September 4, 2019 CAYA "Real Likes & Fake Love", Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley

[Music] as you all know one of the things we seek to do at Chaya is to always be as relevant as possible with the issues that really face us in our lives and just don't give you a heads up that in October we want to go back to something we haven't done in quite a while which is allow you to ask those questions that are relevant for you we encourage you to email and send in questions again I'm no expert in anything but love to have the open dialog with you all as we talk about the issues both doctrinally and relationally theologically so if there's anything that you've always wanted to ask in church but have not had an opportunity it's not like when you go to worship you can raise your hand and say preacher that's not what I want to hear today can you address this question instead this is an opportunity to do that so if you'll submit those online to us we're gonna correlate them over the next few weeks and then also take a few live questions from the floor if you've ever been with us before you know the disc is kind of lively and a little fun so if you would send that in and we greatly appreciate tonight is yet another opportunity to deal with something very real and relevant I'm going to ask you to turn in your Bibles with me if you will to John chapter 6 if we put that first slide of Av that'd be great John chapter 6 I want to read in your hearing two verses of Scripture that will prayerfully make sense as we get into the heart of what I believe God is speaking to us on tonight John chapter 6 I want to read verse 14 and 15 out of the New International Version of the Bible and know that you'll be able to keep up with whatever version you have quickly John chapter 6 is the end of the testimony of the feeding of the 5,000 that miracle that Jesus performs with just a few loaves of bread and some fish multiplies it feeds some 5,000 shake your head if you if you know this one okay okay I know you know the water to wine one I just wanna make sure you know this one John six 14 and 15 here's what happens at the end and after the people saw the sign Jesus performed they began to say surely this is the prophet who is to come into the world Jesus knowing that they intended to come and make him a king by force withdrew again to a mountain by himself when Jesus knew they were trying to make him a king he got away from the crowd and we'll come back to that in just a few moments tonight I want to put that back up are we good start to control thank you we gave it the title real likes and fake love but I really want to talk about the intersection of Christianity and social media realizing that social media is one the most prevalent and relevant realities of the world in which we live and yet it's one that we've never discussed in our comes you are worship experience I want to begin by making certain I know who's present so I know who I can relate to if you were born between 1995 and 2015 you are Generation Z if your birthday is 95 2015 raises a hand anybody that's your 95 going gonna be proud of yourself you're young so Amy do me a favor if they got their hand up smell that Similac on that breath that's that that's that formula they're still young they got a long way to go welcome welcome all right all the Millennials 1980 to 1994 if that's you if that's you oh my god well I'm neither one of those I am proud Generation X hallelujah if your birthday's between 65 and 79 raises a hand all those okay you all out applaud us we are the mature in the crowd I am a proud product of 1972 which means that I am 47 getting ready to look 50 in the eye soon and I want to let you know in case you didn't that back in Generation X days when we came of age things were a whole lot different than they are right now this was our version of a flat screen television for those don't know this is called a floor model TV and before you laugh at us there was a remote control we were the remote control when mom and dad want the station changed we came and changed since the first knob went from channel 1 to channel 11 and then the bottom channel bottom knob went from 11 all the way to 60 something there were probably about 4 or 5 television stations at the time and after 11:30 12 o'clock they all went off the air you did not watch TV late at night because there was no TV to watch that was our flat-screen TV and this was our version of netflix and chill' we would for those that don't know on your left is a VCR tape that we put in and on the right was Jiffy Pop because we did not have microwaves you took Jiffy Pop you put it on the stove of the fire and you shook it until it started to pop and that was a good Friday night of Netflix and chill when we want to listen to music there was no iPhone there's no Apple to Apple iTunes we had if you want to listen to music in the house we had an LP a record player and for those who know there were three speeds 78 45 and thirty-three and a third and if the needle starts to jump a little bit don't worry just get you some tape and a nickel and you tape it down and if by chance they jumped a lot you got a quarter and put it on top and then keep it down to play real music but if you were in the car no no you didn't just listen to Noah iTunes Noah Amazon music all that we had 8 tracks 8 tracks some of y'all like wouldn't know where 8 track there were 8 songs you could not rewind you had to listen to it all the way through to get back to the song you want to listen to again and I remember my first eight-track was off the wall by Michael Jackson that was my favorite first 8-track that's the music we listen to me we didn't have MacBooks so we didn't have Chromebooks we didn't have any kind of iPads I had a Commodore 64 it's my first computer the only thing that computer did was word processing and we have what's called a dot matrix printer now if