Latest / Gospel Tech with Nathan Sutherland / Using the Best Tech Well

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Using the Best Tech Well · Gospel Tech with Nathan Sutherland

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Speaker 1: Purposely, your life, God's purpose. Listen at purposely.com.
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Speaker 2: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Gospel Tech Podcast. My
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Speaker 2: name is Nathan Sutherland, and this podcast is dedicated to
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Speaker 2: helping families love God and use tech. Today, we are
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Speaker 2: talking about the Philippians 4 test for our technology. I've
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Speaker 2: been asked for the last 10 years, just how do
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Speaker 2: I assess if this tech is the tech that my
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Speaker 2: child should be using, if we're doing well? And initially,
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Speaker 2: Philippians 4.8 was a very quick and easy answer, and
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Speaker 2: I just want to read it here for you. Philippians 4.8 says, Finally, brothers,
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Speaker 2: whatever is true, Whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever
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Speaker 2: is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there
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Speaker 2: is any excellence, if there's anything worthy of praise, think
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Speaker 2: about these things. Philippians 4.8 then feels like a very
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Speaker 2: easy standard for our tech use. Just make sure it's true, honorable, pure, just.
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Speaker 2: And I would repeat it and people would nod along
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Speaker 2: and they'd be like, yes, what does that look like?
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Speaker 2: And I can give examples from my own life. And
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Speaker 2: so we moved on and multiple years. And I actually
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Speaker 2: had a board member come to me who was like, Hey,
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Speaker 2: we're working on this whole Philippians four, eight thing in
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Speaker 2: our family. And it just doesn't feel applicable. And I
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Speaker 2: was like, whoa, hey, easy. Like, did you just say
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Speaker 2: the Bible's not applicable? And his point is well taken.
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Speaker 2: If you were to break this down line by line
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Speaker 2: and say, well, is it true? Is it honorable? And
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Speaker 2: for every single song and for every single book and
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Speaker 2: for every single video game, preemptively assess word by word
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Speaker 2: the content of that game, you probably will get stuck
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Speaker 2: in some mental jujitsu. It turns into philosophy at some point.
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Speaker 2: And like, what is truth?
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Speaker 1: Like, you will.
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Speaker 2: I will give you an example. If you were to
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Speaker 2: compare in video game world, something like a call of duty,
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Speaker 2: which is a real world, uh, focused video game in
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Speaker 2: terms of modern warfare, it's literally part of their brand.
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Speaker 2: But anyway, It's a more modern, like, there are actual
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Speaker 2: troops from relatively realistic countries using relatively realistic weapons. So, like,
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Speaker 2: I guess that's true, but, like, that's not what we're
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Speaker 2: talking about. We're actually talking about, like, is it true
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Speaker 2: and is it honorable and is it good in terms
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Speaker 2: of God's standards for us and does it reflect biblical truth? So,
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Speaker 2: A game based around, well, if we kill enough stuff
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Speaker 2: we win may actually not be the most true reality
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Speaker 2: check we could put in front of our children. In fact,
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Speaker 2: something like Mario might be more real because there's an
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Speaker 2: actual friend trying to save a friend to fight evil
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Speaker 2: and even though it's an Italian plumber fighting a dinosaur
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Speaker 2: dragon thing, like, it is still probably more true in
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Speaker 2: terms of what the Bible tells us reality involves. There
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Speaker 2: is a greater evil and we who have greater blessings
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Speaker 2: are to help those who cannot help themselves. But the
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Speaker 2: premise then is, okay, when we think through true, honorable, just, pure,
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Speaker 2: we need to do that as like a group. So
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Speaker 2: as we think, is it true, honorable, praiseworthy? We can
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Speaker 2: ask that all in one clump. And this is just
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Speaker 2: your Philippians 4a check of your technology is intended to
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Speaker 2: be a quick check that makes your life a little
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Speaker 2: bit easier because it gives you a first screening. You
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Speaker 2: can very quickly knock some stuff out and go, I
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Speaker 2: can tell just by the cover art that these people
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Speaker 2: are not lining up with God's definition of reality. Like
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Speaker 2: what is true that lines up with reality and reality
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Speaker 2: is what happens when we're wrong. These people are going
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Speaker 2: to run into... What happens when we're wrong? Examples from
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Speaker 2: my childhood. I mean, on par with the no sleep
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Speaker 2: till Brooklyn piece, I'm not just looking at the lyrics,
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Speaker 2: I'm looking at the attitude. And if the attitude is
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Speaker 2: I'm young and will live forever, that's not true. So
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Speaker 2: like this song is fun and those guys seem to
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Speaker 2: be having a good time. And let's make sure you're
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Speaker 2: not ingesting this as part of your reality. You're beginning
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Speaker 2: to live in light of this and that's no good.
