People, Not Pixels
Published December 17, 2010 | 
People, not Pixels
Social Media, Technology, and the Christian
We are in a technological revolution. Even the print media is recognizing the shift from paper to pixels. For example, the founder of Facebook has been named, “Time Person of the Year.” How is the Christian to respond? How will this revolution shape our lives in the future? What are the questions we should be asking? What are the actions we should be taking? Quite frankly, I am perplexed when I try to ponder all the ramifications this revolution is having on our world.
Watch this video to get a sense of just how impacting this revolution is … so far!
In pondering all of this, what I have come to understand the most, is that we need to be sure our lives are interacting with people and not pixels. In other words, let’s be sure we know that ultimately, our interaction is with people. We need to see the people at the other end of our messages. We need to see the people that are reading our status updates. We need to see the people that are posting on our walls. Most of all, we must do our very best not to allow the pixel interaction to replace the people interaction. Face-to-face always was, and always will be, the best way to communicate. And when you do Facebook instead of being face-to-face, remember the golden rule of Facebook, “interact unto others as you would have them interact unto you.”
Here are some principles we can employ while navigating through this information revolution. Many of these principles were taken from blogs and other internet resources. Please use the links to go to the sources.
Biblical principles that we can use to view technology:
1) God created all things, including technology. God created the forces (electricity, wave-lengths), elements (needed to make electronic components), and the human intelligence needed for the creation of technology.
2) God is good, and the gift of technology may be used for good. Technology has many good uses. Sharing of videos, photos, communication, access to news sources, education, shopping, banking, etc. There are many things we can do to serve and to demonstrate love to others using technology.
3) Technology is not inherently sinful. It is just sending signals. Without interaction with human beings, technology is amoral. However, Technology has been perverted and abused by the sin nature of man. This changes God’s good gift to be bad.
Ways to respond to technology:
Here are ways we could respond to the technology (the third being the advised way):
1) Enthusiastic acceptance: accept and welcome any technological development without considering the consequences. When we do this, we do not consider the possibilities and consequences of embracing something which man may have changed from good to evil.
2) Complete separation: going to the opposite extreme of embracing. Some would reject digital technology as completely wrong and unacceptable for the Christian to use. This response fails to consider the goodness of God. Furthermore, in doing this, it will separate and remove us from society and may result in our being ill-equipped to engage in the world.
3) Disciplined discernment: distinguish between true and false, sort out what is good or harmful. We need to approach technology with a Biblical view, much the same way we approach everything else in life.
General Guidelines Regarding Digital Technology:
Here are a few guidelines that are useful when using digital technology.
1) Permanence: Whether we realize it or not, what we post, message, email or otherwise share on the internet, is forever available permanently. Electronic media has the appearance of being temporary. However, it is not. Realize that all your Google searches, all your Facebook status posts, and all your messages are captured. Someday, they may be used against you.
2) Politeness: The correspondence you have with someone today, may be tomorrow’s “wikileak.” Therefore, be polite and Christ-like in all you write. If you don’t want what you are writing to be displayed on the church projection screen on Sunday, don’t write it. Harvard Business Review writes, “Thanks to Wikileaks, you can now expect that day to come when your most private and candid communications will appear for all to peruse. In preparation for that moment, you better make sure that your private dealings match your public declarations, if not perfectly then at least pretty close.”
3) Moderation: What do we accomplish when we spend time online or playing video games? What do we have to show for our time? Will we be held accountable for our lack of doing worthwhile activity?
4) Mundane versus meaningful: What characterizes our technological activity? Are we building the Kingdom of God or a larger enterprise on Farmville? Are we reaching Spiritual maturity or are we reaching the next level of Halo? Are we cultivating spiritual conversations or are we gossiping about the latest celebrity? We are accountable for what we say and what we do with our lives, the talents God has given us. It is certainly acceptable and good to be entertained and to have fun, but we should not be a people characterized as amusing ourselves to death.
