Latest / Gospel Tech with Nathan Sutherland / For Youth: Guarding and Building Up Our Tech

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For Youth: Guarding and Building Up Our Tech · Gospel Tech with Nathan Sutherland

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Speaker 1: Purposely, your life, God's purpose. More podcasts at Purposely.com. Hello, everyone,
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Speaker 1: and welcome to the Gospel Tech Podcast. My name is
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Speaker 1: Nathan Sutherland, and this podcast is dedicated to helping families
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Speaker 1: love God and use tech. Today, we are I was
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Speaker 1: going to say finishing, but we're continuing our conversation on
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Speaker 1: Philippians 4.8 and the standard we have for technology. And
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Speaker 1: this part of the conversation is actually aimed directly at
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Speaker 1: our young people. While Philippians 4.8 is a standard for
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Speaker 1: all of us, this particular conversation will equip them as
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Speaker 1: they think about how they can use the best tech well.
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Speaker 1: There's really three parts to this. We're going to talk
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Speaker 1: about first our guardrails and then second, our focus on
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Speaker 1: building up and third, our ability to look to help.
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Speaker 1: Philippians 4.8 says, finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
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Speaker 1: whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever
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Speaker 1: is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there's anything
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Speaker 1: worthy of praise, think about these things. And this is
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Speaker 1: a phenomenal standard for us to use for our technology.
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Speaker 1: Go back and listen to last week's episode. If you
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Speaker 1: want to know like, well, what does that even look like?
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Speaker 1: We tie it up with Galatians 5.19-22 and Matthew 5.28-30.
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Speaker 1: As a standard and an application, so both the thing
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Speaker 1: we look to to understand how we should think about tech,
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Speaker 1: but then also how we should rightly act on our tech. Today, then,
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Speaker 1: is some of the application of that and, okay, what
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Speaker 1: does this look like in daily life? Young people, when
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Speaker 1: we think about our tech, we want to think about
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Speaker 1: our guardrails, about whether or not it is building us
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Speaker 1: and others up. and what it means to look to
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Speaker 1: help others. So first and foremost, when we talk about guardrails,
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Speaker 1: we're talking about either technology or personal limits that allow
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Speaker 1: us to make the good choices we want to make.
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Speaker 1: So young people, yes, your parents are going to help
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Speaker 1: you with this. They're going to set boundaries and they're
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Speaker 1: going to vet the technology before you get it. And
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Speaker 1: they're going to listen to the music, check out the book,
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Speaker 1: ask some friends, like they're going to do all that.
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Speaker 1: And it is your job as a young person before
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Speaker 1: the Lord with a purposeful personal saving faith, your parents
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Speaker 1: cannot save you. They would love to, but they can't.
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Speaker 1: That's not their job. They're not Jesus. So then we
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Speaker 1: put up guardrails. And as young people, you need to
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Speaker 1: be thinking through what boundaries have you set for yourself
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Speaker 1: and are those limits helping? So boundaries such as, I'm
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Speaker 1: going to start off with just simple spiritual practices. We're
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Speaker 1: going to break them into spiritual practices, healthy habits, and
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Speaker 1: then safe hedges. So spiritual practices like When are you
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Speaker 1: getting time with God? In America, we call these quiet times, but,
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Speaker 1: or devotionals or whatever, but you need personal time with
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Speaker 1: the Lord. That means you need to be reading the
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Speaker 1: scripture and you need to be giving yourself the space
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Speaker 1: to pray and to hear from the Lord. Yes. Pray like, uh,
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Speaker 1: the father or sorry, like Jesus teaches his disciples to
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Speaker 1: pray with our father who is in heaven. Holy is
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Speaker 1: your name. Like, Absolutely. Pray to ask and to be
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Speaker 1: in the presence of God. Yes. And pray like Jesus
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Speaker 1: when he got, his life got so busy that he
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Speaker 1: left the ministry that he was doing and left the disciples.
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Speaker 1: He would get up early typically. And sometimes he would
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Speaker 1: stay up late where he would be up all night
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Speaker 1: in prayer, seeking the Lord and his will, because sometimes
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Speaker 1: it takes repeatedly saying the same thing and waiting on
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Speaker 1: the Lord. The question is, when are we getting time
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Speaker 1: with God's word and The second part of that is
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Speaker 1: when are we getting time in God's presence? So answer
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Speaker 1: these for yourself. Maybe you already have a good answer
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Speaker 1: or maybe you're like, no, we need to change this.
