Latest / Student Ministry Conversations / 265 | Digital Faith: Following Jesus in an Online World | SMC Podcast
Transcript
- speaker-0: Hey and welcome back to the podcast. We are in week five of July. ⁓ and we are continuing our digital faith series. ⁓ and we've been talking all month over this idea of the digital presence or how to have your faith in a digital world, and that's pretty much what we're gonna end with on the ⁓ theme for this month, with our last episode being following Jesus in an online world. and the thing is is It it kind of goes back to the conversation of ⁓ compartmentalized faith. ⁓ and if you genuinely want a faith that ex exists in all areas of your life, then you will have to have a faith that is present and available during your time ⁓ digitally. ⁓ and that for most of us is at least five hours a day now. which is wild. ⁓ there are some that do less, but a lot of people spend a lot of time on their phones or on ⁓ different platforms that allow them to be online and digital with other people. And so as student ministry leaders though, we've worked hard ⁓ to help students build faith in real life. We create worship environments. We create small groups. We talk about identity. We talk about our purpose. Me and David literally just got back from church camp ⁓ this past week where that's pretty much what that those three things encompass our last week. I d I mean to a T because we We created worship environments, we had small groups, and we our theme for the week of church camp for middle school was identity. ⁓ and so but there's a tension there that we can't ignore. ⁓ for students, ⁓ many of them, their faith lives in one space, ⁓ and their digital lives live in another. And so they kind of have this compartmentalized faith understanding, ⁓ where they worship on Wednesdays, they worship on Sundays. And then they scroll content that completely shapes them in a different way or a different mindset by the time they come back. ⁓ and so it's not because they're hypocritical, it's because no one has shown them how to integrate their faith into a space like that. And so ⁓ our students know how to act like Christians at church, but they've never been discipled on how to be one online. And so with that, that's the gap. That's the question that we kinda have to do and I that question becomes, you know, what does it actually look like for students to follow Jesus in a digital world? ⁓ And I I I guess the reality to that is this mindset that students don't necessarily need a different faith for online. They need a faith that translates into every space that they're already in. And so we've kind of already had this situation and we've already ha kind of had this wrestle as youth pastors over the last couple decades with this different mindset of like, you know, ⁓ getting involved in video games and then getting involved in travel sports and getting involved in all these different things. And it's not necessarily that you need a different faith for those, but it's how can you take your faith and use it in what you're already a part of. And I I don't know about you, David. That was a huge huge thing for travel sports. People kind of demonized travel sports and they're like, Well they're just stealing people away from the church and all this stuff. And it's like, no, like, but the the youth pastors and the pastors and the parents that understood the assignment wa were the ones that were like, Hey, here's your faith, now go take it missionally. And I I think that was something that really, really, ⁓ kind of revolutionized this idea of travel sports, is now they have Sunday morning services at mo a lot of the travel tournaments, ⁓ and stuff like that, which is super, super cool. But like none of that would have happened if our whole like mentality was just to demonize it and blame them for leaving the church. And so I I I don't know, man, like they what are your thoughts on the whole n faith that translates into what they are already in? I think it's a huge conversation. I think it's a huge topic that has to be addressed. And I I just feel like we as parents or youth pastors or pastors we're quick to demonize the new thing. and I I feel like we're missing the point. speaker-1: Yeah. Well, I mean it it goes with anything. We we demonize anything that we don't understand. and more times than not we're so we're so quick to demonize it because we don't want to take the time to understand it. ⁓ our students are there regardless of how we feel about it. ⁓ it's you know, and it it's funny how we we go, Well, you know, if we just if we put regulations or if we do this or we do that, but have we not learned anything from pro I mean like it's literally woven into the fabric of history. Someone gets mad because something is done. Yeah. And then they ban it and the whole world rises up against it because there's something deep in our flesh that goes, you said I can't watch me. Watch me do that thing that you said that I can't do. So maybe instead of villainizing and demonizing, why don't we come alongside our students and say, Hey, instead of looking at as as something