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Speaker 2: If they're talking about love and heartbreak and difficulty, like, okay,
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Speaker 2: maybe this isn't the relationship I want from you, but
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Speaker 2: if they're celebrating this, or if I see you, even
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Speaker 2: if they're saying this is bad, And I see you
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Speaker 2: begin to live this out. I see you beginning to
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Speaker 2: accept a level of treatment that's not healthy for you, right?
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Speaker 2: I see you beginning to pursue individuals who aren't loving.
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Speaker 2: They don't pursue Christ and they don't treat you well.
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Speaker 2: Those are things I'm going to be concerned about. And
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Speaker 2: maybe the music is part of it, or maybe the
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Speaker 2: show or the social media or the video games are
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Speaker 2: part of it. And that's really what we're trying to
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Speaker 2: get out here. So when we think Philippians 4.8 as
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Speaker 2: a standard for our technology, please don't hear. So make
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Speaker 2: sure you go line by line. And then every single
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Speaker 2: thing you bring into your home, like do that, but
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Speaker 2: it's broad stroke. It's very quickly, does this line, like,
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Speaker 2: does the title, do the lyrics, does the theme of
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Speaker 2: this video game, show, comic, whatever it is, does it
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Speaker 2: line up with what Christ tells us to have? And
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Speaker 2: if it doesn't, then we actually call that out and say, hey,
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Speaker 2: you know what? This does seem fun, or this does
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Speaker 2: seem great, or I understand all your friends are enjoying this,
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Speaker 2: and this is too far for us. And I have
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Speaker 2: found the middle game, so let's think video games. The
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Speaker 2: middle ground for video games I have found for many
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Speaker 2: families is Fortnite. because it's a shooter game. And so
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Speaker 2: you're like in a battle Royale and like fighting and
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Speaker 2: shooting all of these other people, many of whom, you know,
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Speaker 2: because you're playing with your friends. So I'm going to
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Speaker 2: now decide when it comes to true honorable, just pure,
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Speaker 2: is this a game of tag where it's nerf and
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Speaker 2: everyone gets it? It's just like tagging people and you're
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Speaker 2: out on the playground. Like, is, is that where we're at?
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Speaker 2: Or is this some kind of mass violence thing that
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Speaker 2: is horrific in our culture? And I refuse to let
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Speaker 2: you participate in this. Like, It's more about that conversation.
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Speaker 2: Maybe you let your child play Fortnite. Maybe you don't.
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Speaker 2: I actually don't let my children play Fortnite. not because
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Speaker 2: of the violence, but because of the microtransactions and some
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Speaker 2: of the messaging that comes through that game. Just look
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Speaker 2: at the body types they pick for their characters, and
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Speaker 2: you'll get a little of where I'm going with that.
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Speaker 2: My 12-year-old son does not need this implanted in his brain,
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Speaker 2: either on the male or the female side. He does
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Speaker 2: not need to be told, this is what strong men
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Speaker 2: look like. He does not need to see, this is
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Speaker 2: what strong women look like. This is not our prototype
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Speaker 2: for what the hero looks like. And so Like I
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Speaker 2: actually take more on bridge with that than I do
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Speaker 2: with the violent side. But that's that conversation with my child.
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Speaker 2: I will say these words. I'll say them better and
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Speaker 2: shorter because my 12-year-old will tune me out quickly. But
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Speaker 2: that's what we're looking at with True, Honorable, Just, Pure,
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Speaker 2: with your music, with your shows, with your video games,
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Speaker 2: with your books. As you look at the books your
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Speaker 2: child wants to read, read some synopses on them. Flip
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Speaker 2: through the book. We have found multiple books aimed at
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Speaker 2: kind of that middle-level readers. So we're talking 6th to 8th,
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Speaker 2: 9th graders that... lie about what it means to be
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Speaker 2: a friend. There are these individuals that are just horrific
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Speaker 2: people to one another. We're like, no, we're not going
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Speaker 2: to participate in that book. They lie about love. They
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Speaker 2: don't lie. They misconstrue what love is as though it
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Speaker 2: were reality in terms of what one needs to give
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Speaker 2: of oneself. So it's an unhealthy kind of codependent relationship.
