The Fabric of Our Faith
Tonight we are kicking off a brand new series called Influencer. Over the next four weeks we are exploring how biblical teachings can guide our media and technological interactions.
In their book Faith for Exiles (a MUST read for parents raising students in our world IMO) Kinaman and Matlock found that individuals who felt that they “regularly experienced ‘help with living wisely when it comes to technology” were 2.5x more likely to have resilient faith into their adult years.
This is a massively important topic for our students and never a better time to commit to having your student here each week, or to start carrying on these conversations at home.
Tonight we are kicking off the series with a message from Hebrews 10:19-25 I am calling “The Fabric of Our Faith.”
While it’s important that we understand that technology is not necessarily evil or good, we see it used for both of these each and every day, it’s important that we ask earnestly “How should Christians live in a technological age?” While Hebrews 10 doesn’t tell us how many hours a day is too much screen time, it does give us a clear understanding of how Christians should live.
First Hebrews 10:22-23 give us two personal confessions. The author begins chapter 10 by reiterating the importance of understanding salvation that comes through Jesus sacrifice on the cross, and then tells us each to (1) draw near and (2) hold fast. These simple, yet challenging directives are our creed for growing in our personal relationship with God.
The instructions given, however, are not limited to what you and I can do simply on our own. We see here that unity in community is the thread sewn through Christianity. Our faith is both a personal confession and a call to relationship.
We need community! A 2023 Gallup poll found that 1 in every 4 young adults feels lonely “a lot of the day.” As high as this percentage is, it’s an improvement from the last several years. At the height of the pandemic, the poll found, 38 percent of young adults (ages 18–29) reported being lonely.
A study from the Ballard Brief at BYU found that while 95% of teens have access to a cell phone and 43% said they are on them “almost constantly”, Americans between the ages of 7 and 22 experience much higher rates of loneliness than other generations. In a connected world we are living as unconnected people.
What does a Godly community look like in a technological age?
First we see Godly community is (1) Encouraging. “And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works,” (Heb 10:24). In the dark world in which we live students are faced with the most awful parts of humanity every day. Our world is full of critics, cynics, hate filled and angry people. Christian community should be a place where we use every means available to build one another up!
We were made by God on purpose and for a purpose, we weren’t placed into todays culture on accident! As followers of Jesus we should seek to use any means at our disposal to encourage one another and live in a way that is focused on others, not ourselves.
I believe the second characteristic of Godly community in a technological age is that it is a (2) Gathering Community. Hebrews 10:25 instructs us to not neglect gathering together.
In her Article in the New York Post, How social media and YouTube conned Gen Z into believing they have friends, Rikki Schlott writes, “At the end of the day, I’d think that I connected with the hundreds of faces I encountered on a screen. But in my bones, I knew that “social” media was anything but social.” Schlott continues, “Gen Z grew up in the digital age with the whole world at our fingertips — and yet, with hyper-connectivity came an explosion in loneliness.”
In May of this year US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy officially declared loneliness an epidemic in our country. Gen Zers are feeling this loneliness the most. “In fact,” Schlott says “8 in 10 of us report feeling isolated — twice the rate of senior citizens.” In an age of technological connectedness we are more isolated than ever.
Charles Spurgeon said of the importance of Christian community, “Some Christians try to go to heaven alone, in solitude. But believers are not compared to bears or lions or other animals that wander alone. Those who belong to Christ are sheep in this respect, that they love to get together. Sheep go in flocks, and so do God’s people.”
The lie of the enemy is that technology has replaced connection. Saints, it is more important than ever that we not forsake gathering. Not because our pastor is awesome, (though he is), not because our worship team rocks, (though it does) and definitely not because my jokes are hilarious, but because God’s best for your student is to prioritize gathering in Christian community!
Questions for further discussion:
What is one thing that stood out to you from this week's message or your small group
What are the technologies that have influence or impact on our family? Are those having a positive or negative influence?
Do people online, in your life and school, use technology to build each other up or tear each other down more?
Is being gathering together something that you find easy to do? What are things that get in the way of you being able to be at church?
How can we work together to make our family a place of Christ-like community that encourages one another toward love and good works?
