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Who's Influencing You? · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Hey everyone, this is friendly. Welcome back to In the Stillness
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  podcast. Thanks for joining me on today's
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  podcast episode. We are going to be continuing in
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  second John, and it's funny because we're actually only
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  going to be reading one verse. And I thought I was going to be
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  reading a lot more this morning in my quiet time, but I really
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  started to sit on verse 7 and realized how much weight it
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  carried and how much there was to learn.
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  So I'm just going to stick to that one verse on today's
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  episode. It felt so relevant for the
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  culture that we live in. And we're going to be talking
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  through false teachings, subtle deception, discernment, how to
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  exercise that, and even how sometimes the things influencing
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  us don't look dangerous at first, but over time they slowly
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  shape us. And so that is why it is such a
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  slippery slope and something that we have to be aware of.
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  So let's go ahead and start by reading the verse and then we'll
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  unpack it all together. Verse 7 says numerous deceivers
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  have surfaced from among us and gone out into the world.
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  People who will not acknowledge Jesus Christ coming as a man.
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  These deceivers are antichrists. OK, very direct.
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  The thing that stood out to me immediately, though, is that
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  John says these deceivers came from among us, Meaning deception
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  does not always look evil. At first it can sound spiritual.
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  At times it might even sound loving.
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  It might sound empowering or relatable.
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  But these false teachers were rejecting the fullness of who
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  Jesus was. They accepted parts of Jesus,
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  but not all of Jesus. And honestly, I think people can
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  still do the same thing today because people love the parts of
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  Jesus that feel comforting to them.
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  The message of love, peace, acceptance.
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  But then when Jesus talks about repentance, obedience, denying
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  ourselves, surrender, suddenly people want to redefine him into
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  a version that feels easier to follow.
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  But the bottom line is that we do not get to create our own
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  version of Jesus. We are to either accept Him
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  fully as Lord, or we are rejecting Him.
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  And one thing I wrote down in my notes is that the danger of
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  deception is how subtle and sneaky it can be.
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  You're not going to hear somebody say, hey, come follow
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  sin with me. It is compromise over time,
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  being desensitized, repeated exposure to what is wrong.
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  And this convicted me personally as I was thinking on it.
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  There were TV shows and influencers I used to watch on
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  the day-to-day because I thought that they were entertaining or
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  funny. I used to watch Keeping Up with
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  the Kardashians or Alex Earl vlogs, and for a while I thought
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  it was extreme to think that those things could actually
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  affect me spiritually. I was like, this is just my
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  leisure time, it's my brain wrought hour.
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  But when I started to take it more seriously and evaluate the
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  fruit in my own life, I began to realize those things were not
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  helping me become more like Jesus.
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  Instead, they were fueling comparison, whether that be with
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  lifestyle, appearance, it was resulting in discontentment, bad
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  language was becoming more normalized, worldly thinking
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  becoming more familiar. And I don't think it's because
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  these people were necessarily waking up every day trying to
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  deceive other people. But if someone is not walking in
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  truth, their influence will naturally pull you away from the
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  truth. And honestly, if we continue
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  entertaining ourselves with things that oppose God's way
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  while convincing ourselves that it's harmless, we are only
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  deceiving ourselves. This standard is not.
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  Is this technically allowed? The question is, is this helping
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  me become more like Christ? And when I realized that the
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  entire point of my life is to live holy and honorable before
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  God, I started realizing there really is not room for
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  compromise or settling even in the things that I consume
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  casually for entertainment. What you consistently consume
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  will eventually influence you and disciple you.
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  Now, the more that we genuinely walk with Jesus, obey him, and
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  stay rooted in truth, the easier it becomes to recognize what is
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  fake. Discernment is not just knowing
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  information, it is being close enough to Jesus, the one who is
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  truth, that then false things start becoming easier to
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  recognize. So when Romans 12 verse 2
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  commands us to not conform to the patterns of this world, but
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  to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, that is
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  reminding us that the world is constantly trying to shape how
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  we think. And if we are not intentional,
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  we can slowly start looking more like culture than like Christ.
