Geico is an insurance company. Europe is a 1980’s rock band. They’ve been brought together in this popular commercial: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSE4DsEFmKo)
I started with this video because this morning’s message begins with some thoughts about 1980’s rock bands like Europe. I was a teenager in the 1980’s. I collected music from 1980’s rock bands and rock groups. I had dozens of their cassettes (for those of you who are too young to know what cassettes are, cassettes are what we played music on before the invention of CD’s; for those of you who are too young to know what CD’s are, CD’s are what we played music on before the invention of mp3 files and other digital forms of music). 1980’s music was the soundtrack to my teenage years. Raise your hand if you appreciate 1980’s music…
I want to talk about three approaches to that music. For most of my non-Christian teenage years, I had one approach to 1980’s music: engrossment. When it came to 1980’s music, I adopted an approach of engrossment. I was fully engrossed in it. I didn’t think about what I was listening to. I just listened to whatever I wanted. I adopted an approach of engrossment.
But then I was introduced to Christianity and I became a Christian. And suddenly I started thinking about what I was listening to. I started wondering if I should be listening to all that 1980’s music. As a young and zealous new Christian, that music now seemed too secular and unspiritual. So, I adopted an opposite approach. When it came to 1980’s music, I adopted an approach of renouncement. I fully renounced all that secular and unspiritual music. One day I put all of those cassettes in a sack, took it to a dumpster, and tossed it all away. I lept from engrossment to renouncement. I went from welcoming all of that music in my life to welcoming none of it.
There were certainly things in that music I didn’t need to be listening to. Some of it did need to be renounced. But, there were other things in that music that were just fine. And so, over time, I’ve developed a different approach. When it came to 1980’s music (and all music), I finally adopted an approach of discernment. Today if you look at my iTunes or my Spotify playlists or my Amazon Music profiles you will find all kinds of music: contemporary Christian music, classical music, bluegrass, top 40 pop, top 40 country, and more. There are songs from Taylor Swift that I love. There are songs from Hillsong that I love. I don’t listen to everything. But I don’t toss out everything. I’m a discerning music listener. I try to listen to things that make me smile, laugh, feel deeply, and help me think and learn about life–no matter who the artist is.
Jesus talks about these same three approaches–engrossment, renouncement and discernment when it comes to something else: money and possessions.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also… 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (Matt. 6:19-21,24 ESV)
Jesus warns against engrossment when it comes to money. He warns that money and possessions are easily destroyed and stolen. He warns that money and possessions can negatively affect the heart. And he warns that a love of money will eventually lead to a hatred of God. This is Jesus warning us against engrossment, just diving in and valuing money and possessions in the same way as our culture. Jesus warns against engrossment.
But Jesus does not generally call for renouncement when it comes to money. Yes, there was that one time when Jesus told a guy to go and sell all he had and give it to the poor. But that wasn’t Jesus’ general message about money. Jesus didn’t call his followers in general to renounce all that wicked money and give up all their worldly possessions. The people in the early church still had homes, still worked jobs, and still owned stuff. Jesus warns against engrossment. But he doesn’t call for renouncement.
Instead, Jesus calls for discernment:
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! (Matt. 6:22-23 ESV)
Instead of engrossment or renouncement Jesus calls for discernment.
Jesus teaches that a “sound/healthy/generous” “eye” regarding material possessions results in a “body…full of light.” The word “healthy” means generous. Jesus is saying that when we adopt a generous outlook on money, it can be a source of light.
By contrast, a “bad/unhealthy/ ungenerous” “eye” regarding material possessions results in a “body…full of darkness.” The word “bad” means stingy. Jesus is saying that when we adopt a stingy outlook on money, it becomes a source of darkness.
It’s not money that’s the problem per se. It’s our view of money. It’s our use of money. It’s our perspective on money. When viewed and used generously and charitably, it becomes a source of great light. When viewed and used selfishly and greedily, it becomes a source of darkness.
Thus Jesus warns against engrossment, because money can be a source of great darkness. But he doesn’t call for renouncement because money can be a source of great light. Instead, Jesus calls for discernment. We should carefully and prayerfully discern how to use money in ways that are charitable and generous.
