The Epstein Files: Why you should, and why you should NOT pay attention

How Christians engage the news

One of the biggest stories of the second Trump administration has been the much-contested release of the FBI’s files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

For years, rumors and allegations have swirled about just how far-reaching and deeply evil his operation was, who he was working for, and who all was involved. Now, files have begun to be released, adding barrels of fuel to the fire.

Obviously, this has created a significant amount of discussion.

I put an informal poll out to friends on a couple of social media platforms, and in each case the majority said they were, at minimum, aware of the story, with many “keeping tabs” and plenty of others “deep diving” into the details.

As a Christian, does a story like this matter?

Should Epstein be on our radars? In a world in which social media is giving us something to react to every single day, so many of which are forgotten overnight, what should we make of one that is so enduring and so dark as the case of Jeffrey Epstein?

We need to practice a lot of caution and wisdom in matters like these. Some of us need to step back from the story. At the same time, others would do well to plug in, even if only just enough to get a sense of what’s going on.

Let’s make both cases:

Why you SHOULDN’T read up on Epstein… or at least should pull back

I’ve reached the point where I’m probably in this camp.

As Nietzsche wrote, “He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.” At a certain point, we know how dark the world can get, and continually fixating on it is not helpful for us.

More importantly, the Bible commands us to think on things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent, and worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8). That obviously doesn’t prohibit us from acknowledging and confronting evil.

But what we need to know is commensurate with our ability to act. FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi need to know a lot, because they have the power to do a lot (or, at least you would think they do).

For you and I, knowing some of these things can inform our voting, give us something to pray about, and help us grasp the battle of good and evil in the world today.

But at a certain point we’re just giving ourselves a case of learned helplessness by looking into all this evil without any way to do anything about it. Two weeks in to the major releases, I’m sure there is more to uncover… but what good is each new crumb really doing us?

Why you SHOULD read up on Epstein

There is wisdom in not obsessing over all the news of this evil world, to be sure. But that has its reasonable limits, too. Some take pride in their lack of engagement, but total ignorance isn’t healthy, either.

John the Baptist knew about Herod’s illicit marriage (Matthew 14:3-4). Jesus knew about the collapsed tower and the Galilean massacre (Luke 13:1-4). Paul was up on contemporary culture (Acts 17:28; Titus 1:12). It’s not wrong to keep tabs on the news.

In the case of this story, some Christians need to take a glimpse at the abyss from time to time. So much of the softness toward sin we see in modern Christianity comes from being fully insulated from the wickedness in the world.

There are those who will tell you the imprecatory Psalms, the ones that pray for the wicked to be crushed, have their teeth shattered, and so forth, are not for Christians to pray today. They will tell you that the Sermon on the Mount forbids us from such language. They will say that Christians are not to view anyone as an enemy. They will equivocate all sins as equal evils.

Those Christians need to take a look at the level of evil revealed in news stories like the Epstein files.

We have to know the world if we are going to engage it, and especially if we are going to guard ourselves and our homes against the influences that are working on us. As I said above, I don’t believe it does any of us good to obsess over such dark stories.

However, getting a reality check about the evils in the world today is a good thing for Christians to do from time to time. The world is not a place where we can all hold hands, sing Kum-ba-ya, and make everybody feel good all the time.

I’ve seen posts from atheists and other non-Christians who say that things like the Epstein files are driving them toward Christianity. When they see how dark and perverted evil can get, they want to find a light to meet it.

If they meet Christians who are pretending everything is all rainbows and sunshine, refusing to acknowledge the spiritual warfare that is at our doorstep, they’re going to go looking elsewhere.

Christianity is the only answer for the depravity on display in the world today. We had better not be hiding it from those who seek it. To show it properly, we need to know what darkness is out there, and what the nonbeliever is being confronted with.

Take stock

You don’t have to stay plugged in to every news item that comes across the feed. You don’t have to make a post to tell everyone where you stand on every major discussion.

More than anything, we need to know about the battles before us, we need to ground ourselves in God and His Word, and we need to go about doing good.

Take stock of where you stand, and proceed with wisdom.

NOTES

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