5) Relationships: Don’t let the internet, text messaging, Facebook, and other technology become a substitute for face-to-face interaction with people. An online blog by Tim Challies states, “Studies show that time spent interacting online comes at the expense of face-to-face relationships at about a a 2:1 ratio. So every hour we spend on Facebook comes at the expense of 30 minutes talking to a person face-to-face.” Consider verse 12 in the second letter of the Apostle John, “Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, so that your joy may be made full.” Whenever possible, do not allow technology to remove us from face-to-face interaction with people. Think people over pixels. 
Biblical Principles:
Here are just a few Scriptures that help us define good Biblical principles for technology use. Basically, any Scripture passage that describes how we are to communicate and interact with one another is applicable.
Matthew 12:35-37 35A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment. 37For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Romans 12:1-2 1Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
1 Corinthians 10:31 31Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; 33just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved.
1 Timothy 4:12 12Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.
Titus 2:6-8 6Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; 7in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, 8sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.
Hebrews 13:15-18 15Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. 16And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. 17Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. 18Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things.
1 Peter 1:13-16 13Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
I hope this will help you as you seek to point people to the cross.
Blessings, Allen
Answering Your Questions about Miraculous Healings
Published December 1, 2010 | I got a great “Sermon Question” sheet in the box on the back table after the message about miraculous healings. Because we are not having our regular monthly “Question and Answer” night in December, I thought I would get the answer to you all this way.
First question: “You said that Jesus’ healings were ‘instantaneous.’ What about the blind man who needed a second dose of spit and mud?”
The question is a reference to the blind man in Mark 8:22-26. This is a great question, and one I considered addressing during the sermon (but didn’t to avoid going too long). In the context of Mark 8, Jesus has just warned the disciples about the “leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod” (8:15). Then he questions the disciples about their lack of faith in doubting that Jesus could feed them all with the single loaf they had in their boat (8:14, 16-21). Essentially, He was pointing out that they were slow to understand in an effort to lovingly admonish them to try to grasp the significance of His power and miracles.
Then they get to Bethsaida and this blind man is brought to them. Jesus applies spit to His eyes (8:23; no mention of the mud here though, that is another account), and asks if he can see. He can only see blurry figures, which he describes as “I see men…like trees, walking around” (8:24). Jesus lays His hands on his eyes again, and the man immediately see everything clearly.
I believe the two-step healing here, in its context (which is a unique situation), was intended to be a living illustration for the disciples of how they needed to keep allowing Jesus’ “teaching” to be applied to their “spiritual eyes” so that the clarity of their thinking and faith would become increasingly clear. Figuring out the reason for the two-step healing is certainly the most important question to solve in order to understand that passage. Even so, we should be careful to note that the whole process of healing, even with two spit process, was no longer than a minute. I would still consider that instantaneous compared to what many modern “healers” claim.
Second question: “You said ‘all sickness is a result of sin.’ What about the man born blind who got healed, and Jesus said his blindness was not a result his own sin, or the sin of his parents, but for glorifying God?”
Whoever asked this question must think a lot like me, because I thought about mentioning this ‘exception’ in my sermon too. The passage he mentions is in John, chapter 9. Here is how I would answer this question.
When I said ‘all sickness is a result of sin’ I was careful to clarify that not every particular sickness was a direct result of a specific sin. It is still true, however, that all sickness is an indirect result of sin’s presence in the world. In other words, if the human race hadn’t plunged itself into sin, there would be so sorrow, sickness or death. When Jesus said, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so the works of God might be displayed in Him” (John 9:3), He was actually correcting the misconception about sin and sickness that I clarified above. His words are saying the exact same thing that my clarification did–that not every particular sickness was a direct result of a specific sin. But His statement does not mean that sorrow, sickness and death is NOT caused in a general way by the reality of sin in the world.
Third question: “I hear lots of stories from Asia and Africa about God’s healings. Do you see any special provision for God to allow or cause healings in those countries?”
Unfortunately, there is no way that we can truly confirm or deny what is happening, how it is happening, or why. I have never denied that God can heal anyone, anywhere, at any time. He does so, and when He does, He alone deserves all the praise. I am convinced the Bible teaches that the spiritual gift of healing was in operation in the early church primarily to confirm the message of the gospel through the first Apostles. Obviously not everyone agrees with my understanding of that gift, its purpose, or its operations.