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Speaker 2: Or there's unsafe behaviors where one individual is not safe
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Speaker 2: and the book does not bring up that this is
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Speaker 2: dangerous or that this should someone should go tell a
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Speaker 2: caring adult. The dating relationships of your teens in average
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Speaker 2: books can get a little sideways. So I won't say
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Speaker 2: lie because I don't know that they're intentionally distorting the truth.
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Speaker 2: I will say that they're getting truth wrong. And so
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Speaker 2: it ends up, if our children live that out, they
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Speaker 2: then become, they're living a lie. They're living away from what,
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Speaker 2: an opposite of what God has called them to live.
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Speaker 2: So when we think Philippians 4 test, is it true, honorable, just, pure?
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Speaker 2: Is it praiseworthy? This is our first standard, and that
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Speaker 2: can be our first talking point when we're talking about
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Speaker 2: the books, certainly, but the music, the shows, the video games,
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Speaker 2: the social media platforms that we are engaging, let's make
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Speaker 2: sure we gauge them with our Philippians 4.8 test, because
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Speaker 2: when that board member came to me, what he wasn't
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Speaker 2: saying is, I don't think that's a real standard. He's saying,
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Speaker 2: I don't understand how to apply it, and I love
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Speaker 2: that point, because that's the other two parts of today's conversation.
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Speaker 2: The first was, what is the Philippians 4.8 test in
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Speaker 2: the first place? The second is, how would I apply this?
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Speaker 2: And the third would be, what do I do once
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Speaker 2: I've applied it? So, uh, Philippians four, eight big picture
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Speaker 2: standard helps us have a large capital T truth conversation. Hey,
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Speaker 2: God tells us what's real and what's good. And we
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Speaker 2: are going to apply that because is it true? Is
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Speaker 2: it honorable? Is it just, is it just, is it pure, uh,
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Speaker 2: is going to be the standard we apply. So certainly
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Speaker 2: ask me about the books and the music and the shows,
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Speaker 2: and maybe we will decide we're going to engage this
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Speaker 2: together because, uh, Even though I believe it's not great,
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Speaker 2: it's important to you and I want to be there
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Speaker 2: with you and we can have a conversation. And if
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Speaker 2: it goes too far, well, then we'll have that conversation too.
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Speaker 2: So you do have the ability to be flexible. This
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Speaker 2: isn't about if you make all the right media decisions,
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Speaker 2: then your child will be good. No, like your child
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Speaker 2: has heart issues and must come before his or her
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Speaker 2: Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in relationship to be known
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Speaker 2: for personal faith. because that is how we are saved
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Speaker 2: is by giving our hearts to the Lord and being
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Speaker 2: given new hearts and become new creations to the work
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Speaker 2: Christ did on the cross on our behalf. Okay. The
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Speaker 2: application side, Galatians 5. When we think about applying this,
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Speaker 2: then it comes from Galatians 5, 19 through 22. And
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Speaker 2: I'll just go with the bottom part, but the fruits
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Speaker 2: of the spirit, The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control.
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Speaker 2: Against such things there is no law. George Fox University
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Speaker 2: is a university that focuses on academic excellence and raising
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Speaker 2: young people who know and love God. They have nationally
9:49
Speaker 2: accredited programs in nursing, education, and engineering. 97% of their
9:54
Speaker 2: students from the 2025 academic year who say that this
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Speaker 2: university helped these students grow in their relationship. with Jesus.
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Speaker 2: 100% of their staff are professing Christians and 100% of
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Speaker 2: their students get financial aid and scholarships. Wherever you look
10:06
Speaker 2: at for universities, Make sure George Fox University is on
10:09
Speaker 2: that list. Check them out at georgefox.edu. Sign up for
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Speaker 2: a visit day and get a $ 1, 000 visit scholarship right
10:15
Speaker 2: off the bat. And then pray to wherever the Lord
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Speaker 2: is leading you because George Fox University may just be
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Speaker 2: a part of that dream. So there are fruits of
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Speaker 2: the Spirit. And I love this because you can make
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Speaker 2: that deliberate decision and say, yes, I think that this
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Speaker 2: passes our initial Philippians 4.8 test. And then we look
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Speaker 2: at the fruit it produces. When you listen to this music,
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Speaker 2: play this game, are on this platform, watch these shows,
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Speaker 2: read these books. Oh, please watch this when they read
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Speaker 2: these books. Does it produce love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control?