you don't remember dot matrix and you are real young you can hear it doesn't emit that that that you have to tear the pages off and there are low Scrolls on the end yet to pull that off amen a that when I was high tech back in the day when we were Generation X we didn't have Nintendo DS so we didn't have switch didn't have any I was handheld devices but we sure had Mattel and that was that first football game that was so popular in our generation and it had red dots that moved and you moved the dots tonight trying not to get touched and that was our gaming system back in the day and for those who don't know this is called Sega Genesis this is the reason many of us almost failed out of college amen playing Sega Genesis and Sonic the Hedgehog and we were back in college these were high tech back in our days in texting texting we didn't need to text we have pagers now if you're from the hood those call beepers and that's the way we communicate it and there's certain mark beeper codes and language for one one men I need some information 911 I was in trouble and if you page zero seven seven three four and turn the page upside down they would say hello y'all there's one of these payphones downstairs to base from the church and I kid you not my son walked by and asked me what was that he had no clue because half of you all have never stopped put a quarter and a payphone to return the page that you got but that was that that was good back in the day I remember the very first cell phone was that that we had right there there was no touchscreen there was no facial recognition there are no apps you couldn't put it in your purse or your wallet but you carried it around and we were real creative when cell phones first came out we didn't need bluetooth because we were creative we knew how to make things happen yeah yeah I say all that to tell you that a few things one I realized I'm getting old because these are things I was raised to him and two to just share it to you how very different the world was just some 30 years ago even some 20 years ago there are things that exist today that weren't even thought of in people's minds the world is totally different I mean Generation X more so than Millennials we witnessed the world changed dramatically in the last twenty to thirty years where as many of you all were born into things that still exist for us we watched them came into becoming a being I graduated college in 1994 and I kid you not there was no internet in 1994 we barely had email we had collegiate email where you could mail other students and professors but you couldn't email anyone around the world and our very first I remember when Netscape came out and a AOL in 1994 y'all know about AOL no no no you you are you all have high-speed Internet I remember hearing the dial tone in the back as it dialed a number and your long-distance phone bill went up because you were connected to AOL it was an entirely different world and we have witnessed over the last 20 years the rise of social media in all of its platforms almost to the point where a new platform has developed every six months that goes worldwide we've witnessed the coming of myspace if you remember that yeah yeah I remember BlackPlanet that was the early ratchet years of our lifestyle the Foursquare Facebook Pinterest and periscope YouTube LinkedIn Twitter and then subsequently black Twitter snapchat and tinder and of course Instagram and one of the ways I know I'm getting older and some of the Generation X can say man here because there are new platforms coming out that I don't care to learn anything about their new forms of social media that are being created and I could care less I got off of Facebook because was getting on my nerves I've shut down Twitter and now I'm simply on Instagram and I can't wait to get off of that whereas for the Millennials you are continuing to ascribe to as a matter of fact the average millennial excuse me up no but the average millennial has seven social media accounts across all those platforms the average millennial has seven accounts now this is kaya how many folk honestly count emotes in the Instagram Twitter snapchat Facebook how many y'all got at least seven at least seven young folk getting church and start lying well one of the things that is known is that 88% 88 percent of Millennials engaged in some form of social media every day would that be to check this account post to tweet to get on snapchat 88 percent of used social media every day as I said the average millennial according to sociology has more than seven accounts and what is interesting is that 88 percent of Millennials use social media every day but less than 50 percent voted in the presidential elections I want you to think about that for just a moment how we land where we've landed and why we have what we have that that generation is more connected to social media daily than they are to the outcome of the nation and I pray that come 2020 with our elections you all helped turn these numbers around no one could have seen or predicted what social media was going to become how fast it would become that and how much it would grow and take over the world as a matter of fact one of the most common subjects in contemporary research in the Academy is understanding the sociological the impact an effect of social media around the world it is if you look at the dissertations that are being produced in sociology and American civilization the top numbers are always around the impact of social media I think one of the things the church drastically underestimated was what it would mean to live in a social media connected world and yet think that we were still isolated in our church circles think about this for a moment the President of the United States no matter how you feel about him Twitter is his primary form of communication more than presidential addresses more than interviews before media because