Challies on Idol of Communication

Idols are typically good things that seek to become ultimate things. Communication is just the kind of good thing, the kind of very good thing, that can so easily become an ultimate thing. How would we know that there is an idol in our lives? It may be the kind of thing we look at right before we go to sleep and the first thing we give attention to when we wake up. It may be the kind of thing that keeps us awake even in the middle of the night. A 2010 study by Oxygen Media and Lightspeed Research sampled the the habits of 1,605 young adults. The researchers found that one third of women between the ages of 18 and 34 check Facebook when they first wake up, before they even head to the bathroom; 21% check it in the middle of the night; 39% of them declare that they are addicted to Facebook.

We might also know we serve an idol when it is something we carry around with us at all times. A Pew Research study found, not surprisingly, that cell phone use is nearly ubiquitous today. Three-quarters of teens and 93% of adults between ages 18 and 29 now have a cell phone. Cell phone use has grown substantially among pre-teens so that 58% of 12-year-olds now own one. Lisa Merlo is a University of Florida psychiatrist who studies digital addictions—addictions to the Internet and other technologies. She finds that for a growing number of people the need to be in constant communication is so powerful that they cannot even turn off their cell phones in order to sit through a two-hour movie. Their obsession with their phones resembles any other form of addiction. “As with traditional addictions, excessive cell phone use is associated with certain hallmark patterns of behavior, including using something to feel good, building up a tolerance and needing more of it over time to get the same feeling, and going through withdrawal if deprived of it.” Meanwhile a recent Japanese study found that children with cell phones tend not to make friendships with children who do not have them. And all of this is really just the tip of the iceberg. Communication is just what we do today.

By all appearances we have made communication into a kind of cultural idol. In most cases it is not Facebook or the cell phone that is the idol. Instead, they serve as enablers, as enhancers, of the greater idol of communication. Christians have proven to be far from immune to this idol, from following along as the culture around us becomes obsessed with communication and dedicates vast amounts of time and resources to it. Christians will do well to remember that in God’s economy communication is but a means to the far greater, far more noble end of enjoying God so we can bring glory to him. Communication can detract from this purpose just as easily as it can serve this purpose.

When words serve God, they draw hearts to what is of greatest importance. Such words are full of meaning, full of life. When words serve an idol, they distract, they damage, they focus on quantity over quality. Thus words call us not just to use them sinlessly, but to use them to share what is substantial, to say what is best, to encourage, to bless. In an age that can be almost unbearably light, frustratingly anti-intellectual, woefully unspiritual, words have the ability to draw people to what matters most.

Chan on Intimacy with God

“It’s breathtaking to picture Almighty God saying, ‘I know Francis Chan. He’s my son. I love him.’ Are you confident this is what God would say if I asked him about you?” (105)

Having cited Galatians 4:4-7, Chan writes:

“Maybe you are reading this and thinking, ‘Well, I just don’t experience that kind of intimacy with God. The Spirit in me never cries ‘Abba, Father’.” If this is you, I don’t have a four step guide to connecting with the Holy Spirit. I would, however, like to suggest two potential obstacles for you to consider: comfort and volume.

“1. Comfort. Maybe your life is too safe. From my own experience I have felt closest to God when nearness to him was a necessity. The Bible says the Spirit comes through in situations where we would normally be afraid (Luke 12:11-12) …

Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the ‘Helper’ or ‘Comforter’. Let me ask you a simple question: Why would we need to experience the Comforter if our lives are already comfortable? It is those who put their lives at risk and suffer for the gospel who are most will often experience his being with you always even to the end of the age as Matthew 28:20 says …

“2. Volume. Maybe your life is too loud. Multitasking has become the norm. When was the last time you have an uninterrupted conversation with anyone … In my quest to accomplish much I have lost the art of focusing on one thing or one person. This in turn has affected my prayer life as I’m sure it has affected yours. I find it harder to be simply with God, to focus only on him, while spending intentional time with him … Jesus certainly understood what it means to have multitudes of people pursuing at once … Because of the priority of his relationship with his Father, he found ways to escape. He took the time to focus and be quiet (Mark 1:35). He was willing to remove himself from people’s reach in order to pray and commune with the Father. Our lack of intimacy is often due to our refusal to unplug and shut off communications from all others so we can be alone with him … For some of you reading this book may be a form of noise that keeps you from him. You may already hear lots of sermons and read lots of books. What you need is direct communication with him.” (106-109)

Murray on Better Preaching

. Preach to make a point not to reach a time limit.
Vigorous writing (preaching?) is concise. ~William Strunk Jr.