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Speaker 2: Or my favorite three, love, joy, self-control. If you can
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Speaker 2: have a child produce more love, the act of caring
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Speaker 2: for another's best interest above your own. That's love. That's
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Speaker 2: biblical Christ-like love. Joy, the ability to be content in
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Speaker 2: a moment, to know that God is bigger than any
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Speaker 2: moment we're in. Our best moments we can have joy
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Speaker 2: in because we know these moments don't define us. So
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Speaker 2: we don't have that fear of having to one-up ourselves
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Speaker 2: in order to maintain our status as valuable. It's a
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Speaker 2: very common thought. We call it imposter syndrome. But we
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Speaker 2: also have it, once you've been vetted and proven, you
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Speaker 2: constantly have this fear of like, my past successes don't
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Speaker 2: predict my future success. So I'm only as good as
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Speaker 2: what I've done next. Like, great, that was good that
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Speaker 2: I just got an A or I just got the
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Speaker 2: varsity team or I just was a good friend. And
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Speaker 2: none of that matters because it matters what I do next.
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Speaker 2: And instead we can have joy in our sorrows and
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Speaker 2: joy in our successes because God is good. And in Jesus,
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Speaker 2: we are made children of God and that gives us
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Speaker 2: our value and identity. And we live from that now.
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Speaker 2: I am a new creation so I can live free
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Speaker 2: from my sin. It doesn't mean I'm perfect. It means
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Speaker 2: I go to people, ask for help, repent with them
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Speaker 2: because I'm a child of God. And this is what
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Speaker 2: children of God do. So I love, love, joy, self-control
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Speaker 2: because self-control is the third of that. And much of
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Speaker 2: our technology that we engage fights our self-control. It's about
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Speaker 2: building compulsive behaviors, keeping eyes on screens, um, And so
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Speaker 2: if you find technology that actually builds self-control, that's amazing.
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Speaker 2: Please keep that around. This might be things that are
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Speaker 2: literally designed for self-control, like screen time. It's what we
12:32
Speaker 2: use on our technology at home. It's great. It might
12:34
Speaker 2: be technology like a hedge for your network. We use
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Speaker 2: the Griffin router. That's very solid. But it might be
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Speaker 2: an actual type of technology that your child uses to create.
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Speaker 2: And maybe this creative technology builds your child's ability to
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Speaker 2: inhibit things instant gratification desire or urges that he or
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Speaker 2: she gets. Um, maybe for example, with the reading, maybe
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Speaker 2: your child can read and can walk away from something
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Speaker 2: exciting and go read and be at the pace of
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Speaker 2: your life and then put the book down and be present.
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Speaker 2: Like that's what we're looking for. The reason I bring
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Speaker 2: all that up is because, um, when we look at
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Speaker 2: Philippians four, eight, is it true? Is it, uh, praiseworthy?
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Speaker 2: Is it good? Uh, we can then look at, okay,
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Speaker 2: but what's the outcome? Does it produce love, joy, and self-control?
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Speaker 2: So when you listen to that music, Um, if you
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Speaker 2: become more selfish in your relationships and your attitudes, uh, this,
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Speaker 2: this fits perfectly in with our reset relationships, emotion, sleep, enjoyment, time.
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Speaker 2: That's what I'm looking for fruit in. Um, and it
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Speaker 2: can produce good fruit. Like you using this technology can
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Speaker 2: actually help you better use your time.
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Speaker 1: Cool.
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Speaker 2: A couple minutes on the social media platform. Does that
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Speaker 2: help you be a better friend in real life or
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Speaker 2: connect better with your real world friends? Playing this video game,
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Speaker 2: does that extend your real world friendships or does it
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Speaker 2: actually help you have a really fun outlet that you
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Speaker 2: can then go and enjoy other things as well? Because
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Speaker 2: you've you've come home, you've blown off your steam and
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Speaker 2: now you're better. I will tell you nine times out
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Speaker 2: of 10 when I hear people say I need these
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Speaker 2: video games because this is how I blow off steam.