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Speaker 1: But whatever your answer is, make sure that you're at
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Speaker 1: peace with that. This could be five minutes a day.
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Speaker 1: I don't know where you're at or what the Lord
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Speaker 1: is putting on your heart, but you do need to
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Speaker 1: prayerfully do this. I can't just give you a rote
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Speaker 1: amount of time, be like, it's enough, no matter what
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Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit tells your heart. So start with five
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Speaker 1: minutes though. Set a five minute timer and read your scripture.
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Speaker 1: If you don't know where to start, start in the gospel.
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Speaker 1: I like to start in Mark or in John. Proverbs
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Speaker 1: is another hyper-practical Really great spot to start. Third question.
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Speaker 1: When are you celebrating or sorry, when are you worshiping
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Speaker 1: with God's people? Corporate worship is something we are told
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Speaker 1: to do and to not give up. We see this
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Speaker 1: historically through the old covenant into the new that worship
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Speaker 1: with God's people is key. This is where the Psalms
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Speaker 1: come in. Certainly to sing them like through a Psalter,
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Speaker 1: but To see Psalms as an example of worship, to
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Speaker 1: sing to the Lord a new song, and to allow
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Speaker 1: ourselves to worship, to get beyond ourselves. Worship puts us
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Speaker 1: before the Lord as, I guess it orients us correctly,
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Speaker 1: that we are under a loving and powerful God. Worship corporately.
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Speaker 1: When are you doing it? Fourth, when are you serving?
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Speaker 1: If you've got a family, you've got a spot to serve.
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Speaker 1: If you go to school, you've got a spot to serve.
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Speaker 1: If you have a job, you have a spot to serve.
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Speaker 1: I'm not going to tell you how you have to serve.
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Speaker 1: I am going to tell you, you have to serve.
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Speaker 1: We are called to love God with all we are
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Speaker 1: and to love our neighbors, ourselves, and that includes our enemies.
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Speaker 1: There are people out there to serve. Serve in our
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Speaker 1: quiet listening. Serve with our loud, our intentional evangelism. Serve
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Speaker 1: with our actions. Serve on a daily basis. So questions
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Speaker 1: were asked. When are you getting time with God's word?
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Speaker 1: When are you getting time in God's presence? When are
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Speaker 1: you getting time with God's people? And when are you
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Speaker 1: serving others? These are spiritual practices that we must begin
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Speaker 1: to put into place as followers of Christ. You might
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Speaker 1: be 10 and have faith in Christ. You have repented
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Speaker 1: of your sins and Christ is your savior. You were
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Speaker 1: given the same Holy Spirit. that an adult is given.
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Speaker 1: There's no like 0.5 and then you graduate to the 1.0
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Speaker 1: at some point. Like, let's start figuring out how you
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Speaker 1: live in that then. These are spiritual practices that act
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Speaker 1: as guardrails to help us make the good choices. When
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Speaker 1: I realize that my heart, either when I was 14
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Speaker 1: or now that I'm over 40, when my heart starts
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Speaker 1: to wander, when I start to get frustrated or angry
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Speaker 1: or dissatisfied with life, when I'm depressed, I find I
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Speaker 1: need guardrails. to help my heart turn to Jesus first,
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Speaker 1: because it's never actually as bad as my brain tells me,
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Speaker 1: and I'm never actually as good as my brain tells me.
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Speaker 1: So spiritual practices, then we need healthy habits. Specifically, we're
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Speaker 1: talking about tech habits, but there are habits that support
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Speaker 1: the healthy tech. So for example, I can't just put
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Speaker 1: enough boundaries around my technology that I'll never want to
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Speaker 1: make bad choices. I want to say that again. I
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Speaker 1: can never put enough boundaries around my technology that I
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Speaker 1: will never want to make a bad choice. So then
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Speaker 1: how do I make good choices? I have healthy habits
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Speaker 1: in the rest of my life. Here's some of that
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Speaker 1: I have found were key in my life. So I'll
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Speaker 1: just ask them as questions for you. One, what's your
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Speaker 1: best bedtime for making good decisions? I will say consistent sleep.
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Speaker 1: Sleep is a gift from God for the righteous. And
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Speaker 1: we are to accept said gift and My question to
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Speaker 1: you is, what does that look like for you? Some
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Speaker 1: of you do know your boundaries with sleep. You know
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Speaker 1: you need X number of hours, and that means you
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Speaker 1: have to go to bed at Y time. Some of
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Speaker 1: you don't, and you're more like what I was like.