that detracts us away, we look at it as an opportunity Yeah. To meet them where they are. It's all comes down to a framework. And in in all things. We don't have to love it. Now I'm not I that said, there are boundaries. ⁓ for me, ⁓ I've said this for as long as I could. I still think that Snapchat and some of these apps that are ⁓ inherently disappearing I think are dangerous. ⁓ especially when we talk about boundaries between adults and students. ⁓ for me, I don't even touch it. I haven't had a Snapchat since I had an incident in ⁓ in Canyon years and years ago. now it wasn't anything I did, but it was a a student had meant to share a intimate photo with a boyfriend and accidentally sent it to everyone in her timeline, if that's the right language. I I open up a a message and I see something I did not want to see. and what I did was I immediately turned my phone over and I walked straight to the pastor's office, said c please come here. And then I set my phone down on the desk. And I got every single member of our staff and we all came together and I just said, Hey, brace yourself. This is not good, but you need to know what I'm talking about here. And I just said, This happened and delete the app. And I literally deleted the app. Ended up finding out later, ⁓ our secretary who was a mom of her her daughter was like really good friends with this girl anyway. She got one too. And that's when I realized it wasn't just sent to me. I just freaked out and thought, ⁓ God, ⁓ God, ⁓ God, ⁓ God, this is this is like Danger Will Robinson, the world is on fire. And I freaked out. And I was like, I don't want anything to do with this. And I've been terrified to touch the app since and I have not. ⁓ that was god 14 years ago maybe. Yeah. ⁓ it was like when Snapchat was new. And I realized again, there's other apps It could happen just as easily on Facebook and other things. I know that there's disappearing, but you can also turn those settings off. And and for all I know, Snapchat has gotten to a place where they I don't know. I it's just speaker-0: Well they definitely ran into a lot of legal trouble. ⁓ speaker-1: Sure, I believe that. And and I know TikTok and a lot of these places have those. All I know is that there are certain apps that have really good parental controls. Yeah. And there's certain apps that don't. And I just think if it doesn't have it, I don't want it. And so even then though, like it's just being careful and being in a place where other people can see and know. Like like if I'm s like for example, if I send a message to a student, I typically will send a screenshot to the parent too. ⁓ depending on what it is. I mean if it's it's if it's just like letting them know about youth stuff, well, I just send that to everybody all at once. But you know, if there's something where, you know, whatever it was, ⁓ or a student reaches out and they're they're dealing with something, I'll let it let the parent know and say, Hey, you know, just letting you know we're having a conversation. ⁓ if if there's some details or whatever that I need to I need to ask you about, I'll let you know. But just just so you know we're having this conversation or whatever. And it's just living above reproach. I mean that's essentially what it comes down to. But all that out of the way, ⁓ I think meeting students where they are is absolutely core to everything that we do. And so it's like how do we how do we do that in a way ⁓ so we can we can demonize it and avoid it and allow them to be taught by voices that can harm them or we can we can like I said meet them right where they are and and see how we can help with that. And so the discipleship can go into a situation where we we talk about, hey, like I the the immediate thing I think about all the time is that social media is a platform for keyboard warriors ⁓ and a hot b hot topic conversations that a lot of people are giving opinions on without ever researching or studying. I think that's a great place to start where we can say you're hearing these hot topic subjects being brought up and people have very, very strong opinions and you're basically being goaded into not only clickbait, brain rot and all that stuff, but you're also being goaded into if you don't if you don't say something on the subject, then you're hurting the cause. Yeah. I think that's a great place to start and say, hey, you don't always have to have an opinion about everything without researching it. ⁓ and even then be slow to speak, quick to listen. And there's there's a you know what I mean? That gives us a really good, I think, foundation for how to manage social media with your students. Yeah Slow to speak, quick to listen. And ⁓ speaker-0: Well and I I think that's a huge dynamic. Like if we don't have that, like and it it's almost like, you know, the Bible transcends forms of communication. like this this thing was kind of predicted or something, I don't know. ⁓ hot take maybe. But ⁓ with that being said, like I think the thing is is like we have to understand that th the the faith doesn't change, the space does. speaker-1: Yeah, yeah. speaker-0: And