WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY?

0:06 Never wrestle with the pig because you'll both get muddy and the pig will like it. George Bernard Shaw was the one that popularized that phrase, but as you research it, he ripped off Christ's words in Matthew chapter 7, verse 6, when Jesus said, Do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under your feet and turn and tear you to pieces.

0:52 The pearls. That's the truth. That's the holy things of God. That's the gospel of God. The pigs are the hypocrites. Is it just me or have you discovered that hypocrites are hypocritical? And then the prey, not P-R-A-Y, P-R-E-Y, would be you and me. Jesus was saying, use your judgment, use your discernment to stay away from pig fights. And as you look around our culture today, isn't it true that we're just surrounded by pig fights? We're surrounded by a lot of pigology.

1:55 I am kicking off a series called Now We Go to School. And today we're learning about pigs. And I'm going to talk to you today about a sector of our culture where we see more wrestling with pigs than any other sector. I'm talking about, you guessed it, technology.

2:23 Technology. What the heck-nology? Give me some wreck-nology. We need to collect-nology, don't we? Now, obviously, I'm pro and we should be pro technology. It's one of the best inventions of mankind. The connectivity, the opportunity to share the gospel, the opportunity to get to know people, to learn things. I mean, like that.

2:54 Are we any better, though? So there's an upside, though, to technology. We need to baptize it. But then there's a dark side. There's definitely a downside. I think about the students. How many students do we have in the house? All right, all right. You're the most connected generation in history, yet you're the most disconnected.

3:21 There's more depression. There's more anxiety. There's more suicidal thoughts today than ever before. It's ironic, isn't it? It's paradoxical. Well, man, Jesus is saying people are pigs, Ed? No, not literally. He is saying, though, that there are some conversations and situations that you don't need to engage in. He's saying you don't have to comment on every post. He's saying, if you see something and it makes you angry and I'm going to say this or that, don't do it. Jesus is saying.

4:09 There were pigs back then. And there's pigs today. It doesn't mean we don't love the pigs and pray for the pigs. We just don't. engage them. Why would Jesus say that though? Think about that. Well, one of the reasons is, okay, let's say you engage a pig and let's say you win some argument on the golf course or in the boardroom or around the neighborhood or online. Let's say you win this argument.

4:47 You've just beaten a pig. that doesn't really move the needle, does it? Think about the time, energy, and effort. Just to do that, it's not worth it. Also, too, notice that pigs, Jesus said it, they don't care about the truth. When you wrestle with a pig, think about it, pig's covered in mud. I mean, the pig likes it. and then you become covered in mud, and after a while, you can't tell the difference between the two. Furthermore, pigs don't fight fair. They'll bite the fool out of you. You might not know this, but a couple of years ago, Lisa was bitten by a pig at a Lasso Ranch. Just thought I'd throw that out for you.

5:46 And as you study theology and as you study Christian art, pigs are betrayed and they're symbolized in a lot of negative ways like depravity. They're symbolized as being unclean. You remember the Gerasene demoniac? Jesus cast out all of the demons into a herd of pigs. and then the pigs went over the cliff to their death. That's the first example we have of deviled ham. But. I've got to throw in one preacher joke, a sermon, and that's an old school preacher joke. You know I'm a pastor's kid, so I had to kind of do that, giving love to all of the pastor's kids.

6:42 There's another preacher's joke. I just thought about this. And I don't tell a lot of jokes, but this is another good one. You know, God must have loved coffee, right? The book of Hebrews. Come on, come on. Yeah, yeah. Thank you. technology though is where we see pigology I'll say it again technology is where we see pigology we see a lot of good things there's a lot of potential there but we see a lot of pigology and Jesus is driving at that you know Matthew 7 verses 1 through 6 that section of scripture has got to be the non-christians most favorite section of scripture to quote. Now they quoted it out of context, but how many times have you heard people say, hey man, don't judge.

7:39 That's what Jesus said. Hey, don't, you're judging me. Don't judge me. Those are common phrases. You know, God said don't judge. Well, Jesus did not say that in Matthew 7 verses one through six. He said that we are to judge in a compassionate way using our discernment and wisdom. For example, think about all the judgments you made just today. From how you got to fellowship church, to your clothing, to the judgment call of what you had for breakfast, your kids. I mean, everything we do is judgment. is judgment. So Jesus is saying, use discernment, use judgment. You can judge, but don't judge in a way that condemns someone. Only God can do that. That's why people say sometimes, and this is horrible language, they'll say, God damn it. So you can't say as a human being, you can't tell God what to damn, what to condemn.