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Speaker 2: Video games become their coping mechanism. They do not come
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Speaker 2: back de-steamed and whatever that would look like. And now
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Speaker 2: they're like, oh, I can decompress. And now I can
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Speaker 2: come back and be regular. I see people do that
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Speaker 2: with naps. I see people do that with exercise. I
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Speaker 2: see people do that with hanging out with their friends
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Speaker 2: and they come back and they are more of themselves
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Speaker 2: and they have more capacity for the people in their lives. Man,
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Speaker 2: I do not see that a lot when people say
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Speaker 2: they need either be it social media. I'm scrolling because
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Speaker 2: I need to decompress or watching shows or even listening
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Speaker 2: to if it's streamed music, like just massive sums of music.
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Speaker 2: Sometimes I've seen it with like albums like, no, I
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Speaker 2: just need to go to a quiet place, read a
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Speaker 2: book and listen to this album. But then video games
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Speaker 2: as well. Man, I have seen people struggle with that.
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Speaker 2: And they typically don't come back with more capacity. So
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Speaker 2: while they believe they're blowing off steam, what they're actually
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Speaker 2: doing is coping. They are pounding their mind and their
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Speaker 2: system with dopamine and with rewards and with feel good
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Speaker 2: and with distraction to the, they get just kind of
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Speaker 2: numb and now they're not frustrated anymore. So they must
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Speaker 2: be better. And they go on until that conflict comes
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Speaker 2: up again. And then they they're edgy and they're short
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Speaker 2: and they don't understand it. And they generally believe it's
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Speaker 2: either a personal flaw. Like, well, this is just who
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Speaker 2: I am. I'm a person that gets mad at people
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Speaker 2: for no reason. or that is everyone else's fault. Like
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Speaker 2: that's generally why, because obviously they felt fine until you
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Speaker 2: guys came in. This is where looking at the fruit
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Speaker 2: is so, so, so important because it's not just the
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Speaker 2: Galatians 5, 22 part. Listen to this. Galatians 5, 19.
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Speaker 2: Now the works of the flesh are evident. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy,
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Speaker 2: fits of anger, rivalries, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties,
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Speaker 2: and things like these. That is a list. And when
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Speaker 2: we look at what comes out of our hearts because
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Speaker 2: of our technology use, we will find that some of
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Speaker 2: those things get worse. They're not necessarily because of our technology,
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Speaker 2: but the tech does not help them. So there's music
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Speaker 2: that I can listen to that makes me more anxious.
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Speaker 2: That brings me more fearful. There's news that I can
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Speaker 2: read that makes me more angry, not in a just
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Speaker 2: way where I go, these people are being hurt and
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Speaker 2: we need to step in because it doesn't lead me
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Speaker 2: to action. It only leads me to anger at those people.
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Speaker 2: Of course, those people do this. I have to be
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Speaker 2: careful around my children because I will verbalize things about
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Speaker 2: those people generally. So in my world, we live here
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Speaker 2: in Washington state and I will watch rules that are
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Speaker 2: passed by our state that hurt people around us. Very specifically,
16:44
Speaker 2: the way we handle addiction in Washington state right now
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Speaker 2: is criminal. We believe that the problem with drugs is
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Speaker 2: the fact that they don't have clean enough needles and
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Speaker 2: safe enough spaces to use their drugs. And we are
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Speaker 2: letting people use chemicals that we know they cannot break
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Speaker 2: out of their own free will. They could not quit
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Speaker 2: this if they tried. And yet we are making them
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Speaker 2: make that decision for themselves. We know people that go
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Speaker 2: to our church or have gone to our church Individuals
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Speaker 2: who got free of addiction because loving people stepped in
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Speaker 2: and it is a hard hard road and it requires
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Speaker 2: God's good grace for them to get clean and I
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Speaker 2: know some of those people Got clean and then didn't
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Speaker 2: live long enough because of their history of addiction Sometimes
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Speaker 2: it was complications with medication. Sometimes it was relapse. Sometimes
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Speaker 2: it was a mix of those two one really unfortunate
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Speaker 2: situation a guy got injured and got put on painkillers
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Speaker 2: and that was his substance that he struggled with and
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Speaker 2: he never came back. And by never came back, I
17:41
Speaker 2: mean dropped out of church and then died. I get
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Speaker 2: frustrated and I can very quickly turn to those people.