Sadly, many who claim to have a gift of healing today are engaged in either a “showboating” kind of ministry, or are profiting financially from their so-called gift. We only have to watch them on religious television to see it, although many of their antics, deceptions, and greedy practices have been often documented. I receive a handful of letters every year at the church from unknown, obscure people in impoverished parts of the world. In these letters there are great claims of miraculous healings and demon exorcisms. They are always accompanied by a plea for a financial gift. Needless to say, the pleas seem insincere and the stories usually appear fanciful. The fact that stories are perpetuated, passed on (and likely often exaggerated) does not necessarily make them real.
No one could possibly have the resources or time to investigate every possible report of healings around the world. There are people out there who have tried, and by far the most common conclusion is that modern claims to miraculous healings of the character and nature of those in the New Testament are unfounded. Just for curiosity, I googled “what about miraculous healings in asia,” and clicked on the first article. A youth claims to have been healed of paralysis. But reading the article, it appears to have been no more significant than a bad arm taking a turn for the better. The article says:
Mi, a young man of 17, was the first to step forward to seek God’s healing touch for his paralyzed left side…On Friday, June 5, Mi went to a follow-up doctor’s appointment that had been set to discuss expensive surgery necessary for his paralyzed left arm. When the doctor examined his arm, however, he was amazed to find soft, pliable tissue instead of the rigid, spastic tissue he had examined previously. Mi immediately gave testimony to God’s healing touch following a time of prayer the week before. Mi continues to rely on prayer for full healing as he begins to follow physical therapy exercises he can do at home to strengthen his arm.
We don’t really know what the “rigid, spastic tissue” was before. A tight muscle? A severe cramp? A torn muscle? Unless it was a congenital defect, it may not be accurate to describe it as “paralyzed.” But notice, he was not totally healed. He is waiting, by his own report, for “full healing” and is following through with a physical therapy program to strengthen it further. This is very different from a man crippled since birth suddenly leaping, and dancing, and praising God. And yet, the headline reads “Miraculous Healing!” I believe almost all of the stories we hear are of a similar character. True healings, of the character and nature of the ones we see at the hands of Christ and the Apostles, would be the exception and not the common experience.
Those are really good questions. I appreciate them all, so keep them coming. The question and answer time is one of my favorite times of the month.
Social Networking and Media – A Helpful Analysis
Published November 19, 2010 | 
I appreciate the value of social media and networking. They can be a useful tool for communication and a helpful means of keeping up with old friends in a way that doesn’t demand a lot of time or money. We post family pictures and communicate with old friends through Michelle’s facebook account, and for the most part find it a useful tool.
At the same time, it can suck an amazing amount of time from the lives of people called to be good stewards of their time. On the Grace to You blog, Pastor John MacArthur has posted a helpful article highlighting some striking statistics, and giving some important warnings about the uses of social media and networking. I encourage you to read the whole article by clicking the link above. Here is his summary and conclusion.
Social networking can be a useful tool when it is used in moderation and for the right things. At the same time, however, pitfalls and temptations do exist; and believers need to arm themselves accordingly. Social media are obviously not going away any time soon. But that doesn’t mean we can be undiscerning in how we approach them.
For me, as a pastor, this issue is particularly important from a shepherding perspective. Christian leaders are called to equip their people to think through every area of life with biblical wisdom. And this is no exception.
Moreover, believers (and especially pastors) need to be careful what they communicate to the world about their lives. Once something is posted online it can be seen by anyone else. Once it’s cached, there is a permanent record of it. That means every status update and every tweet is part of the believer’s public testimony as a Christian.
As Paul told the Galatians, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (2:20). Like Paul and every other believer, my life is no longer my own. The focus must not be on me, but on Christ. When someone hears from me publicly, I want it all to point to Him.
For the glory of Christ! I trust you’ll find this a helpful reminder and encouragement. I would have linked to the article on my facebook account, but I don’t have one.
Pastor Brian.