so with that, like they that we have to understand that following Jesus isn't location based. It's not platform driven. You don't have to subscribe to a certain app to follow Jesus. Like it's not that thing. And so like we need to try we need to quit trying to compartmentalize it and make it fit that thing because like Jesus is in an unfitable r realm. Like you can't put Jesus in a box. We've talked about that for decades. ⁓ and so speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: It's identity driven. And so who you are is how you act. And so just this whole idea of like we have to teach students to understand that like your identity exists everywhere. You are you, regardless of where you are. And so I think the thing is though, is where it breaks down is like students offer often separate like church life, real life, online life. family life. Like there's there's three to four categories at all times with these teenagers. ⁓ and that's when faith kind of becomes compartmentalized, but a compartmentalized faith is not a faith. Like if if you only believe in God when you go to church, like as we are all aware, that's not faith. That's that's peer pressure. I mean, unfortunately, like but ⁓ so it loses your influence. speaker-1: Mm-hmm. speaker-0: And so like It's not rebellion, but it's a lack of discipline, if that makes sense. Or a lack of lack of discipline and a lack of discipleship. ⁓ and so we have to help students see that your faith isn't something that you turn on. Your faith is something you live from. And I genuinely think that's kind of this like ebb and flow that students get caught in is like. They're like, ⁓ well, I need to turn it on here. I need to turn it on here. I need to turn it on. It's like, no, it is on. You just have to live with it and live from it. So, I mean, what does digital faith look like though? Like, I mean, we obviously have had the conversation of social media, ⁓ and all this stuff, but like practicality wise, like what does digital faith actually look like for a student? ⁓ it's not perfect behavior. It's not posting everything perfect on social media for the world to see. It's not posting Bible verses every day, even though that can be good sometimes. I'm not saying like there's a ton of people online that are using that. I I met a guy a I think last year, ⁓ that like he's he's he's a dude in his like late sixties, early seventies, and he was just like, you know, I'm gonna get on this social media thing and I'm gonna I'm just gonna do what I know how to do. And so like he literally just got on a live. And he was like, hey, join me in prayer. If you have prayer requests, you can throw it in the chat. And I'm just gonna pray for things. And like this guy blew up overnight ⁓ and has like hundreds of thousands of followers now. ⁓ and it's all because he was like, I know how to pray. I know how to pray for people, and I'm kind of that father figure, grandfather figure. So I'm just gonna start praying for people online and like people want it. speaker-1: Yeah, a hundred percent. And and speaker-0: But he didn't compartmentalize faith, he used his faith digitally. speaker-1: Well and the funny thing is that we already teach students all the time the importance of using your passions and gifts to serve the local church. It translates in the same way to the digital world. Like if you have something that you're passionate about speaker-0: Yes. speaker-1: Go get in that lane and serve out of that. You know, like you know, I I talk about it a lot. I'm into art, I'm into coffee, I'm into nerd stuff and sports stuff. Like, ⁓ I'm a little eclectic on all the things that I love, but there's so many communities. Like, that's the whole thing. It's like, ⁓ yeah, there's the there's the sports community and there's the art community, and there's the nerd community, and then there's the music community, and and and people just want to know that something's real. Because let's be honest, if you live in a digital world that's all highlight reels and all these different things like that. And and as Brent said earlier is, you know, if we're if we're all kinds of different different places like we have our church life, our real life, our online life, our family life, and we're we're all these different things to different people. Then maybe that's the reason why these students feel like everything's fake. Because they're literally living in it. They're living in this situation where sometimes they're this way and sometimes they're a different way, and they don't necessarily know how to bring it all together. So it's just as simple as saying, hey, this person that you are at church, go be that in your school. The things that you love, go do that at home. The things that you know, like you come here and you're like, I hear from parents all the time, they're like, Man, you speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: Brack on our students that they do so great at ⁓ youth, but yet they come home and they're absolute turds. And I'm like, well, at the same time they're kids, they have to have somewhere that they can be and and they need