When pastors stepped into the pulpit 20 years ago, they held a knowledge advantage over most church members. They usually knew more about the Bible, more about other Christians around the world, more about history and theology. That didn’t mean the congregations would always agree. But to disagree often required too much time, money, and effort for busy laypeople.

Now you need nothing except a social media account. As Patrick Miller observes in his new article, 19 of the top 20 Christian Facebook pages are run by foreign troll farms. That viral video you shared recently? It might be a deepfake. Such misinformation or disinformation has wreaked havoc in our churches, which have been targeted by foreign agents.

So how can anyone know what to trust in an uncurated world now dominated by opaque algorithms? If the story confirms everything you want to believe about your enemies, pause before clicking that share or retweet button. It might be too bad to be true.

We live in a dangerous world, with evil rulers bent on destruction, as we’ve seen recently from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Be careful! Sometimes the cosmic powers over this present darkness pose as your friend online (Eph. 6:12).