"The Spin Cycle"

“The Spin Cycle”

(Thanks to Karen for the title)

 

Former NBA player “Hot Rod” Hundley once said, “My biggest thrill in basketball was combining with (Hall of Famer) Elgin Baylor for 73 points in a game.” A senator running for reelection claimed, “I voted with (his state’s fellow senator who was very popular with the constituency) more than 90% of the time.” And during the Cold War Pravda, the official “newspaper” of Communist Russia, is said to have reported on an international track meet, “Our Russian comrades finished second, the Americans finished next to last.”

What do these three incidents have in common? In each case the speaker or writer stopped short of (to borrow the late news commentator Paul Harvey’s phrase) “the rest of the story.” Here’s the completion of each anecdote:

     “Elgin had 71 of them.” (Hundley was known for his sense of humor.)

     The votes included adjournments, postmaster appointments, recognitions, and other relatively minor matters. He voted differently on almost all issues of substance. (The speaker lost the election.)

     The meet was a dual one in which the US bested the USSR. (Ironically, “Pravda” means “truth” in Russian.)

These accounts illustrate how the spin cycle is alive and well and can misrepresent facts and mislead many, usually to try to gain an advantage in some way.

We as God’s people must be careful not to allow someone’s spin cycle to distort what the Scriptures say. This can be done by cherry picking statements, taking verses (or parts of them) out of context, changing the meanings of words to fit one’s agenda, and likely numerous other methods. For example, the Bible says, “…There is no God.” (Psalm 14:1). But before we say it teaches atheism let’s read the whole verse: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” Quite a difference!

We’re living in a day and age in which the spin cycle seems to be working overtime and we must often take public figures’ words with a grain (or maybe a truckload) of salt. Not so with God’s Word—“…It stands firm in the heavens.” (Psalm 119:89). And God won’t change His mind to accommodate my spins or anyone else’s! In the unspun words of God’s prophet, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:8).

 

Blessings!

Jim McMillan