We cover plenty of news at BreakPoint. Most of our commentaries, in fact, address a breaking story or headline in some way. And, several times a week or more, someone in our audience will ask if we plan to address this or that news story. Sometimes they are asking for our take on a high-profile headline. Other times, they are asking about a story that’s been buried in the never-ending news cycle.
While we take every request seriously, we aren’t always able to follow through on every one of them. In our current news-saturated day, there are always more stories that pop up in newsfeeds than we could possibly cover. The constraints of time and space mean there’s only so much we can talk about.
And, to be clear, we’re not a news organization. That’s not what we do. Other organizations are set up to keep us informed about what’s going on in the world. Strictly speaking, our mission at BreakPoint is not even to tell people what to think about news stories. If the only outcome of BreakPoint is a group of people repeating what we’ve said, then we’ve failed. Our goal is to help guide people in how to think about the world and their place in it.
In other words, the headlines and news stories aren’t the “what” of BreakPoint; they are the “when” and “where.” This cultural moment is the stage of the play, not the plot. The news is where we see ideas and their consequences expressed, both good and bad. It’s where the philosophies that were born in ivory towers meet the reality of people’s lives, dreams, and decisions. Confusing the noise and chaos of the headlines as the Story of the world is the most common way Christians are lost in them.
The latest addition to the LGBT acronym is more than an individual ethical concern; it says something about what it means to be an embodied human being. A Twitterstorm calling for a minor celebrity to be canceled for something considered innocuous last year but unforgivable this year points to the innate and constant desire for justice within society and the human heart (and reveals how inadequate our basis for that justice is at the moment). Political disputes about abortion, racism, and liberty of conscience only make sense in the greater context of the divine imprint on each and every human being.
In the news, timebound stories connect to broader issues of truth, meaning, morality, and justice. Headlines point to where our lives intersect with God’s timeless work in the world. The challenges of our moment can only be placed and understood in light of the larger Story. We hope that in hearing us dissect these news events on BreakPoint, our place within God’s larger story becomes more obvious.
Christians believe that every moment is linked to eternity, each single frame an interrelated part of a bigger picture. By pointing out the connections between significant cultural moments and the larger story, we pray that God would empower His people to live out a Christian worldview in the time and place He has determined for them. After all, living a Christian worldview is about more than knowing a factoid or crafting the most clever response to an opponent of the faith. It’s about seeing the world from God’s point of view.
When so much of life is captivated by the 24-hour news cycle, we are tempted to think of the world as a series of isolated events, or as Henry Ford put it, “one thing after another.” Christians are tempted to reduce our cultural witness to a running and never-ending tally of wins and losses. God calls us to more than being tossed to and fro by every other headline. God has called us to a life of reconciliation in this time and this place (see 2 Corinthians 5).
If you are in Christ, you have been called to this cultural moment. With God’s help, the Colson Center and BreakPoint will be here to help you live out this calling with cultural clarity, Gospel confidence, and Christ’s courage. If BreakPoint has been a helpful resource for you, please consider a gift of support today, Giving Tuesday. You can give at colsoncenter.org/givingtuesday21.
Publication date: November 30, 2021
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Nodar Chernishev/EyeEm
John Stonestreet is President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.
BreakPoint is a program of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. BreakPoint commentaries offer incisive content people can't find anywhere else; content that cuts through the fog of relativism and the news cycle with truth and compassion. Founded by Chuck Colson (1931 – 2012) in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today's news and trends. Today, you can get it in written and a variety of audio formats: on the web, the radio, or your favorite podcast app on the go.