it allows a one-sided communication pattern without questions coming back that he's ill-prepared to answer and his base absorbs daily what he throws out one way and believes it Twitter is the primary form of communication for the most powerful man in the world that says something about social media as you probably know social media has a worldwide dominant presence Twitter there are 321 million people on Twitter 1 billion on Instagram and 2.7 billion people on Facebook 5 billion videos are watched daily on YouTube 5 billion a day are watched on YouTube there's a sociologist by the name of hans king who said that the world is imploding on itself if you know that term explode means to burst out implode means to be kind of drawn in and what he argued is that the all's that used to separate us with nationality and ethnicity and culture and religion are all being torn down and now what happens in China is known in America the minute it happens in China that no longer are there these huge divides between people but we know what's happening immediately because the world is being drawn closer to itself so there used to be an old question was asked what does that have to do with the price of tea in China the answer now is everything you know that what happens on your job does affect the price of tea in China the world is imploding on itself and as a result Hans Kuhn argued and this is probably back in the late 80s that the next tensions in the world would be religious not national and ethnic because the world implodes and the most the most tense place of friction are among religions and so he argued that as Islam came into contact close to contact with Christianity and Christianity came to closer contact with Judaism Judaism in the closer contact with all the other world religions that we would see more religious tension in the world than even we wouldn't nationality and you're saying that that's tending to be true that most of the tensions in the world are not based upon your nationality they're based upon your religion the world is imploding on itself one thing we know for certain as a result social media there are no secrets in the world everyone is a journalist and every phone is a camera news spreads faster in a social media age then the news media can keep up with journalists and those who are on air know by the time they give seven o'clock news you already know about it right that social media has a way of making everyone a reporter everyone can report what's happening so we're speaking about this in the pastoral conference when you're speaking about some of the demise of some of the large religious figures in our world and how of late they start two down and people knowing about their indiscretions or their immoral decisions etc etc and what I said to them I said listen so let me example and this does not mean to demean anyone we're speaking about the any long situation that happened Luallen I was in conversation over pastor Bryant at our Conclave meeting and we were talking about the impact of what happened with Eddy long and what I said was you know unfortunately and shamefully that type of behavior is always existed in church it was just kept quiet and there was no social media to blast it right that they were that unfortunately we've dealt with pedophilia before and effectively we dealt with sexual immorality time and time again there was just no network among people that advertised it I had full of Deacons knew about it and they kept it quiet nowadays people find out about it they're tweeting it it's out and you know this once it's out its out right so what's the biggest thing we're trying to teach young people just like my son's age as they get ready to apply to their colleges and stuff listen be careful of what you tweet what you post which productive Zita if you pull it down you never pull it down alright it's always out there everyone is a reporter and Twitter has become the greatest news outlet in the world now even more from CNN even more than MSNBC even more than Fox News if you want to find out what's going on you go to Twitter long before you turn on the television right no one's in front of TV but your phone is always accessible to you and because social media is accessible on the phone we are really wired in and connected to all that's happening so it's got a real prominent presence in the world none of us live outside of the domain of social media my mother is turning 90 and she asked me to help her understand Instagram I was like absolutely not I'm not gonna do that to you or to me you have you have no need she's because you know my niece reached out you know and said Oh your grandma I posted something on Instagram I want you to see the pictures because she couldn't send the pictures to my mom's cell phone cuz she got a flip phone so she can't really see pictures so my niece said go out to Instagram so now my momma on me every day about getting an Instagram account no we no no no you were 90 years old you do not need an Instagram account his reality social media but most things the world is a tool right and tools can be used for good or for bad to build up with the destroy a hammer can be a very productive tool in the right hand with the right intention or a hammer can be a destructive weapon in the wrong hands with the wrong intention the same thing can be argued about social media intention and whose hand it's in and their purpose for using it and one of the things I'm gonna ask you tonight is considered a question you probably have not what is your purpose in social media why are you on this platform and what are you seeking to achieve what is your intention what is your goal I think many of us will new platforms come out we just want to get on it we want to see what's happening but do you have a greater purpose why are you on and why are you using there are some challenges to social media I think we need to