8:59 God, as we know, is the ultimate judge. But it does not mean we should not take a wide berth around the pigsty. So who are the pigs in your life? Seriously. Well, if they look like a pig and act like a pig and smell like a pig and snort like a pig, they're pigs. It doesn't mean we hate them. Again, we pray for them, but we take a wide berth around the pig pen.

9:35 You remember the three little pigs? Well, I've pinpointed three little pigs of technology. And we see them and run into them all the time. And what's interesting is the three little pigs of technology are the core values of Satan himself. which is sort of scary, isn't it? before I get into the three little pigs though of technology I know you can't wait to hear what those are as I was praying about this series because I'm talking about technology today next week I'm talking about bullying bullying is not just a student thing it's also an adult thing It happens on the freeway and also on the fairway. It happens when you're living life, when you're in school, when you're out of school.

10:33 It happens offline and online, bullying. And we're talking about that next week. You won't believe what the Bible says about bullying. Incredible stuff. So I'm gonna talk to the bullies next week, those of us who have been bullied, because you know what? I've been bullied. I really have. So have you, probably. and then I'm going to talk about the innocent bystanders, those people that kind of hang out, you know, when people kind of hang out and they watch people being bullied. Huh. Let's talk about that because the Bible, I mean, has some awesome stuff to say about it.

11:06 I'll give you a teaser for next week. Your bully can become a pulley that takes you to the next level. Okay, that's next week. The following week, I'm talking about depression. Depression's real. Do you realize some of the best Christians, some of the best men and women in the Bible suffered and dealt with depression? the final week we're talking about, this is one of my favorites, peer pressure. I'm just peering at you and causing pressure as I peer. but don't still with that technology has become a god lowercase g so i decided in my spare time and this is not sacrilegious but i've written out the technology prayer you've heard the lord's prayer and i wrote this without using ai okay i'll recite it our technology who art in heaven hallowed be my fame.

12:19 A lot of us pray that prayer, don't we? Thy posts come, my DMs are done on Instagram as it is on TikTok. Give us this day our daily screen time and deliver us from our haters as we hate those who head against us. And lead us not into the wrong algorithm but deliver us from the uncool. For popularity is my thing to my power and my glory forever. Amen. that's a prayer we don't want to admit it that a lot of us pray now before I get into the three little pigs I have also conducted an informal poll about technology I've asked a cross-section of people over the last several weeks about technology some are believers some are not I I mean, some are complete hellions.

13:14 And I've gone, hey, I want to ask you a question. No, okay, okay. Tell me about technology. I said, do you think technology is good, mostly good, or mostly bad? Every one of them said, and I was shocked, it's mostly bad. technology is a mirror isn't it of mankind it's a mirror of who we are it's a mirror of our depravity also though it can be a mirror of our potential the three little pigs of technology pig number one pig one pride pride the pig of pride scroll through any social media platform, you're going to see pride. I think about Isaiah chapter 14, verses 13 through 14. This is a writing about what Lucifer was trying to do in the heavenlies. You see, before Lucifer became the devil, he was in charge of worship in heaven. He tried to usurp God. So we see the sin of pride. And as I read what he was thinking, it sounds like some of the posts I've read before. Laughter. You said in your heart, I will ascend to the heavens. I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit in throne on the Mount of Assembly of the utmost heights of Mount Zephon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds. I will make myself like the most high. Pride, pride. Pride is the forerunner, the precursor of all sin. So before I sin, I'm always going to deal with pride. Does that make sense? Pride is the forerunner of all sin. The ride of pride. Oh, that girl's on an ego trip. That guy's on an ego trip.

15:18 Pride always distances us from ourselves, who we should be before God. It distances us from others and it distances us from God and his church. Pride, the ride of pride. It's wicked. It's wicked. pride. Think about your posts. Do you edit your posts? You should edit those personal pronouns. I amaze myself in my pride. I really do. But see, I see pride in you, but I don't see it in myself. Oh, I'm not prideful, but you are. and sometimes people think the most ostentatious person is the most prideful well sometimes but in other situations it's the quiet ones because they're prideful in their humility so the moment you think you're humble you're prideful anyway that's the first of the little pigs. And I'm going to unpack that more and more next time. But second Corinthians 10, 12 says, we do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves. They are not wise. It's unfair to compare. So pride is when I put myself on a shelf that's designed for God. Pride basically says this, look at me. Now let's go to the next of the three little pigs. The second of the three little pigs, the first being pride, the second being something that we don't talk about a lot, but I think is the foremost sin online and in technology, envy, the pig of envy.

