christian thought leader write off the opinions of another Christian thought leader by claiming he had left a biblically orthodox position on sexuality. I checked, and it seems that what he had changed was his stance on public policy regarding that issue, not his personal convictions or beliefs.
The wisdom of that kind of policy stance can be debated, but the speaker’s broad, sweeping statement was untrue and made me question his integrity and veracity.
I think all of this applies to our conversations as well.
I know I’m always tempted to refer to things I’m not sure about when it bolsters my political commentary. In the heat of the discussion, I give into that temptation.
When someone is referring to something I doubt is true (or I actually know to be untrue), I’m apt to ask, “How do you know that?” It works pretty well to get us back on track in the conversation.
You have permission to do the same to me (not that you need my permission).
Photo by Alejandra Rodríguez on Unsplash