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Speaker 2: And I'm only telling you this because I didn't want
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Speaker 2: you to fill in the blank on what those people were, frankly.
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Speaker 2: And I want you to hear that like this struggle
17:55
Speaker 2: is real and my frustration with that is real. So
17:58
Speaker 2: that is good.
17:59
Speaker 1: That is the Lord.
17:59
Speaker 2: Working on my heart because I've seen his kingdom come
18:01
Speaker 2: and his will be done and broken people's lives. And
18:03
Speaker 2: I want our state to reflect that. And sometimes I
18:07
Speaker 2: read things or watch things or listen to things that
18:10
Speaker 2: do not feed the healthy side of that desire and
18:12
Speaker 2: instead just make me mad and give me the heart
18:15
Speaker 2: of if I ran things right, then the world would
18:18
Speaker 2: be good. And I'm not seeing God's kingdom come or
18:21
Speaker 2: his will be done in my own heart or my
18:23
Speaker 2: life or my city. And I'm not working to serve
18:25
Speaker 2: and love people. I'm not correcting. I'm not fighting for
18:28
Speaker 2: those who can't fight for themselves in these situations. So it,
18:32
Speaker 2: the content itself doesn't have to be bad. We're looking
18:34
Speaker 2: at heart issues. So yeah, is it true? Honorable, just,
18:37
Speaker 2: and pure. The things I'm saying are true. And then
18:40
Speaker 2: we look at the fruit and it turns out anger
18:43
Speaker 2: and rivalry and dissension. It turns out that there's strife
18:48
Speaker 2: and enmity. I begin denigrating in my heart, people made
18:52
Speaker 2: in the image and likeness of God. Now they are,
18:54
Speaker 2: they are wrong. We are watching other image bearers of
18:57
Speaker 2: Christ get hurt because of this. And my attitude is
19:01
Speaker 2: what I'm in control of in submitting it to the
19:03
Speaker 2: Lord or claiming it because I don't want to give
19:05
Speaker 2: it up. That matters when we talk about the fruit. Yes,
19:08
Speaker 2: look at Philippians 4.8 and then look at what's happening
19:11
Speaker 2: in our hearts because sometimes innocuous mediums.
19:15
Speaker 1: Well, that's word salad if you've ever heard it, harmless
19:20
Speaker 1: information or technologies that aren't designed to be bad can
19:24
Speaker 1: still produce bad fruit in our hearts and in our
19:26
Speaker 1: children's hearts.
19:27
Speaker 2: And that's what we're caring about. Let's parent that. Let's
19:29
Speaker 2: take care of that. Let's take it to the foot
19:31
Speaker 2: of the throne because give it to the Lord, because
19:33
Speaker 2: that is what we are trying to think through. And
19:36
Speaker 2: we think about what tech we are trying to use.
19:38
Speaker 2: So Philippians 4, 8, it is this meet a biblical
19:41
Speaker 2: standard for what we're using with tech. Then look at
19:43
Speaker 2: Galatians 5, 19 through 22. And finally, we remove and
19:47
Speaker 2: replace Matthew 5, 28 through 30. says this. Excuse me,
19:52
Speaker 2: this is Jesus speaking. He says, you have heard it said,
19:56
Speaker 2: you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you
19:58
Speaker 2: that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent
20:01
Speaker 2: has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If
20:04
Speaker 2: your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out
20:06
Speaker 2: and throw it away. For it is better for you
20:08
Speaker 2: to lose one of your members than your whole body
20:11
Speaker 2: be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes
20:14
Speaker 2: you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.
20:16
Speaker 2: For it is better that you lose one of your
20:17
Speaker 2: members than your whole body go into hell. This is
20:21
Speaker 2: key because it gives us our final action point. So
20:24
Speaker 2: if I have a broad truth standard from Philippians 4.8
20:27
Speaker 2: and I go, okay, does this meet the standard? I've
20:30
Speaker 2: decided yes. I've given it to my child, let's say.