17:19 What is envy? Envy is when I'm sad over your successes and I'm a fan of your failure. I think you don't deserve those blessings. I do. Envy begins where my influence ends. Envy begins where my income ends. I'm not envious over a surgeon. I'm not envious over a professional athlete or a teacher or a coach, but you throw a pastor in there?

18:01 What? He has this and that many followers and he speaks here, there, and yonder. Look, God, I deserve that. Envy. Envy is the only sin, and I've written a book about this, my first book. I counted this past week, I've written 23 books. I have five right now that I'm publishing. And I'm really excited about them because we have just a great team that does that for us. But the first book I ever wrote was a book on the seven deadly sins. And as I researched envy, I discovered envy is the only sin that starts out ugly and ends ugly. The other sins start out with some promise. Like pride. I love to brag. I've read 23 books.

18:58 but then after the message i'll say to myself ed you're so prideful what's this humble brag time now you see i start out oh it felt good but now envy though starts out u-g-l-y-u ain't got no alibi ugly and it ends U-G-O-Y-U ain't got no alibi ugly. I struggle with envy.

19:31 I mean there's certain people I cannot follow because when I follow them those engines of envy start getting revved up, and I go down that U-G-L-Y, you ain't got no alibi, ugly path of envy. The Bible tells us boldly in Proverbs 14, 30, a heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy, is this gross? Rots the bones. man we got a lot of rot don't we wrath is cruel proverbs 27 4 says and anger is outrageous but he was able to stand before envy in Galatians, you won't, you will not believe this. You know, when I, when I discovered this yesterday, I just said, Lord, you are hilarious. And let me, let me give you the context.

20:35 The Bible says in Galatians five, it lists this litany of all this negative behavior and negative stuff. And then in verse 21, it mentions envy. So envy is with all these, you know, heinous sins. So I looked up the original word, the Greek word for envy. It's pronounced phonos. I don't know if you heard me. The Greek term in Galatians 5 is pronounced phonos. Again, I've got to say, look at your phone. Envy is that sin that's before all of us. Envy is what causes a lot of consternation in my life and in your life.

21:29 It's what causes these pig fights. Remember? Don't wrestle with pigs. Hey, students, don't wrestle with pigs. Adults, don't wrestle with pigs. It's not worth it. It's not worth it. Now I want to sit down and talk to the students. Do you mind if we have just kind of a personal conversation, students? Adults, just zone me out. Adults, I'm just talking to students now.

22:05 I want to tell you a little bit about my life. I grew up as a pastor's kid. I love my childhood. I love being a pastor's kid. I really do. Dad's 90 years old, so I'm still a pastor's kid. It's active. So being a pastor's kid, I have front row seats to life change. You meet so many different people and you learn about leadership and human nature and the good, the bad, the ugly.

22:37 I have vivid remembrance of great things, but also I have some really, really tough, tough things from my childhood from negative people, from pigs, straight up. Dad, my father is an outstanding leader. He built one of the largest churches.

23:07 in Christianity over the last 100 years. Dad's an unbelievable leader. And while all of that was happening, now and then, he and mom would get these just negative things out of nowhere. And it hurt. When I think about it too much, it still hurts. I was like, you don't know my father. You don't even know the church. Who were you? You want to go down that path. fast forward to 1990 Lisa and I come up here one car, one kid, one dog 30 families in a rent house we helped start we didn't start it, we helped start Fellowship Church man we're first six months man it's happening and I'm 27 years old I've never pastored I'm going like this growth is unbelievable I can't believe we're growing and then it hit me. Boom! I get my first anonymous letter. I read it. It just knocked me for a loop. I was in a pile. What? I read it and read it again.

24:31 and I'm not a big crier. I started crying. I went home. I go, at least we're out of here, man. I did not sign up for this. Here people are coming to Fellowship Church and we're seeing life change. And man, I'm out. I was out. and we spent pretty much the whole night you know in prayer and just just talking at least than I did and crying and and and and I happened to watch a message I've never told this story before random message on tv it was late at night and this guy I mean it was the holy spirit of God was just speaking encouragement. He was saying, hey, Jesus was persecuted. Hey, you move with the movers. Hey, you go with encouragement.