embrace as we get into what I believe the Lord pushes upon us to consider so a few the challenges of social media and again I'm no expert in this I've seen social media volve I've seen some of the destructive ways it's affected families and relationships and marriages I've experienced you know that it goes down in a DM that's a bad place to be bad place to be so I didn't know what the term slide into the DMM but I finally I finally finally figured it out mark I finally figured out what it means for somebody slicing your d m8 man alright I'm will talk after after church 7/8 I've chosen few challenges of social media that I think the the child of God the Christian ought to be aware of number ones that we know that social media primarily espouses and expounds negativity the positive platforms have smaller followings social media is at its best and viral when it's negative news when it's something ratchet when it's something that doesn't really glorify God if you think about what goes viral I would argue with you that 88% of what goes viral never brings any glory to the kingdom of God at least 88% little memes God's got it don't worry about it yeah you know but let somebody put some ratchet stuff out you know Floyd Mayweather vs. 50 cent his stuff is going you know viral overnight because it's mainly a platform for negativity and we've got to be careful about that as we put our presence in it there's a child of God you are entering a negative atmosphere and the question I ask you is what is the responsibility of a child of God in the midst of darkness if if social media is primarily negativity and we agreed to that it was a room what is responsibility of a child of God in the midst of a negative dark environment I remind you of what Matthew 5:16 says let our light shine so that men and women may see our good works and glorify your father which is in heaven so an ask you a question is your light shining through your presence on social media we'll come back to that another real challenge of social media that that thing most of us experience is that it caters to anonymous immaturity right that there are people who get to do things on social media that you would never do face-to-face with me right I think what what's the biggest issue on Facebook where young people bullying all right and you and I both know anybody can be a gangster on the other side of the keyboard anybody can be hard on the other side of a phone right I was raised in the era say it to my face all right right you guess I'm just saying something face 10 we you know we we do this and that's about as hard as you get cuz you know shoot if we swing is really going down but you know at least I'm uh I'm wack man what's up what's up you know but there's think about think about how many people their immaturity is fueled by what they get to do on social media give an example trolling right so you watch what someone posts then watch our responses who's got time to read every comment this that's a comment from someone else's when us posted and now I gotta give an account for who gave a comment I don't know that was it's just that kind of immature behavior following and making threats over social media all these fights that want to break out you ain't bout to do nothing but there's an immaturity that is fueled and fostered by the ability to remain anonymous and I think social media caters to that in a way that we've got to be careful social media validates illegitimate sources and unverified information now you should know by now you can't believe everything you see on the internet but there are a whole lot of people who make comments that really wouldn't gain any kind of traction if they weren't on social media my dad had a saying he said always judge what you hear by who we came from and the reality is that on social media you don't get to know who it came from I mean you may know a name but you don't know if this person is valid if they're credible if they got a real issue or not and a lot of information gets out there is just unverified but it comes out as truth and it's one of those negatives challenges of social media number four social media creates an unhealthy fascination with celebrity culture and status if if celebrity is being well-known among a crowd it's amazing to me how many people with no talent in any way shape or form reach celebrity status through really wretchedness on social media let me give an example every member of the cast of Love & Hip Hop every single member of the cast of Love & Hip Hop has no talent all right not to the hwacha show you know I'm just saying and people gain traction and followings and all of a sudden become Instagram models and are paid to advertise things on their pages and 30 years ago this you you you didn't reach the status round some type of talent something that merited that type of exposure of people and now the more ratchet you are right the more the more ladies sometimes the more you expose yourself in your body on Instagram the more followers you get you know male followers so I speaking with someone to date who is in the marketing business and they're trying to market a feminine beauty product and they want it one of the Instagram models who's got a million-plus followers but the problem is all those followers are men right so they don't want to use the model cuz she's going to advertise something her followers ain't gonna buy but she's got million male followers because every post she puts on Instagram is something that's revealing you know something that caters to what the eye sees caters to that lust in the spirit it's almost like soft porn to a certain degree if we can be honest and this this false celebrity is a problem that I think social media brings and with it not only a fascination but a pursuit to social media validation when you post you wanna know how many likes you get when you tweet how many retweets did you get how