These three approaches help us consider the main topic for my message this morning: technology. As the closing message in this series “Monday Morning Faith,” we want to spend some time talking about something that virtually all of us use in our everyday lives–technology. Specifically, we’re going to focus on the technology of smartphones.
Admittedly, not everyone owns a smartphone. But according to the Pew Research Center in 2011 about 35% of American adults owned a smartphone. Today, 64% own a smartphone. (By the way, you can find the links to all these statistics in the media section of our website). The vast majority of us use a smartphone today. If you have a smartphone, would you take it out right now and hold it up…
When it comes to our smartphones, some of us fall prey to that first approach of engrossment. We just dive right into technology and we hardly even think about what we text on that phone, what we post on social media using that phone or where we surf on the Internet on that phone. And, as I mentioned in an earlier sermon, some of you need to go through a training class before you’re allowed to own a smartphone or at least post on social media on a smartphone. Some of the things some of you post online, either using your phone or your computer, make it clear that you’re not thinking at all about what you’re posting and whether what you’re posting is going to contribute in any positive way to any person’s life. It’s like you’re driving without a permit. I just want to say, PUT THE PHONE DOWN!
But some of us fall prey to the other temptation: renouncement. This was my mom’s and stepfather’s approach. They did not need a smartphone, they thought. They did not need to be accessible. For years they resisted getting mobile phones of any kind. And even once they got one, they were those people (you know who I’m talking about) who only turned the phone on to make a call and then turned it right back off–making it impossible for their son in Memphis to ever get in touch with them. And even now they certainly never use their phone to post or text or surf. They have basically renounced that technology. Some of you are like that too. You’ve overreacted to technology and its challenges and you’ve decided to not be stained at all by the uncleanness of the blasphemous smartphone and it’s vile Internet connection.
What I want to suggest this morning is that neither of those two options are truly helpful for Christians. When it comes to technology, we are called to discernment rather than engrossment or renouncement.
Let’s flesh that out. First, how are people generally using the technology of the smartphone? Here’s what the Pew Research group found:
Generally, today use their smartphones for four things: texting, talking, going online and emailing. In other words, the vast majority of us use our smartphones as far more than just a phone. In fact, more of us use it to text than we do to talk.
Besides these four activities, other smartphone uses were popular. Three-quarters of smartphone owners reported using their phone for social media, while 60% took pictures or a video, and more than half (55%) got news on their smartphone.
Three smartphone features in particular — social networking, watching videos, and listening to music or podcasts — are especially popular with younger users. 91% of smartphone owners ages 18-29 used social networking on their phone compared with 55% of those 50 and older.
Let’s look more closely at the use of phones for social media among young adults.
Asked which social media platforms they used most often, teens reported that Facebook was the site they used most frequently, followed by Instagram and Snapchat.
So, that’s how people are using this technology. The next concern is this: is that good or bad? Helpful or harmful?
There are obviously many benefits which many of us experience through the use of our smartphones in these ways. When used in the right way, this technology becomes a source of great light. Here are some of the very positive contributions my own smartphone made over the past few days:
- ? I texted a friend with cancer and told him I was praying for him.
- ? I pulled up this sermon and jotted down some ideas that ended up improving the sermon.
- ? I used it to set up a conference call so our China Missions Team could talk to a potential partner in Dallas.
- ? I watched a video we were considering using for worship this morning.
- ? I called my mom and brother to wish them a happy birthday.
- ? I read Scripture on it.
I can go on and on. This small device is the source of a great deal of light in my life. And for these, and many more reasons, technology like smartphones shouldn’t simply be renounced, tossed out like it is inherently evil. Technology like smartphones has a tremendous benefit.
But it also has many downsides. And that’s why discernment is critical.
A report from Bank of America found that not only do many Americans sleep with their smartphones, but the devices are also the first thing on many people’s minds when they wake up. 35% of respondents said their first thought in the morning is about their smartphone; 10% said it was for their significant other. Smartphones are crowding more and more into our thoughts and pushing other important things and people into second place.
Younger users stand out especially when it comes to using their phone for two purposes in particular: avoiding boredom and avoiding people.
93% of young smartphone owners used their phone to avoid being bored. But often boredom, downtime, quiet time, is essential to healthy living. If we’re always filling our eyes and ears with something from our smartphone, we never have time to hear from God or notice what God’s doing in us or around us.