to have that sort of freedom to just you know, not have to be on all the time. speaker-0: And it's it's the only place they feel safe to do it. speaker-1: And and that's what I I remind parents, it like if they're being that way, that means that they they feel ⁓ not only safe, but like a place where they can just let their hair down and just not have to be on for a moment. And sometimes that means when we're we're not intentionally being on, that's when we become kind of the worst because we're not trying to again, it's not a highlight reel at home. And so it was like you're getting you're getting them in a safe place where they can they can be but it also puts them in a vulnerable spot where if you're if you're discipling as a parent, if you're discipling at home, you have a really good captive audience. And they may not always show that because they're not on. But they're they're also not giving you bull crap either. And so you can just be real. And I guess that's really what it comes down to is all of us are trying to find what's real in life and what's fake and you know we're all trying to tow the line of what's you know I I sometimes I I laugh because there are people who are like refreshingly honest and sometimes like I'm like how can you be so I don't know so open and honest about everything and sometimes it goes too far like like ⁓ I did this thing and it was like yeah that's too much information. I really didn't need to know that. But then there's like a level of like the freedom And safeness that they feel to just be open and honest and vulnerable. And yet I feel like I have to be on literally all the time. Not necessarily as a highlight reel, but because I know I know the platform that God has given me and I have to live above reproach. And I say have to, I get to. ⁓ but I I feel that pressure all the time everywhere I go. I even at home. Like I feel like even at home if if if if home is my first ministry, I gotta be a certain way. And then I get to church and I gotta be a certain way. And in the community I gotta be A certain way because I'm representing both my family and the church. And so, like, some days I feel like I always have to be here. And sometimes I kind of want to be here, you know? And I if we feel that pressure, how much do they feel that pressure too? Because they're not just representing their family and their work. Their family for some of them, especially in the high school level, they're representing their family, their school, their job, their church, ⁓ their activities that they're doing. Some of these students are literally they have the pressure of the whole world all the while trying to decide where they're headed in the future, what school they're gonna go to, do they have enough scholarships? Do they the pressure that students have today Let's call it what it is. They have more on their plates than we ever did. And we're not that old. You know? And so we gotta remember that. And so helping them find balance in a couple of those things and I always go back to the cut metaphor, but you only have so much you can pour. And so I think we one thing that we can teach, And consistency across the board is include digital life in that sort of cup metaphor. If you don't know the metaphor very quickly, you have a cup, you get a pitcher of water, that's the source of God, you pour it into your cup, and then you have all the things that you do: church life, home life, work life, school life, all those things, and you just start pouring into all these things. All the things that you do, the things that you invest your time in. And at some point, your cup goes empty, and you're still you're in every Every other cup still needs water. And the only way for you to keep pouring into is you gotta go back to the source, grab the pitcher, and pour more water and keep going. And really we should be pouring from the overflow, but more times than not, we're pouring from an empty cup, and we're trying everything. And so I think maybe the reason why so many students are are burned out in life is because they're trying to do too many things with not enough water. And I think we could we probably should be doing a better job of including sort of the digital persona too because let's be honest, like what Brent said, if they're spending five plus hours a day and we're not even addressing five plus hours of their day, yeah. I mean, how much time do we have waking? speaker-0: Well and I think the other I think the other dynamic is that you can't pour what you haven't been filled with. So if you've never had it, you can't pour it. and so I think a lot of times like we especially like when we get into these conversations with students, like the students that are kind of s shallow and surface level that never really understand the depth of God, like or never even try, and they're just okay with going Wednesdays and Sundays, yeah, you're gonna run out. Sure. 