many followers how many friends am i verified I didn't know that was a huge thing and if I wants to be verified on Instagram as if that somehow validates who you are and what you are then now it's not the quality of who I am and what I bring in what I produce but do I have that blue checkmark next to my name and that's what people search after one thing I didn't put up here and the Lord reminded me of is that Instagram also caters to a real destructive sense of comparison that that I'm always comparing my numbers to someone else's numbers I'm comparing and and we're all guilty I'm not gonna ask you wave your hand but there probably some moments when there's something you didn't like and to make certain that you feel valid you looked at their numbers your numbers are higher and you that's right that's what they get that's what they get and they create it creates an unstable in an authentic sense of identity beauty and security Who I am is now vested in the hands of this crowd of people that I don't even know who have followed or what what young women see is beautiful is now identified by what they see on the ground and what's coming out and even this sense of security that I have to have certain numbers or have certain followers and certain likes in order to affirm who I really am and it becomes really destructive in younger people who rest their identity in this crowd in these numbers of people you probably be will never know but now you've given them the authority to determine how you feel about yourself and what you sense you know we've we've all been there and when I you know first got on Instagram I'd be upset if I didn't get a light likes on this picture and posed what was wrong with it and you know sat down with the communications team in Alpha Street you all got to do better Shmuel got 300,000 followers I only get you know a couple couple thousand and he said well Jamal has done some things too you know helps get to get more followers okay I get it so inside joke all right you know but does that does that make me valid so one of the things as I was praying about tonight given these realities I was immediately drawn to what we read earlier in John chapter 6 okay stay with me for a moment Jesus arguably is at the height of his ministry other than raising Lazarus from the dead there are two things that live Jesus high in the eyes of the people of Galilee one is raising Lazarus from the dead right John 12 says that the raising of Lazarus from the dead was so powerful and so many people followed him that that's when the Pharisee said we got to kill him right it was the popularity of the crowd after the raising of Lazarus the only other miracle that comes close to that type of popularity for Jesus is feeding 5,000 think about it it's 5,000 men not counting women and children so arguably they're more than 12,000 people who witnessed this man feeding us with little fish and a little bread Jesus is at his height of popularity and the Bible says in John 6 that when the crowd after they had eaten saw the sign Jesus had performed they tried to rush him and make him a king this is it we are following him his numbers are high he's got to be a king and the Bible says that when Jesus saw a crowd coming after him to make him a king he escaped he left a mass of people who wanted to elevate him and withdraws why does Jesus avoid the approval an affirmation of the crowd why does Jesus model for us that sometimes numbers are deceptive why does Jesus model that sometimes you've got to get away from seeking affirmation and approval from a large crowd of people why does Jesus in contemporary language suggest to us that your father words really don't matter your likes really don't matter your retweets really don't matter your friends on Facebook really don't matter why get away from all those numbers could it be number one crowds cannot and do not confirm purpose that a large following doesn't mean you're actively living in the purpose which are created here's the problem the crowd wants to make Jesus a king Jesus did not come to be a king he came to be a savior and if he allowed the crowd to determine his purpose he would have tried to be something god never created him to be crowds numbers followers friends tend to push you into things that they don't have discernment of whether it was God's purpose for you or not and you've got to be careful of sinking approval of crowd thinking that the more claps the more likes the more retweets the more you must be moving where God wants you to be the crowd can absolutely deceive you into thinking that you're all right you're anointed you're you're doing well this will God has you this is my purpose this is my goal this is who I've been called to be not at all crowds can't confirm purpose I suggest you secondly that Jesus leaves because crowds are fickle and unreliable I don't know who they're telling this to but you can't count on your Facebook friends you can't count on followers very fickle turn on you in a minute and if anybody knew this it was Jesus see how many church folk I got there there's a there's a a Sunday that Jesus is coming into Jerusalem I mean when he comes into Jerusalem a huge crowd is gathered because they've heard about Lazarus they've heard about the 5,000 now he's in the capital city and the crowd gathers and they are shouting his name poogie Hosanna Hosanna that was Sunday Friday morning outside of pilots window you hear another crowd gathered together some of the same Joker's who were there on Sunday oh Jesus Hosanna and now they're Holland kill that brother crucify him crowds are fickle crowd unreliable numbers on social media can be very unreliable they don't affirm who you really are they don't acknowledge what God has created you to be they don't point you in the right direction so as a Christian as a young Christian I don't encourage you to be to have a few questions in mind as you