20:32
Speaker 2: So now you can watch the show. You can listen
20:34
Speaker 2: to this music. You can play this game. You can
20:36
Speaker 2: be on this platform. with healthy hedges, with open conversation,
20:40
Speaker 2: then I see some bad fruit produced. I'm like, ooh,
20:43
Speaker 2: was that dissension? Was that anger? Was that lust? Was
20:46
Speaker 2: that greed? Was that envy? Was it from the technology
20:50
Speaker 2: or is this something else that's going on in your heart?
20:52
Speaker 2: Either because this technology is leveraging that, or is this
20:55
Speaker 2: just a bigger conversation we need to have? Because at
20:58
Speaker 2: the end of the day, the goal is remove and replace. Meaning,
21:02
Speaker 2: I cut off and gouge out whatever causes me to sin,
21:05
Speaker 2: not as peripherally present when I sin. So I drove
21:11
Speaker 2: to a friend's house and committed a sin of anger
21:15
Speaker 2: or of envy. It doesn't mean I can't drive. It
21:18
Speaker 2: means that, hey, I need to work on my heart.
21:19
Speaker 2: It doesn't mean I can't be friends with that person
21:21
Speaker 2: unless this is a regular part of our relationship. And
21:25
Speaker 2: our relationship is built around consumption or comparison or greed
21:30
Speaker 2: or lust or whatever. Okay, now we have a very
21:34
Speaker 2: real standard for cutting off and gouging out. And the
21:36
Speaker 2: cutting off and gouging out is what it sounds like.
21:38
Speaker 1: We remove it.
21:39
Speaker 2: Understanding that God is better and that our life will
21:43
Speaker 2: reach higher peaks of joy and contentment and purpose in
21:46
Speaker 2: Christ without this thing that's really important to us. Even
21:50
Speaker 2: if it means... We don't get to decide when we
21:54
Speaker 2: use it. So in my life, this was video games.
21:57
Speaker 2: I haven't played a video game since May 15th, 2011,
22:01
Speaker 2: which is 15 years ago now. And it was not
22:05
Speaker 2: a decision that made lightly. It was not a decision...
22:09
Speaker 2: that went easily, but it was one that I have
22:12
Speaker 2: continued to be convicted of. For all the times I've prayed, Lord,
22:16
Speaker 2: release me from this conviction because I would like to
22:18
Speaker 2: play video games again. I have children or I work
22:21
Speaker 2: in youth ministry. Video games should be something I do, Lord.
22:24
Speaker 1: And I am.
22:25
Speaker 2: Continually reminded with a strong conviction that I have burrowed
22:33
Speaker 2: some holes in my brain and some furrows in my
22:36
Speaker 2: heart where I return very quickly to video games for contentment.
22:41
Speaker 2: If I'm having a good day, I run back to
22:44
Speaker 2: them to celebrate. If I'm having a bad day, I
22:46
Speaker 2: run back to them as solace and to recover.
22:49
Speaker 1: If I have a fight.
22:50
Speaker 2: With a friend or my spouse, I use video games
22:53
Speaker 2: to help me level my emotions. If I get frustrated
22:57
Speaker 2: with my kids, this is what I would be doing
23:00
Speaker 2: with it. This was the way I handled every major
23:04
Speaker 2: experience I had in my life from age eight to,
23:07
Speaker 2: whatever 2015 was.
23:09
Speaker 1: Late 20s.
23:11
Speaker 2: So I share that with you because for me, video
23:14
Speaker 2: games are a big deal and they're relatively morally innocuous.