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Speaker 1: I'm a night owl. I don't naturally go to bed.
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Speaker 1: So I just will iron shirts until one in the
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Speaker 1: morning and get five hours of sleep, and three weeks in,
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Speaker 1: wonder why life is terrible. So what's your best time
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Speaker 1: for good decisions for sleeping? What eating helps you? This
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Speaker 1: is a question I wish I would have thought through
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Speaker 1: more thoroughly younger in life because sometimes it's just genetics.
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Speaker 1: I've been blessed with a body that could consume lots
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Speaker 1: of food. So I consumed lots of food. And what
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Speaker 1: I didn't realize was that I was beginning to eat
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Speaker 1: food to feel good, but it never had derogatory, like, derogatory, degradatory, anyway,
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Speaker 1: never had bad effects. So, like, I didn't, you know,
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Speaker 1: put on tons of weight or anything. This is until
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Speaker 1: COVID when I ate chocolate chip cookies to feel better.
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Speaker 1: And it turns out you can't out-exercise a stress load
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Speaker 1: of chocolate chip cookies, which is when I started going,
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Speaker 1: you know what, maybe, like, I'm seeing bad effects, so
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Speaker 1: I want to eat fewer cookies, but then I'm sad. Interesting.
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Speaker 1: What eating helps you, for me, it actually is the
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Speaker 1: elimination of almost all refined sugars. So I can have
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Speaker 1: honey and maple syrup and stuff, but sugar does something
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Speaker 1: to my brain that triggers a let's party mode. and
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Speaker 1: let's party generally means let's eat more sugar. Just be
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Speaker 1: deliberate in that, because if I get sad and I
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Speaker 1: can't have sugar, what else am I turning to? Turns out,
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Speaker 1: tech is a very close second. For a long time,
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Speaker 1: it was video games. They also make me feel good
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Speaker 1: on demand. Unfortunately, there are some other internet and digital-based,
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Speaker 1: what would you say, mediums that also are all about
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Speaker 1: instant gratification and are much less healthy than sugar and
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Speaker 1: video games. So what eating helps you, uh, when you exercise,
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Speaker 1: what does it look like? You do not have to
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Speaker 1: be God's gift athletics. Uh, in my season of life
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Speaker 1: right now, it looks like walking. I will make deliberate
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Speaker 1: time to walk. I know that's an old man thing
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Speaker 1: to say, but maybe that's your season right now where
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Speaker 1: you just, you don't have the stamina or you're getting
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Speaker 1: over an injury because you over-exercise. I know people that
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Speaker 1: use exercises, their coping mechanism. It's not a They blow
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Speaker 1: out shoulders and knees and get tendon injuries that force
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Speaker 1: them to stop the sports they love and use for
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Speaker 1: their stress control. Like we want to keep our eating ordered.
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Speaker 1: We want to keep our exercise healthy and we want
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Speaker 1: it to be supporting our healthy choices. So when's your bedtime?
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Speaker 1: What do you do for healthy eating? And what does
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Speaker 1: exercise look like for you right now? What's one thing
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Speaker 1: you do for the pure joy of it is our
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Speaker 1: fourth question. So under this section of healthy habits, pure joy,
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Speaker 1: meaning you're not doing this for school scholarship. You're not
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Speaker 1: doing this for your friend group. You're not doing this
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Speaker 1: because you're good at it. You're doing it because you
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Speaker 1: love the process. You just, you love being bad at it.
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Speaker 1: I found a lot of adults, this is like baking,
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Speaker 1: because it's optional food, right? This isn't survival cooking. This
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Speaker 1: is like, I don't know. I just want to try
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Speaker 1: to make mandolins today. And, or madelines? Anyway, those things.
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Speaker 1: Or macaroons. Or like, it's usually French baking, apparently. But
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Speaker 1: like that idea of like, I'm going to do this
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Speaker 1: and be bad at it. Some people get into tinkering
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Speaker 1: on cars or tinkering with bikes or like, whatever, but
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Speaker 1: they're just going to they're going to go and do
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Speaker 1: it and be bad at it and enjoy the process
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Speaker 1: about it. A lot of people start fishing because fishing
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Speaker 1: is hard or golf because golf is hard. And the
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Speaker 1: goal is not go pro. The goal is find something
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Speaker 1: to do, do it with friends. go out and practice
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Speaker 1: every once in a while. It gets you in shape.