engage social media I'm not saying so she means it hair Lea bad remember it's a tool purpose and intent there's certain things I want you to be purposeful of and mindful of as you continue to engage those for me I'm not calling for this vast Christian exodus offer Instagram though I don't think you have any business on tinder that's a whole nother subject and I called for some mass exodus off Facebook that there can be something positive but we gotta remember it's mainly negative so what do we need to do this is Christian I want encourage you do a few things ask this question has social media become an idol in your life what does an idol remember one of the very first commandment God gives the children of Israel when you come out of bondages you'll have no other God before me don't put anything before me and that is part of our walk with the Lord what defines us is that I've made a covenant commitment that nothing is more important to me to God no crowd no people no accolades nothing is more important to me to God and I'll suggest you that something is slightly off with your Christianity if you're comfortable with anything or anyone having a higher priority or precedence in your life than your relationship with God if you are willing to sacrifice your peace with God for anything else or anyone else something is slightly off in your walk with God if you're willing to tell God no so you can tell her yes something is off with your walk with God that God God is either Lord of all he's not Lord at all and I mean the first time nothing god don't know any position other than first place right no position so if when you wake up in the morning before you even bow and thank God for another day you know where I'm going and the first thing you do is grab your phone to check social media you have an idolatry problem think about how much time you spend on social media platforms versus how much time you spend in prayer I'm give you a minute doing anything about that how many times do we check social media versus how many times we actually read our Bibles again I'm not saying social media is bad but I'm saying you can become an idol if friends and likes and followers is more important than hearing gods say well done then you've got an idol problem the Apostle Paul put it like this in Galatians chapter 1 verse 10 Lord I know I'm getting old oh no all right am I now trying to win the approval of people or God am I simply trying to please people if I was still trying to please people I would not could not be a servant of Jesus Christ that is getting those numbers up means that much to me there's no way I can be a servant of Jesus Christ I want you to read Matthew 6 when you get home that whole passage you cannot serve two masters when you read it correctly here's what Jesus says what you see determines what's in your heart right so what you're looking at really determines what's in your heart and what's in your heart determines who you're gonna serve and you cannot serve God and money really it doesn't even have to be money you cannot serve God and another thing cuz God draws a line in the sand and either you're on God's side or you're not and if anything is more pressing to you than pleasing God you've got an idolatry problem so I'm not saying get off Instagram I'm saying pray before you get on it in the mornings right nothing wrong with checking who like your posts are retweeted it but but how about really little scripture before you get there can we put God first for those that know the Bible Matthew 6 again verse 33 if you put God first everything else will be given unto you if you put God first everything else lines up now generations II you don't know nothing about that millennial you find it out but on behalf of Generation X who been there and done that allow us to testify that when you get God at the top everything else just kind of falls into place has social media become an idol second question I want you to ask or be mindful of your Christian witness on social media our witness is something we really don't talk about a lot about the fact that we are called to be a witness of Jesus Christ now see here's the problem because in church you've always been told that evangelism being a witness you either associated with going out on Saturday handing out tracts knocking on doors or getting into theological debates where you can prove to people that Jesus Christ is Lord and none of that is what we were called to be we're called to bear witness which means that when people look at us our lives are to testify to the presence of Jesus Christ you don't have to understand the Odyssey you don't even have to know the distillation in Genesis but your life and how you live conduct character conversation all to bear witness to Christ's presence in your life you know what Paul said it's one of my favorite scriptures he says I have the right to do anything you say but not everything is beneficial this is the whole some things are lawful they're not expedient and what Paul really means is as a Christian there's a lot I can do but everything I do is not beneficial because some things I do as a Christian that I have the right to do they harm my witness something give an example you know I've said this and we're gonna have a Kyah on it coming up about the appropriate and inappropriate use of alcohol you know I'm not that that old school you know if you drink you're going to hell I don't believe in that I'm an oenophile you looked at up and get home means I love quality wines I love good wines amen [Applause] opus one is God's will for my life I'm going to tell you but you know I also know that I bear witness as a pastor so in example I I do a lot of weddings and inevitably with every wedding I do there's always a question asked pastor are you staying for the reception no don't be offended I'm not saying for the reception why am I not staying for the reception right right