'Cause you haven't tapped the well speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah. speaker-0: At all. and so, like, I I think digital faith, what it looks like for a student, is just the idea of like it has to be a consistent expression of who they are in Christ. And if they don't know who they are in Christ, they have not tapped that well yet. Yeah. And so how can you live in an overflow from something that you haven't even started using? speaker-1: Yeah. Mm-hmm. speaker-0: So I I think like the way that we do that is like we have to I mean well, I don't know. ⁓ how do how do we see that? I guess is a better way to p phrase that. And I think there's a few markers, and that's integrity across all spaces. And we all know those kids, the kids that don't change, they're the same everywhere, and it's like, Man, that's awesome. Or the thing that I love all the time is like when they're like you meet the pro or the celebrity and they're like, Wow, they really are a good person. Like you didn't believe that they were. ⁓ like that one always makes me laugh. ⁓ It's like they aren't just nice like on T V. Wow. It's like, no, you can typically tell the ones that are and aren't. ⁓ and so like the thing is is when they match who they are online matches who they are in person, they have the same values, the same character, the same identity. There's no split life. Which is super, super important. Another marker is awareness of their influence. They recognize speaker-1: I just wanna drive home point one. ⁓ people get mad at me a lot because I will I will undervalue an athlete or a singer based on their like their integrity in the sense of like who they are as a person. Like I don't care if you're the greatest player in the world, if you're an absolute jerk, I don't put you up there because just because you're good on the on the field or the court or the rink or whatever sport you're on or in. If you aren't a good person overall, or at least you don't have good fruits, then to me that knocks you down quite a bit because the best player in the world being a jerk, you're not doing anything for anyone off the court. And here's the thing, you can't play that sport forever. What are you gonna do when all of it gets taken away? What are you gonna do when you get an injury? And so to me, like, it absolutely matters. And so like somebody'll say, Hey, this person's the greatest of all time 'cause you know, everyone's use throwing out the goat word, ⁓ probably too much now. ⁓ But to me it's like It's more than just being good at something. I can be really, really good at underwater basket weaving, but if I can't do anything else, like who cares? Like, you know you know what I mean? So at the end of the day your character still matters, your values still matter, ⁓ and the identity isn't just the thing you do. Yeah. Like we talk about this all the time, but yet we completely ignore it when somebody's good at something. We're like, ⁓ it's okay, like it's okay that they cheat on their wife like eighteen times and have like all the it's okay. I'm like, no, it's not. It's not okay. And because you have this platform and you have all these people looking up to you, how much more? With more responsibility, with more wealth, which more more influence and stuff like that, it's great power, but it also is great responsibility. I mean Spider-Man taught us as kids and we were just ignoring it. Well I just meant the show slash comic slash movie slash wherever you speaker-0: No, Uncle Ben did. Say what you say what you want, David. Tony Romo is always gonna be the goat. speaker-1: He got in trouble last week. Anyway. ⁓ speaker-0: So I yeah, tongue in cheek of course. for the people that listen to this that might not know, David is a diehard Eagles fan, and so anytime I can throw a Cowboys reference in there, I love. I love speaker-1: Eagles, Eagles, Eagles, Eagles. speaker-0: So we don't we don't need to talk about the negative attributes of David Purit though. So like let's move on. speaker-1: Well let me just remind you, Isaiah forty thirty-one, look it up. Leagues of Eagles. That was when David got struck down for misloading the Bible. Attribute number two. speaker-0: ⁓ my gosh. Uh-huh. Remember that time David got struck by lightning on the podcast? Like speaker-1: He misquoted Isaiah forty thirty-one. God God meant it when he said anyway. speaker-0: So the second marker. second marker is the idea of like students have to be aware of their influence or they have to have awareness of their influence. They recognize that I might not have a huge platform, but I still have influence. And so they begin to think about what they post, they begin to think about what they comment on. speaker-1: Mm. speaker-0: And they also think about what they amplify. And so like amplifying at least in this mindset would be like sharing. Like you know, what are you going to promote? What are you not going to promote? How are you going to interact and react to things that go on? ⁓ and so like that that awareness of influence is huge. And if students have that, then all I mean, especially in the social media world, I've noticed if kids have it in the social media world, they typically have it everywhere. it speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: the the greatest awareness of influence in other