The Truth Matters
Christian Witness in the Age of Social Media and AI
To say that the truth matters should be an obvious given. Except it’s not. For some time, the notion of truth has sunk into a quagmire of relativism. Honesty with information and facts is manipulated daily. Instead of the truth, we now have phrases like “my truth” and “alternative facts.” Such adjectives allow us to qualify what we mean by truth. Even the so-called pursuit of objective truth is another way we define truth rather than submitting to whatever is true. Now it seems we have arrived at a point in society where we determine for ourselves what we want to regard as true, regardless of whether there’s any factual support.
In other words, the truth be dammed.
In his book Post-Truth, Lee McIntyre described our society as a place where all kinds of people are trying to make us believe in ideas whether there’s good evidence and facts or not.1 We need to look no further than some of the conspiracy theories that people continue to share and believe despite the lack of facts to support their claims. For example, we might recall the lies that were spread about the Sandy Hook Shooting being just a hoax or the more recent fabricated story about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, eating dogs and cats.
I mention the two above examples to illustrate that a post-truth society is more than just sharing ideas and thoughts infused with our own particular biases. We all share information, stories, etc… that are told in ways that reflect our biases because we all have biases, particular lenses that shape how we interpret what’s going on around us. What I am talking about is sharing stories and claims that are factually untrue either because they lack credible evidence, have perhaps already been found to be false, or worse, something we just made up.
“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”
Sharing anything false and untrue is a matter of sin for Christians. Throughout the Bible, there is plenty of instruction about God’s people being honest and truthful in what is said and done. Among the Ten Commandments, we read, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Ex 20:16).2 We are also told in scripture, “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord…” (Prov 12:22). Moving to the New Testament, the apostle Paul wrote that love “rejoices in the truth” (1 Cor 13:6). Likewise, the apostle John wrote, “Little children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth” (1 Jn 3:18).
Obviously, the truth matters and I realize that none of the passages of scripture cited above directly address the post-truth situation we live with today. My point is to remind us that truth and honesty should matter, especially to Christians because our credibility rests upon our ability to speak truthfully. Without credibility, our witness to the good news of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God is lost.
But with social media and the emergence of Artificial Intelligence, there seems to be a different set of rules regarding sharing what is true and not bearing false witness. Or so it seems because the photo in this post is one of several fake, AI-generated photos that have been widely shared on social media. And what is maddening is that some Christians don’t seem to care.
Recently, I pointed out that an AI-generated photo of former President Trump wading through flood waters to rescue a survivor of Hurricane Helene. In response, I was told that it didn’t matter that the photo was fake because the photo was “representative of who showed up with help and cared enough to be present.” No, the reality is that the fake image didn’t matter because it fits with the narrative the person is already committed to believing, and that’s part of the problem with truth. When we have already committed to an ideological narrative, we’re prone to say and share whatever fits that narrative, even if it’s not true. It’s also a problem for Christians because our allegiance is to Jesus Christ, who is the Truth, and yet more Christians seem captivated by the ideological narratives of American politics—red and blue— rather than the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
But I digress.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we must be committed to bearing truthful witness. We are not free to share photos, information, and other false claims. There will certainly be times when we share or say something that, upon further inquiry, turns out to be wrong or misleading. It happens but the onus is on us to speak what is true and real. To do otherwise is to sin by bearing false witness.
With the amount of misinformation and even lies that are passed off as true, we must take more seriously the ethics of how we use social media and AI-generated content. Neither social media nor AI is inherently wrong, but if we are using AI to write an article that we share as being written by us, then we are being dishonest. Likewise, if we create an image of our favorite athlete visiting sick children in the hospital just because it represents something good, then we are being dishonest. And if we use social media to share this fake article or image, then our use of social media is dishonest.
When Jesus told Pilate that he came into the world to testify to the truth, Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” It was a dismissive response because for Pilate to even consider that the truth was speaking to him at that very moment would have forced Pilate to consider the narrative upon which he built his life was false. For us who profess faith in Jesus Christ, we believe Jesus is the Truth, and the gospel story told within scripture is a true testimony to Jesus. Therefore, all the other narratives and the world kingdoms they cultivate are false—perilous lies—that will one day perish. So we have nothing to lose by letting go of those false narratives that would have us bearing false witness just to perpetuate their lies. What we gain is not only Christ but, perhaps over time, the credibility that would cause others to ask Pilate’s question and consider that the truth is the Truth—Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
The truth does matter!
Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2018, 13.
See also Deut 5:20. Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition Bible, copyright © 1989, 2021 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. and are used by permission. All rights reserved.