Uploaded June 2019 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
What do a dairy farm, animal cruelty, and the book of Proverbs have in common? Stay tuned, and I’ll give you a little bit of advice that will make you one of the wisest people in your circle of friends.
OK, so I watched the Fair Oaks Farm video. Apparently, an animal-rights activist group did an undercover sting operation of the popular dairy farm not far from here and was able to get some footage of mistreatment of animals. People are up in arms about this—some vowing never to return to the farm, or even to consume dairy products.
Of course, there is another side to this. The president of Fair Oaks put out a statement apologizing for how some employees treated the animals and letting us know that terminations have taken place even before the story broke.
My purpose today is not to discuss whether the animal cruelty was as bad as it seemed, or even if it happened at all. What intrigues me is that this is a perfect example of human nature. It’s amazing how quickly we jump on a bandwagon as soon as we receive a sensational report, whether it’s true or not.
One time I had a man in my church approach me about a Christian movie that had come out. He was upset because some of our church members had purchased the rights to show it publicly at a local theater. His issue was that a popular Christian music group was endorsing the movie, and he brought me a news article describing some horrendous things that this music group had supposedly done.
The problem was, none of it was true. He didn’t know that the article came off a satire website and had nothing to do with the truth. When I told him, he felt rather foolish.
Once again, we find that the Bible offers some pretty good practical advice when it comes to the latest sensational news. Proverbs 18:17 says “The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him.”
Whenever we hear something that really grabs us emotionally, we should stop and say, “Wait a minute. Is that really true?” We need to get all the facts before making a judgment.
If we can learn to do that, people will think that we’ve been blessed with an incredible dose of wisdom. But sometimes wisdom is little more than curbing our emotions and using good ol’ fashioned common sense.
Visit my personal website at http://www.benhammond.org.
Subscribe and comment. Let me know your thoughts!
youtube.com/channel/UCW3e7xQd0mThCLvu2QIVSxw?sub_confirmation=1
What do a dairy farm, animal cruelty, and the book of Proverbs have in common? Stay tuned, and I’ll give you a little bit of advice that will make you one of the wisest people in your circle of friends.
OK, so I watched the Fair Oaks Farm video. Apparently, an animal-rights activist group did an undercover sting operation of the popular dairy farm not far from here and was able to get some footage of mistreatment of animals. People are up in arms about this—some vowing never to return to the farm, or even to consume dairy products.
Of course, there is another side to this. The president of Fair Oaks put out a statement apologizing for how some employees treated the animals and letting us know that terminations have taken place even before the story broke.
My purpose today is not to discuss whether the animal cruelty was as bad as it seemed, or even if it happened at all. What intrigues me is that this is a perfect example of human nature. It’s amazing how quickly we jump on a bandwagon as soon as we receive a sensational report, whether it’s true or not.
One time I had a man in my church approach me about a Christian movie that had come out. He was upset because some of our church members had purchased the rights to show it publicly at a local theater. His issue was that a popular Christian music group was endorsing the movie, and he brought me a news article describing some horrendous things that this music group had supposedly done.
The problem was, none of it was true. He didn’t know that the article came off a satire website and had nothing to do with the truth. When I told him, he felt rather foolish.
Once again, we find that the Bible offers some pretty good practical advice when it comes to the latest sensational news. Proverbs 18:17 says “The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him.”
Whenever we hear something that really grabs us emotionally, we should stop and say, “Wait a minute. Is that really true?” We need to get all the facts before making a judgment.
If we can learn to do that, people will think that we’ve been blessed with an incredible dose of wisdom. But sometimes wisdom is little more than curbing our emotions and using good ol’ fashioned common sense.
Visit my personal website at http://www.benhammond.org.
Subscribe and comment. Let me know your thoughts!
youtube.com/channel/UCW3e7xQd0mThCLvu2QIVSxw?sub_confirmation=1