2. Help another edit their preaching.
I try to leave out the parts that people skip. ~Elmore Leonard
3. Write something every day that you do not intend to share
This is a bit strong. However I think it is worthwhile, especially for students at Seminary, to regularly set apart some time to prepare sermon themes and outlines, even when they may have no opportunities to preach them.
4. Outline before drafting your sermon
If any man wish to write (preach?) in a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
5. Don't get caught up in re-stating the obvious
The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say. ~Anaïs Nin
I want to be a bit careful about this, because one task of the Gospel preacher is to keep re-stating the same truth (2 Peter 1:12). However, we don't need to re-state the same truth the same way every time.
6. Befriend a dictionary

The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug
. ~Mark Twain
Again, care required here so that we do not start using words that no one else understands. But, we can refresh our vocabulary with simple words also.
7. Keep a little notebook for moments of inspiration
Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable. ~Francis Bacon
8. Not having a pen in hand does not mean that you are not writing

The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes. ~Agatha Christie
Or as the writer of this article put it: "There’s no such thing as writer’s block. But there are times when washing dishes is a better use of time than staring at an empty screen!"
9. Be kind to yourself

Every writer (preacher) I know has trouble writing (preaching!). ~Joseph Heller

Rutherford on Prophecy

One of the main authors of the Westminster Confession on prophecy:

There are four kinds of revelation:
Prophetical (scripture)
Illumination
Facts peculiar to godly men (words of knowledge, etc)
False and Satanical

On facts peculiar to godly men, Rutherford explains that there is a revelation of some particular men who have foretold of things to come (ie. Luther, Hus, Wycliffe, Wishart, Knox) ever since the closing of the canon.

Grudem adds that the report of such things is prophecy. Hence, it is not contrary to the Westminster Confession that such a revelation (not inerrant, but always to be tested against the straight and truly inerrant, final and authoritative rule of canon) can be given to the people of God from time to time.

Pearcey on Integrating Worldview

Amongst other things, firstly we need to understand that we have a clear command to shape and order culture from God’s command in Genesis 1 to “be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue and have dominion over it”, and secondly that our work is not some curse, to make our lives painful and sad, but rather a good thing created by God for our benefit.

So how do we re-integrate our lives and understand our work from a biblical point of view? Nancy Pearcey in her book “Total truth” has developed a model of analysing our work (or any aspect of life) through the frames of Creation, Fall and Redemption.
• Creation. How did God originally create things to be?
• Fall. How has sin corrupted how things are?
• Redemption. How can things be redeemed back to reflect better how God originally intended them to be?

In the workshop of the Gospel and Work Seminar (Leeds:2010), people gathered in work types and asked the following questions.
• What aspects of my job reflect the way that God originally created things to be?
• How has my job been distorted and corrupted by the fall?
• What can I uniquely do to redeem my work place back to something that God originally intended things to be like?

Hesketh on Enthusiastic Dualism

Every Friday (or whatever day your church youth meet) and Sunday young people will lift hands in worship to God, sing the songs and do the “church thing”. Then on “none church” days do as their friends do smoking, drinking, swearing and be sexually active with people who are not their husbands or their wives. They do each with enthusiasm and see no problem; hence “enthusiastic dualism”. Now clearly this is a generalisation as there are lots of young people that live passionately for Jesus and do not engage in the same things as their friends but live counter-culturally to them. Enthusiastic dualism is not only evidenced in young people but adults as well…

As social networking gathers increasing pace such as Facebook, Twitter, Bebo etc they are one way in which I see this demonstrated which has prompted this post. As a local church pastor it is actually quite concerning to see what people who are Christians say and do on what is a great tool to keep in communication with people. The applications, language and status updates are a dead giveaway for those who are enthusiastically dualistic. Now again it is dangerous to make generalisations but it happens when there is a disconnect between the good news of Jesus and everyday life.

Why does it happen? I believe it happens most when people are entrenched in church tradition and not Jesus. When we understand who Jesus is and what he came to do we cannot fail to see our lives in light of this and his light exposes our darkeness. However. His exposure of our darkness enables us to see how far we have fallen from God’s original plan. Jesus is the answer to this problem and provides us a way out in and through Himself in the cross.

It’s not that dangerous though is it? Well actually I think it a dangerous virus that will kill the effectiveness of the church in the days ahead. As followers of Jesus we are called to be different and stand out to those who do not know Jesus. Those who claim to be Jesus followers yet do not stand out as his disciples cause confusion amongst those who do not know Jesus. If those who do not know Jesus do not see any difference in his supposed followers then why turn from living selfishly and for ones self?

Chan on Living Christ

And maybe you are called to be called to where you live, but if you say you are called to be in the place where you are a few questions need to be consider. For example, how would you be missed if you left this place? What would change? Basically what difference does your presence here make? Or as my youth pastor once asked me, what would your church (and the worldwide church) look like if everyone was as committed as you are? If everyone gave and served and prayed exactly like you, would the church be healthy and empowered? Or would it be weak and listless? …