areas typically falls short socially. but if they have it socially it's pretty much found in all aspects of their life. ⁓ which is kind of a good litmus test ⁓ it on that. And then finally like the other another marker is thoughtful engagement. ⁓ instead of reacting quickly, they pause, they think, they ask is this helpful Is this kind? Is this true? And the thing is is all these, even though we're talking about them as marks of students that have ⁓ this good idea of a a consistent expression of who they are in Christ, this this applies to us too as leaders. ⁓ and so like do you pause, do you think before you speak? Do you allow yourself to process things before you just gung ho and take off after things? ⁓ it's a huge deal. And I I feel like especially for like even us as youth pastors, it's like, you know, like I think a lot of times like we get into this mindset of like, ⁓ well, like I need I need a lesson for tonight. It's like, well that's you're not really doing much thoughtful engagement. now, if you want to be a couple weeks ahead And you want to have lessons ahead of time and you don't look at them again, but it's kind of in the back of your mind chewing, that's what I do. is so I'll f I'll be thinking about it even though I'm not writing them. and so but like is this helpful? Is this kind? Is this true? That thoughtful engagement of those questions is huge. And like, man, like once again, another marker of like a student that's worth their weight in gold. ⁓ when it becomes to these ideas, because a lot of times these are just missed out on. ⁓ and the last marker, and I think this one is a huge one too, and we talked about it a little bit already, is just this idea of quiet consistency. They don't have to be loud. And the matter of fact is digital faith really is often not loud. ⁓ but you see what they don't engage in. You see what they choose not to to post. You see how they consistently show up. Digital faith isn't about being louder online, it's about being aligned. And so when you are in the mindset of like being connected over being a source, like I I I think it's the whole mentality of like you you understand that you're not the main thing. So it it's a huge dynamic to understand. And I think that's one for students that's like, man, those four things, if you see the integrity across spaces, awareness of influence, thoughtful engagement, and quiet consistency, those things are absolute telltale signs of a student that is that understands what Jesus asks and follows it. And so the thing is though is how do we lead this as student ministry leaders? Because this doesn't happen automatically. The ones that do have it have been taught already. And so how do we teach the ones that don't have it? We have to teach a faith that applies everywhere. We have to exp be explicit in our direction and our like teaching of this too. Like we have to we can't beat around the bush. Like we have to be direct. We have to be s explicit in how we say, and we have to say it clearly. Your faith applies to your phone. How you interact online matters spiritually. You can't just assume that they connect those dots because they don't. speaker-1: Yeah, I mean, I literally think about it like, you know, it's easy for us to think that we're you know, I have to be careful what I say in this situation because I am a witness and I'm representing God. But that's just the same with social media. And the funny thing too is that students especially, you know, the younger we are, the less we understand that who we are online, matters well into the future. If I'm posting a bunch of party stuff on my my Facebook or Instagram or whatever it might be, like on in social media, like if I'm posting all these things, your future employers can and probably will check your social media to see who you've been over the last few years. And and the thing is like I have seen so many people miss out on jobs because they d they have a bunch of garbage on their social media and then they're like, man, I just feel like I'm struggling and I'm like and and one of the first things I told I told a certain student that because they really were I mean where they were currently was in a good spot and they would have been a good addition to any place that they would have gone but they couldn't get a job and I I went back through their social media and there was a lot of stuff from like eight years before prior and it was just like very like it just it pointed them in a very different light than who they were and I was like we don't want to be remembered for all the all the worst times in our lives. If there's a bunch of junk, go clean it up. Go get rid of all of that. Like go through your Facebook and it may not be fun. Go through your Instagram. Like it may not be fun to have to go that far back. But it's worth it. speaker-0: Sure. speaker-1: You know, and and here's the thing, and you can't just go, Well, I'm just gonna go start a new one 'cause I've heard a lot of people say that. They're like, I'll just go start a new one. I was like, Well, guess what? That old one still exists unless you delete it. And they