why am I not stay for the reception ok the thing about number one because I can't drink in front of you right I could because I'm not going to hell if I do but I understand that you may have a cousin at that wedding who saw me standing up here marrying y'all and then sees me with a glass of wine and they gonna start questioning the authenticity of the ministry now and I could say would have helped him you know I don't think you did it up no or I could take my witness seriously you realize that that I'm held accountable for that another reason I don't stay is Canali cuz I not drink in front of you you're not comfortable drinking in front of me you know it's so funny me whenever I come I people you put the glass down and what you have is that we ought to take our witness seriously that I want people if anybody thinks they know you and one of the very first things they don't know about you is a your Christian I want you to remember what Jesus says in mark 838 if anyone is ashamed of me in this sinful generation when I come back I'll be ashamed of them if you live your life like you're ashamed to be a Christian that's that's dangerous so one of the things I want to ask you make sure I get the right slide of if Jesus was following you on social media would he know you were following him in life tweet that tweet that tweet that somebody took fish would be on the side put posted see how many likes I get on that one right if Jesus was one of your followers on social media with Jesus no you were following him in real life for something the answer be absolutely not cuz there's nothing on your social media that bears witness to Jesus Christ nothing even gives a hint and the closest thing you get is your outfit that you going to brunch and after church [Music] some of us that may be confusing like Jesus may be confused like I don't know sometimes yes I'm like it the Bible says a double minded person is unstable sometimes I just and there's nothing in the Bible says you know that the same mouth that praises shouldn't curse right like there's just something about being bilingual bipolar double that confuses folk and I find it hard with these religious means but then you post provocative pictures now I really came to ask this because I had a deep debate with a member over this and not precisely but again especially to the sisters because I I don't think I think dudes posting on her selfies another issue so and you have to answer this question for you what is your intent on posting the selfie you just posted what is the intent it's and and the member I had debate with the the problem hat was that the posts were always provocative and revealing you know she goes braless on everything and is that that not at parties you know turn up turn up and like but but but you leave one of our children's and ministry's right that's why I had the conversation right you you leave one of our children's ministries and I'm not here to judge but I'm telling you that's not a good witness that's an immaturity but so what is the purpose in this she can never answer why would you intentionally as a ministry leader also post a picture of you two shirt on almost revealing all of your breasts I just don't get it if you tell me why maybe it'll make sense well you know what it doesn't have to make sense to me but here's what I do believe here McClean I'm almost done here how much of our life are we gonna have to give an account for the social media account in it in my judgment what happens that the Lord brings out my Instagram page and I can't give an account what [Applause] I what do you say when the Lord goes explaining this you know how Lord I was trying to pray over you know again if Jesus is following you on social media is there anything that lets him know you're following him that's just our witness and some people struggle with Christianity not because what we teach and believe but because how you and I live and we're held accountable for that and I'm not telling you have to be perfect none of us are but effort counts is your purpose for using social media misaligned with God's purpose for your life that's the question I asked the member I was speaking to so you have to explain that that selfie but does that Miss aligned with your purpose are you one that tries to balance and say well you know I can get away with this because I'm also in children's ministry that that's not how God works the Sydnor you know I'd do this much sin I read this much Bible um you know I'm right in the middle it's getting quiet I don't encourage you to dare to be different if being a Christian means anything it means that sometimes we're just absolutely different the challenge of social media is that it wants to push us to blend in with the world and we are not of the world God has called us out of that to be absolutely different something about you ought to be strange the Bible says that we are chosen people a royal priesthood a holy nation God's special possession that we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light people supposed to look at you strange your presence ought to make some people uncomfortable if people blatantly send in front of you and don't care because they know you like I'm supposed to make you uncomfortable I'm supposed to make you three think my life is supposed to be unique and different that we're not meant to chameleon in you know I've preached about it you know what the chameleon is in life this this animal that has the ability to blend in to whatever environment it's around something green turns green around something Brown turns brown around something gray it turns gray and biologists will tell you it's a defense mechanism it's survival technique that because the chameleon doesn't have any fangs or claws or predatory behavior that the way it survives is just blending in so when it gets around something over here it's got to blend in over here and if