25:27 And God just used that, students, I'm talking to you, to show me, lean in to the right people. I don't mean people that agree with everything you do all the time, but you know what I'm saying too, people that love you for who you are will speak the truth and love, but also who encourage you. And basically this guy was saying, I don't want to give his message. He was saying, stay away from the pigs. And I was like, wow. So I made a vow covenant. That day, students, I will not read or watch or listen to any negativity about Fellowship Church or my family again. Done. And you know what? I've pretty much kept that. Not perfectly, but I have.

26:22 And I want to just tell you, my life is awesome. I love the ministry. I'm not like some victim. No, no, no, no, no. I just want to tell you a small percentage of what I deal with is negativity. You might think, come on, bro. You're 65 years old. you have these orange glasses on. I'm sure you don't deal with any negativity anymore. Yes.

26:55 I'm sure there are pig casters, I mean podcasters, who are going to chop this message up and out of context. Yes. Yes. So we deal with it. But I do not read it. I don't look at it. I don't dive into the dumpster with the comments. So students, I'm going back to you now. block haters stay away from the pig fights don't wrestle them it's not worth your time and energy and here's a mistake i made one time i thought okay this person's negative if i sat down and explain to him all the information, he would change and go, oh, thank you. So I did that. I had coffee with a guy way back in the day, explained to him, ABC one, two, three.

27:55 To this day, he's still a pig. So only God is going to change him. And it doesn't matter how much information students, you know, you give your bully, it's not going to move the needle. Okay. So that, that's just, I just want to have that personal conversation with you. Okay. Does that make sense? All right. The pig of pride, the pig of envy and the last pig. I could say we're spurring the horse to the barn. Same metaphor. The last pig is the pig of lust. What is lust? Lust is when you have a God-given desire and it's gone haywire. Obviously, you've got lust of the eyes, and then you have lust of the flesh. Lust of the flesh is lust for the worldly system, materialism.

28:52 Lust of the eyes is going to be the sensual, sexual thing. We have been able to humanize animals and animalize humans, haven't we? That's what lust does. It changes people into objects with body parts. Pornhub receives anywhere between 100 to 300 million views a day. And that's not talking about OnlyFans and other sites. That's just, that's just Pornhub. And the vicious thing about pornography is that, that it takes God's truths. It takes the best that God has for us and it twists it and contorts it. we have so many people who are in such terrible, terrible situations because of pornography.

29:53 It can and will ruin your life. It'll ruin marriages. It ruins families. And it is addictive. So the people know it is, yet there's this dark, evil twist that causes it. and it's from the enemy himself. In Ephesians 2.2, it calls Satan the prince of the power of the air. Well, think about technology. think about a lot of the music that we pour into our brains. Think about movies and television. I mean, yeah, there's some redemptiveness to it, but wow, there is some dark, dark stuff out there. So we are going to face, friends, temptation.

30:51 We're going to face suffering. We're going to face ridicule. That's part of it. So if I had to boil it down as I end this message, the pig of pride, look at me. The pig of envy, why not me? The pig of lust, give it to me. God can transform our lives. Did you know that?

31:24 God is in the transformation business. Romans 12, 1 through 2. He can transform our pride into humility. He can transform our envy into contentment and joy. Good for you. and he can change our lust into self-control. Isn't God awesome? So before you post, before you scroll, ask yourself these questions. Am I wallowing with pigs? Am I wrestling with pigs? Instead, how about wrestle with God? You remember a guy in the Bible? His name is Jacob.

32:17 Jacob wrestled with God. He didn't wrestle with his critics. He wrestled with God. That's who I want to wrestle with. That's who we're made to wrestle with. How about this? When you wake up, lean into scripture before you scroll. How about this? Ask yourself questions like, is this helpful? Is this loving? Is this kind? does this glorify God? And friends, once we start doing that, we can start a digital revolution, can't we? We really, really can. So God wants the best for your life and mine. He wants us to literally baptize technology. And we can, if we surrender to him and do it his way and pick up those pearls and toss the pearls to the movers and the shakers that God wants us to run with.

33:24 final question who is in your herd father thank you for this message thank you for every single person here and if you're here and you've never ever ever asked Christ to come into your life you can make that decision that choice today by saying God I admit to you would you already know that I'm a sinner I turn from my sins and I turn to you I ask you Jesus Christ to come into my life I give you all that I am and all that I will ever be. If you prayed that prayer, hey, that's the best thing you'll ever do. It's the best thing you'll ever do. Others here need to just give once again, rededicate once again your life to doing life God's way. It's so much time and energy and effort to spend on technology, Lord, and we want to baptize it and use it for your glory and your honor.

34:21 We ask all these things in Jesus' name.