can still find you. Like, you know what I mean? So it's like, go clean it up. And I'm not saying go be fake, but what I'm saying is if if God has done something in your life and you're no longer that person that you were, clean that up on social media too. Like we do a really good job of not letting people see that in person. But your digital presence will exist for all of eternity unless you get rid of it, you know? And even then, I mean we can get into like deeper stuff. But I mean just on the surface level, like, okay, I used to be a partier in college, but now I'm serious and I'm working really, really hard. Go get rid of all that junk, it doesn't matter anymore. And if you for some reason want to keep those core memories, well, there's a thing called an external hard drive. You know what I mean? Like, ⁓ if you need that as an Evanizer of like what God has 'cause I'm you know, what I'm not I'm not I'm just saying who we are matters and unfortunately we get labeled by who we were sometimes more than who we are. And so I think it's important to also, you know, undo some things that maybe you know damage that we've caused and and apologize for I don't know. I'm I'm getting off into ⁓ a a very nuanced tangent here, but I do think it it does matter. speaker-0: No, sure. Yeah. No, and I I I think so. It's just this I mean, you you have to be I mean You have to be aware of your surroundings. and and that that is digitally too. ⁓ and you have to be aware of what can be used against you. Like and so like but the thing is is like as how you interact online matters spiritually. It also matters in the real world. Like and so how do we use how do we continue to talk about this though? We use real examples. We talk through comment sections, we talk through trends, we talk through viral moments. We ask Ask what would it look like to respond differently here? Make it practical, make it current. ⁓ because if we avoid it, it's not helping anybody. And then we also have to normalize the tension. Students like we talked about earlier, students feel the pressure to fit in, to post what's popular, to react like everyone else. Let them know it's okay that it's hard. Following Jesus has always required going against the flow. And so like we have to be mindful of that and we have to teach that too. Like we have to say, hey, I know you're struggling with this. It's really, really hard, but I see you, which is a huge dynamic. And then we also have to model integrated faith. This one might be the most important one. Students are watching what you post, they're watching what you engage with. This they're watching how you speak online. You're not just teaching digital faith, you're demonstrating it. And so, especially if you have youth kids that are connected to your social media accounts, even if you're sharing political things or anything to that nature, kids are watching you. speaker-1: Yeah, you can't teach to walk in love and then, you know, the next day get in on some political post and then absolutely bash somebody for having a different view. I see it all the time. I'm like, ⁓ you are killing your witness right now and you don't even realize it. speaker-0: Yeah. So at the end of the day though, this is what we're leading students towards not a church version of themselves, not a real life version or an online version, but one consistent identity. One life, one faith lived everywhere. Because the goal of that Yeah. speaker-1: Thank you. speaker-0: ⁓ because the goal of discipleship isn't behavior modification in certain spaces, it's transformation that shows up everywhere. That's why Paul says in Romans, do not be conformed, be transformed. And so as leaders we have to ask, are we helping students build faith that actually goes with them into their conversations, into their decisions, into their feeds, because that's where they're living. And following Jesus isn't something that students log into. It's who they are, wherever they are, even online. And so, like, I I think this is one of those conversations that we're like, ⁓ yeah. And like this conversation heavily leans into the assumption of our kids just know, and they don't. Like this has to be something that we teach too. And it has to be something that we are on the front lines, not only us, but But like half of our job or more than half of our job as a youth pastor is also assisting the parents. If your parents don't know the dangers of social media, you need to be telling them about them. You need to be holding conferences, you need to be holding trainings, you need to talk and tell them how to set up parental controls and all these different things. If you're not doing it, you are you are doing a disservice to your youth kids, to their parents. Like if you have the knowledge, share it. speaker-1: Shameless plug. We've had him on the podcast. We've talked about it, but I'll talk about it again. Talking about the dangers of social media and and all of that. ⁓ we've brought a friend Stephen Gering on before. He has an entire talk on that. And if you're in a position where you can ⁓ and and you're wanting to know more