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  This passage was also challenging me to evaluate the
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  character and conduct of the people influencing me.
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  Not just are they funny, popular, relatable, attractive,
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  but what is the fruit of their life?
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  Are they leading people toward Christ, Closer to holiness,
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  toward the truth? And this applies not just to
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  social media influences or TV shows and movies.
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  This also applies to friendships, relationships,
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  everybody. I remember talking with a friend
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  recently just about relationships and she has such a
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  beautiful marriage so I was asking her for just godly advice
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  as I am in a relationship and she told me when people give you
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  advice, look at the fruit of their life first because
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  everyone has something to say. Everyone has their own opinions,
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  but not everybody is producing godly fruit.
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  So if somebody is telling you something but you don't want
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  your relationship or your friendships to look like what
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  they have, be discerning about what you listen to from them.
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  Jesus told us that we are to recognize people by their fruit.
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  That does not mean perfection, but direction of their lives
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  matter. So are they teachable?
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  Can they receive correction? Do they submit themselves to
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  God's Word? Or are they reshaping their
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  truth around their feelings? How someone lives reveals what
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  they truly believe. And of course, as I say this, we
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  are not to just examine everybody else and not look in
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  the mirror at ourselves. We influence people too, whether
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  you realize it or not. God actually brought me to First
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  Peter 5 yesterday when I was reading at lunchtime.
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  And I think sometimes people, including myself, read passages
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  about shepherding and can just assume, OK, that's just for
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  elders of the church or pastors. But the reality is every single
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  believer has opportunities to lead and influence people,
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  whether that is in your workplace, in your own family,
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  online, through social media, in conversations, every single day
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  you are stewarding influence, whether you realize it or not.
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  And we are called to shepherd people well to reflect Christ
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  well, right where you're planted faithfully.
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  And that takes humility. Second Timothy 3 verse 16 says
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  Scripture is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting,
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  and training us up in righteousness.
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  So a mature believer is willing to be corrected, to be
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  challenged, to be refined. If we are only accepting truth
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  when it feels comfortable, we will never fully grow.
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  At the end of the day, I think this verse was really calling me
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  to examine what is shaping me and for all of us to ask
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  ourselves what voices are influencing me?
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  What am I normalizing? What fruit is my life producing?
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  Am I becoming more like Jesus or more like culture?
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  Because subtle compromise, it still leads us somewhere.
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  If Jesus is truly Lord of your life, then nothing gets exempt
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  from surrender, not even what entertains us.
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  So let's go ahead and close out in prayer with all of that.
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  Dear Jesus, I just thank you for this opportunity to have access
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  to the Word of God that sharpens us, that teaches us, that calls
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  us out. Thank you for this podcast and
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  the opportunity to talk through these things and share with
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  others. And I just ask that whoever is
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  listening that they would hear from you.
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  Lord, would you give them the ears to hear and the eyes to see
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  your truth for what it is? I pray that we would grow
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  together and become more spiritually mature.
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  Would you give us discernment in what we consume, who we're
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  following, what we allow to mold and shape our hearts?
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  I pray that we would not conform to the world around us, but that
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  we would be transformed to become more like you.
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  Jesus. Would you expose any area in our
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  lives that have compromise that we have become desensitized in?
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  Teach us to love what honors You.
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  I pray that our lives would produce good fruit, the fruit of
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  the Spirit, Lovejoy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
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  faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
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  Lord, I pray that that fruit would point people back to
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  Jesus, help us to stay humble, to receive correction,
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  instruction and to be refined through Your word.
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  Lord, we pray these things in Jesus name, Amen.
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  OK y'all, that is Tuesday's episode.
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  I hope that this blesses you guys and that y'all have a
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  wonderful rest of your day. I will see y'all on the next
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  podcast episode.