23:18
Speaker 2: And yet a very, very real personal conviction that I
23:22
Speaker 2: had to cut them off and gouge them out. The
23:23
Speaker 2: question would be, what is that for you? What for
23:26
Speaker 2: you is causing sin? Maybe it's obvious, like the sin
23:30
Speaker 2: of lust. And you're like, yeah, every time I'm up
23:31
Speaker 2: at this time of day with access to that kind
23:33
Speaker 2: of technology, things go bad. But maybe it's less obvious
23:37
Speaker 2: clear and it's something you need to pray into and
23:39
Speaker 2: ask the Lord to show you. Maybe there's gossip. Maybe
23:42
Speaker 2: there's a lack of contentment from comparison, maybe physical comparison
23:46
Speaker 2: or economic comparison. maybe familial comparison. That person's kid seems
23:51
Speaker 2: to be really this, and I wish my kids were
23:53
Speaker 2: more like that. Or that person's spouse seems to be
23:57
Speaker 2: really like this, and I wish my spouse was more
23:59
Speaker 2: like that. I don't know. But whatever it is, pray
24:02
Speaker 2: into that. Because there's a good chance there's somewhere in
24:04
Speaker 2: our hearts where technology tickles the fancy and encourages us
24:09
Speaker 2: to give that a little more food with our attention
24:11
Speaker 2: and with our covetousness and with our attitudes, and we
24:15
Speaker 2: need to cut it off and gouge it out. And
24:16
Speaker 2: maybe we just cut off the time of day. Maybe
24:18
Speaker 2: we just cut off the quantity of time, but maybe
24:21
Speaker 2: we actually cut out the technology itself. So today, when
24:24
Speaker 2: we think about our Philippians 4.8 standard, remember, we absolutely
24:27
Speaker 2: are thinking, is it true, honorable, just, and pure? We
24:30
Speaker 2: want that. And then we're looking at the application of
24:33
Speaker 2: Galatians 5, 19 through 22, thinking, does it produce love,
24:37
Speaker 2: joy and self-control. And if it doesn't, and if it
24:40
Speaker 2: actually makes us worse in our reset, if it causes
24:42
Speaker 2: us to sin, to put our trust in something other
24:44
Speaker 2: than God and say, I'd be okay as long as
24:46
Speaker 2: I have this money, have this vacation, have these students
24:49
Speaker 2: that are, or have these children that are good enough students,
24:52
Speaker 2: have financial success in terms of a career or have
24:57
Speaker 2: physical health, whatever our thing might be, that's putting trust
25:01
Speaker 2: in something other than God. And that, that's a sin.
25:04
Speaker 2: So then I say, okay, is this just something I
25:05
Speaker 2: need to repent of? Or is that sin coming repeatedly?
25:09
Speaker 2: I can feel fine. And then this thing jumps up
25:13
Speaker 2: in my heart when I am introduced to this show,
25:17
Speaker 2: this music, this video game, this social media platform. Pray
25:21
Speaker 2: into that. Do not take it lightly. Do not gloss
25:25
Speaker 2: over this. Take the opportunity to get freedom in Christ
25:28
Speaker 2: because Christ's freedom is real. And Philippians 4, 8 is
25:30
Speaker 2: the standard. We are told that it is for freedom
25:32
Speaker 2: that Christ set us free, that we are not to
25:34
Speaker 2: walk into slavery of our flesh anymore because technology oftentimes,
25:41
Speaker 2: especially on our drool technology, is designed to keep us,
25:45
Speaker 2: take our time, our focus, and our money, and to
25:47
Speaker 2: keep our attention on a screen. We then need to
25:50
Speaker 2: prayerfully say, Lord, if that is affecting my heart, if
25:52
Speaker 2: it's affecting my ministry, my ability to love others, to
25:55
Speaker 2: see your kingdom come and your will be done in
25:57
Speaker 2: my heart and then through my life, Lord, take it
26:00
Speaker 2: from me. And then prayerfully give the Lord whatever he
26:02
Speaker 2: asks of you. even if it means cutting it off
26:05
Speaker 2: and gouging it out. I hope that this is encouraging
26:07
Speaker 2: to you and that you see the freedom Christ is
26:09
Speaker 2: calling you to. And I hope that if it is,
26:12
Speaker 2: you'll share it with someone. Would you share this episode?
26:14
Speaker 2: Would you have a conversation? Would you think through with
26:17
Speaker 2: your family? Where's the technology that's improving our ability to
26:20
Speaker 2: look more like Jesus that makes our reset better? Our relationships, emotions, sleep, enjoyment,
26:26
Speaker 2: and time. And where is it getting worse? What do
26:29
Speaker 2: we need to prayerfully cut off and gouge out? Let's
26:32
Speaker 2: take a month And go without this thing and see
26:34
Speaker 2: what we can do together. If you have any questions
26:36
Speaker 2: for me, you can reach out to me, Nathan, at GospelTech.net.
26:39
Speaker 2: Or find us at LoveGodUseTech on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
26:43
Speaker 2: And you can join us next week as we continue
26:45
Speaker 2: this conversation about how we can love God and use tech.
26:47
Speaker 2: I'll talk to you then.