information, we would love to connect you with him. I brought him out to our church last semester. Our people are still talking about it. ⁓ it's been and they've asked, like, hey, when are we gonna bringing them back out? ⁓ because the conversation was so good and it was and I'm open it to the whole church and our parents got to hear real rehear and see real data yeah ⁓ psychologically ⁓ he has comprised all the data of what it does to you mentally physically spiritually emotionally all those things ⁓ it was one of the best best things I've done ⁓ and so I would absolutely encourage you you want to hold a conference and talk about the dangers of social media literally I I cannot recommend Steven enough I would love to give you more information and connect you with him if or Brent's same thing. We we know him just as equally. ⁓ but I can I can certainly share my experiences. I think Brent's brought him out before too. We can share our our experiences. We would love to connect you with him because he is definitely somebody who is going to to be a big benefit to your church, ⁓ to leading and stuff like that. So we would love to connect you. speaker-0: Yeah, yeah, no definitely. And so I mean that's kinda where we're we're ending today, is just the mindset of like, don't just assume, make sure that you've done your part, ⁓ especially in this conversation, 'cause if you don't, someone else will. ⁓ and I feel like that's becoming a recurring theme in our at podcast is this just the mindset of like, if you don't, someone else will. ⁓ and so be sure that you are on the forefront of this because it is a huge, huge battle that is waging in the lives of your teenagers and like you have to be on it. If you're not, you need to. ⁓ and so with that being said, we're gonna close in prayer as we have been doing. And just thank you for listening. Thank you for being a part of the podcast. we've been trying to make some changes on the back end, ⁓ to maybe make things a little more smooth. smooth or a little more ⁓ able for us. ⁓ and so we have moved podcast platforms. Shout out Riverside. and so we're gonna we're gonna Yeah hashtag not a sponsor, however Riverside, if you're listening to this speaker-1: Thank you. Yeah. Or open. speaker-0: Yeah. But w no, so we we've we're trying to make things a little more streamlined and smooth on the back end so we can keep on keeping on and do this. ⁓ and part of that is just being able to read analytics and engagement better. ⁓ and so with that being said, we still want to hear from you. ⁓ we would love to ⁓ have conversations. ⁓ we'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback on what you think of the podcast and episodes that we're doing. ⁓ because we are doing this for you guys as As much fun as it is for me and David to spend a couple hours on a video call weekly, we are also doing it for the sake of we believe in the heart of the youth pastor, we believe in the next generation of youth pastors, ⁓ and as two that needed help to get started ourselves, we definitely want to be there to step in and help the ones that are doing it on the other side too. I I can't read that, so I don't know what you're putting up there. ⁓ riverside so with that being said, thank you for listening. Please share this with your youth pa with your youth pastor friends. and yeah, if you have any other op ⁓ any ideas on topics that you would want us to cover in the future, we'd love to hear from you. ⁓ because this is for you and it will continue to be for you as the listener. ⁓ but thank you. Thank you for listening. Thank you for man, I think we're I mean, we're well over. I think last I checked were somewhere in the realm of like seventeen and a half thousand views, which is crazy. super, super cool. ⁓ and this is yeah, it's it's been surreal to be a podcast for as long as we've been. So thank you for listening. Thank you for being a part. ⁓ and let's pray. God, we thank you for today. We thank you for just the opportunity once again to be on ⁓ on air with David. ⁓ and God, I just pray that you will ⁓ continue to convict us and challenge us when it comes to not only our own digital lives, but also the lives of our students. ⁓ give us wisdom and discernment to teach. teach how to live a one life, one faith mindset, ⁓ and that how how that faith transcends and goes beyond anything that we're involved in, ⁓ because it's part of us. ⁓ I just pray that you will continue to use this podcast as an opportunity ⁓ to encourage and inspire youth pastors. ⁓ and God for the youth pastors that are listening to this, I just pray that they ⁓ have boldness and confidence in you, ⁓ that they have a refreshment of their calling and their their passion for you and for what they've been called to do. ⁓ and God, I just pray that you overwhelm them this week with your love and with your mercy. And God, just allow this week to be another opportunity to where they can look back and say, man, this was God, not anybody else. We thank you for this time together. We thank you for the youth pastors that are listening to this. And we love you more than anything else. Thank you. Amen.