Worse, 47% of young smartphone owners used their phone to avoid interacting with the people around them. The smartphone becomes a way to keep from interacting with the people around us–and that may keep us from blessing others or being blessed by them. And that percentage only counts young people who assertively used that technology to avoid interacting. The truth is that many of us are so addicted to our screens, and looking at our screens so often, that even though we don’t intend to, we shut others out. When we are in a room with other people and our face is glued to a screen, we’re telling everyone else, even though we may not intend to, “I don’t want to interact with you. Leave me alone.”
Sometimes that’s OK. And I have watched groups of people who all have their phones out but they interact a lot with each other about what they’re looking at on the phones. But too often that describes too many family dinner tables. Too often that describes too many at church events–Christians standing around with their heads glued to their screen rather than interacting with each other and with others who may be guests.
I’d like to say some more about the boredom issue as well. Sherry Turkle, Professor at M.I.T., in a recent interview with Scientific American, said this:
I do some of my fieldwork at stop signs, at checkout lines at supermarkets. Give people even a second, and they’re doing something with their phone. Every bit of research says people’s capacity to be alone is disappearing. What can happen is that you lose that moment to have a daydream, or to cast an eye inward. Instead, you look to the outside.Solitude is the precondition of having a conversation with yourself. This capacity to be with yourself and discover yourself is the bedrock of development. But now, from the youngest age—even two, or three, or four—children are given technology that removes solitude by giving them something externally distracting. That makes it harder, ironically, to form true relationships. I have so many examples of children who will be talking with their parents, something will come up, and the parent will go online to search, and the kids will say “Daddy, stop Googling. I just want to talk to you.” (Interview by Mark Fischetti, “The Networked Primate,” Scientific American, September 2014)
A clear downside to our smartphones is their capacity to eliminate solitude from our lives–something we desperately need.
In addition, in a brand new book called #Struggles Craig Groeschel highlights eight specific challenges which technologies like smartphones present to Christians. These include things like the way this technology leads us to compare ourselves with others in harmful ways, causes us to be distracted from things that matter and desensitizes us in hurtful ways.
There are, of course, even darker matters related to this technology. Bullying and pornography are two of the worst abuses of smartphones. Smartphones have made it incredibly easy to find and view pornography and to easily post horrible and hateful things about others.
Consider the following:
Mobile Pornography
- 1. 1 of every 5 Google mobile searches is for pornography.
- 2. 1 in 4 smartphone users admit to having pornographic content on a mobile phone.
- 3. 5 of every 7 teens acknowledges accidentally stumbling across pornography online.
When used in one set of ways, smartphones can be a source of light. That’s why renouncement isn’t necessarily the answer. When used in another set of ways, they can be a source of darkness. That’s why engrossment isn’t the answer. What’s needed is greater discernment.
How then, do we go about increasing our discernment? I’ll close by pointing you toward some resources. You can find these in the Link and on the media section of our website:
Using Smartphones with Discernment
- 1. Brian Housman, Tech Savvy Parenting, http://techsavvyparenting.com/ [book, blog & resources for parents/kids/individuals, including family cell phone contracts]
- 2. Common Sense Media, https://www.commonsensemedia.org/, [publishes independent ratings and reviews for nearly everything people want to watch, read, play, and learn, including movies, books, apps, games, websites and music]
- 3. Bellevue Baptist, http://www.bellevue.org/technology, simple website with resources for parents/kids/individuals to dialogue about technology; includes a family technology contract]
So, here’s what I encourage you to do this week: Make more checks charitable. I researched how often the average person checks his/her phone during the day. The research offers varied conclusions. Some research has found that the average person checks his/her phone 150 times/day. You may not check your phone that often. But, many of us check our phones a lot during the day.
And the issue Jesus raises in our text is one of generosity or charity. He calls us to have a generous or charitable outlook towards money. The same can be said of our phones. This week, find some ways to make more of your phone checks charitable. Next time you go to check your phone because a text came in, make your response to that text charitable, generous, loving. Next time you check your phone to see if anyone liked your Instagram post, first check to see if people are around you and if you should first engage them in conversation. Next time you check your phone to post something on social media, make sure that post is charitable, loving and kind. Make more of your checks charitable. Let this tiny device be used for light this week.