it gets around something over here it tries to blend in over here because it thinks it's saving itself biochemically every time a chameleon changes his color it takes three days off of its life so every time it gets in a new environment says oh let me blend in so I can live you're killing yourself every time you try to fit in blend and be popular on social media how much of your Christianity are you killing right that we are called to be different and that's what I dare you to be different not telling you get off social me I'm not tell you get off Instagram but dare to be different favorite passage Romans 12:2 do not be conformed to this world do not be conformed to this world be transformed by the renewing of your mind in my prayer tonight is that a mind has been renewed that someone may be challenged to go out and use your social media platform differently no longer just posting selfies of you and the girls drinking and turning up in toastin and you and the fellas out doing ratchetness but do you dare to use your platform in a way that less people know oh she wanted them oh he's a Christian because the minute you come out the closet as a Christian people hold you accountable for it the times I wish I could hide Reverend doctor past her alpha Street Baptist Church at sin on my mind and I just want you know but I can't everywhere I go ain't you two passing our I get that all the time you're like that adds I just look like in my own over a come out come out come out from among young clean come out from around the world and let your light shine don't be conformed to this world but be renewed a transforming of your mind pray with me God our world has gifted us a tool called social media and in many hands and in many hearts it's a negative tool that is used to destroy and brings no glory to your name or your saving love on the cross of Christ but you've called us out of darkness to bear witness to that not only when we sit in sanctuaries but when we're posting when we're tweeting whenever we're on social media God remind us that we are a unique people and that if my page bears no witness of you I'm living like I'm ashamed of you you said in mark 8 that that means you'll be ashamed of me and God I don't want that on the last day I don't want any brother or sister in this place to have you come and say I don't know you I want you to say well done so lord help us to use this tool in a way that bears witness to the light of Christ in our lives that all those who come to our page and see our posts and read our tweets would say there's something strange about that that she or he is talking about the love of Jesus Christ openly and my pictures bear witness of my love of you and the love you have of me this is our prayer and we ask it in Jesus name Amen before we close I went to UM the doctor yesterday I had my physical exam and I was grateful to God that you know you do the blood work and all the numbers were fine and she says well you know you've got some risks and some things that are pointing in the wrong direction your a1c is slightly elevated your cholesterol is higher than I'd like it to be your blood pressure is slightly elevated so that none of you requires medication now sit but the way you're living now you're gonna have a problem twenty years from now this what she said to me and my job is to stop it now I'm not saying anyone here is dead wrong on anything but the direction you're pointing in is gonna be a problem down the road and my job tonight is to stop it right now to tell you that there is there is a higher calling on your life and more that God has in store for you and you can stop it right now all you got to do is say yes to Jesus and go all in all you have to do is wake up every morning and say Lord what do you want me to do I'm all-in [Music] maybe just maybe kayo will produce a generation of Christians that are not halfway this not straddling the fence but young adults on this DMV who are all the way in for Jesus and realize that doesn't mean that I can't enjoy life that doesn't mean I can't have friends that doesn't mean I just lay it out to all turn fast and pray every day of my life but I can be all in and enjoy my best life now and 20 years from now so after this worship service after I give the benediction there's some deacons here some ministers they're gonna be right down here at the front and if you desire to stop the direction you're going in right now to give your life to the Lord to be all the way in it to be their joy to share with you how that journey begins so if we will stand all over this place I'm going to bless us out and if you're here and you're ready to join in with us come on down afterwards it'll be our pleasure to share with you how much God loves you Laura thank you for being with us tonight and allowing us to be with you thank you for my neighbor on my Pew in front and behind Lord I'm praying over them right now the names I met earlier I'm praying for you to have a good night of sleep I mean rest in the peace of God that surpasses all understanding I'm talking about your mouth wide open snoring drool coming out the side of your lip kind of sleep because you know that God's got it and I pray that you wake up tomorrow filled with the joy of the Lord and may the joy of the Lord be your strength and may somebody tomorrow by the way you live and the way you post no you're a child of God in Jesus name we pray amen amen going the grace of God may the Great Scott go with you we'll see you next month

Channel: Alfred Street Baptist Church

Views: 41,958

Rating: 4.806818 out of 5

Keywords: Alfred Street Baptist Church, 2019, CAYA, Real, Likes, Fake, Love, @pastorhjw, #asbc, #thestreet, #pastorhjw, slide, in the, DMs, Direct, Message, comments, culture, social, single, marvel, comic, football, men, women

Id: HSg0Vexc0B0

Length: 61min 14sec (3674 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 05 2019