Should you feel guilty for scrolling past the bad news?

Do you ever feel like switching off the news? I know I do. Another alert flashes up on your phone, another crisis, and you sigh, “again,” before setting it aside.

And then come the questions: is that wrong? Am I tuning out when the world needs more compassion? Maybe, like me, you’ve seen so much bad news that your heart feels a bit worn out. You scroll past a tragic story not because you don’t care, but because, honestly, constantly caring can feel exhausting.

News fatigue is real. A glance at the headlines tells the story: “We never imagined our daughter could be killed at nursery”; “Markets plunge as tariff turmoil deepens;” “Children among 18 killed in Russian attack.”

We live in a world of constant updates. In decades past, we’d wait for the morning paper to arrive at the door. Now, with the 24/7 news cycle, social media, and push notifications, the world’s chaos is in our pockets at the tap of a screen.

It’s no surprise that people are turning away. A 2024 Reuters survey found news avoidance is at a record high. Four in ten people feel ‘worn out’ by the relentless nature of the news. In the UK, the number of people actively avoiding it has doubled in the last five years.

But here’s the tension for us as Christians: What do we do when the world feels too heavy, but we know we’re called not to turn away? We’re tempted to think that being informed means we must carry the world’s burdens at all times. Or we’re tempted to disengage entirely.

Jesus shows us the way

The Gospels are filled with accounts of Jesus healing the sick, sitting with the broken and meeting the needs of people out of His deep compassion. John’s Gospel ends by saying if everything Jesus did was written down, the world could not contain the books that would be written (John 21:25).

And yet Jesus also knew when to rest. He would often withdraw to quiet places to pray. This wasn’t escapism, it was wisdom; a recognition of the limits of His humanity and the need to be replenished. He made space for restoration so He could re-enter with unwavering love.

The temptation to disengage today isn’t just about being overwhelmed by depressing information. It also points to a spiritual state of despair, the creeping belief that things will never get better. That charitable acts are futile, that darkness has won.

But that is not the Christian story!

Jesus didn’t stop at weeping over Jerusalem. He faced the full weight of evil on the cross and rose again in victory for you and me. We are people of a promise, an eternal kingdom that awaits. And this doesn’t mean we ignore the plight of suffering in the world, it means we can face the darkness and still respond, ‘there’s hope in Jesus.’

So how do we resist the temptation to disconnect?

1. Remember you are not the Saviour
   We need to remember we are not the Saviour, but we follow one. We were never meant to carry the emotional weight of every global crisis on our shoulders. Our calling is to faithfully show up as His ambassadors, lead with love and serve with care.
2. Seek out good stories
   Instead of endlessly doomscrolling, let’s choose to seek out stories that rarely make the front pages, of faithful Christians, charities and organisations quietly pursuing justice. And when we feel helpless, let’s turn to prayer, lifting news headlines in lament, and interceding for those on the frontlines of humanitarian projects.
3. Make time to rest
   Let’s follow the model of our Lord and Saviour Jesus and rest. It’s okay to switch off the news sometimes. Not as an escape, but to guard our hearts. A spiritual discipline for rejuvenation.

And finally, let’s resist becoming indifferent. The deceptive lie that says we can’t change the world so we might as well give up trying. We can’t do everything but we can surely do something. As Christians, we can speak up. Write to our local MP. Give generously, vote with justice in mind, and pray faithfully.

As Mother Teresa once said: “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”