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Speaker 1: It makes you want to stretch more because you realize
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Speaker 1: you're not that flexible. But this idea of doing something
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Speaker 1: for joy, draw, paint, sing, bake, do something with your
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Speaker 1: hands at the pace of real life that you may
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Speaker 1: not be naturally good at. Give yourself that space to
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Speaker 1: be bad at it because that's a blessing. And in that,
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Speaker 1: we find the humility to ask questions and the joy
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Speaker 1: of being around others and the ability to learn from
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Speaker 1: others who are already better than us at something. So
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Speaker 1: if we have spiritual practices and healthy hedges, or sorry,
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Speaker 1: healthy habits, then we have safe hedges. Question one for
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Speaker 1: Safe Hedges, who helps monitor your tech? This is not
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Speaker 1: an accountability partner. I grew up in the 90s and
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Speaker 1: early 2000s. An accountability partner was like, if you want
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Speaker 1: to make good decisions, then have someone outside of you
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Speaker 1: police you. That's God. Like that's God's Holy Spirit. That's
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Speaker 1: who's outside of you policing you. There is no additional
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Speaker 1: person that can make you make good choices. They can
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Speaker 1: encourage you. They can challenge you. They can remind you.
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Speaker 1: They can pray for you and with you. But at
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Speaker 1: the end of the day, like it's you and the
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Speaker 1: Lord that are in this relationship. So the question is,
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Speaker 1: who's helping you monitor? I love to make good choices
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Speaker 1: with my technology. So I have a boundary set up.
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Speaker 1: I had a friend set up a password on the
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Speaker 1: app store on my phone. I cannot go online and
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Speaker 1: download any apps. I have to ask this friend to
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Speaker 1: help me by putting in the code. And then I
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Speaker 1: update all of my apps that have gone six months
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Speaker 1: without an update. But I don't need infinite access to
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Speaker 1: the app store because, well, one, I'm ADD. And two,
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Speaker 1: I have a history of using technology to be OK.
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Speaker 1: So if I get stressed at work or on a
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Speaker 1: job or late at night, I'll just download something and
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Speaker 1: blow my night and not get enough sleep or get
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Speaker 1: really stressed and make a poor choice. I haven't played
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Speaker 1: a video game in 15 years. And there is a
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Speaker 1: high likelihood that at some point I'm going to download
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Speaker 1: a video game and play it just because I don't
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Speaker 1: have anything else to do. And it's the middle of
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Speaker 1: the night and I can't sleep. So I remove that. intentionally.
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Speaker 1: That is a way I support the good decisions I
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Speaker 1: want to make. Not because every single moment of a
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Speaker 1: day I'm thinking about video games. It's been 15 years.
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Speaker 1: I am used to it. And I want boundaries that
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Speaker 1: help me make that decision. Similarly, I have Covenant Eyes
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Speaker 1: on my browser. I only have one browser because I
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Speaker 1: only downloaded one browser. I have no social media on
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Speaker 1: my phone. I use it for a living. And I
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Speaker 1: do not have it on my phone because the app
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Speaker 1: experience is way more engrossing than the browser experience. And
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Speaker 1: because I don't need constant access to it because I
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Speaker 1: will doom scroll anything like I doom scroll the weather app.
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Speaker 1: So I do not need social media because I have
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Speaker 1: goals and I have people I want to love and support.
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Speaker 1: And I don't want my technology to distract me from them.
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Speaker 1: So the question for you is who is going to
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Speaker 1: help you monitor your healthy tech, not monitor it for you, but.
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Speaker 1: be the person to set the password or be the
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Speaker 1: person who has, so on Safari, I have covenant eyes
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Speaker 1: because two people who care about me will see everything
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Speaker 1: I look at because I like making good choices. And
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Speaker 1: that's what we're trying to get at here. This is
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Speaker 1: not a way to scare ourselves into not making bad ones,
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Speaker 1: but instead to be deliberate about making good ones. And
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Speaker 1: I promise much like going to bed before midnight, If
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Speaker 1: there were always two other people in the room with you,
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Speaker 1: think about the number of bad choices you would never
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Speaker 1: have made. It's just the way the human body works.
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Speaker 1: We work well with accountability and with very present accountability.
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Speaker 1: And that's what we're trying to do here. So who's
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Speaker 1: gonna help you monitor your tech? It can be a friend,
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Speaker 1: it could be a parent, it could be a mentor.
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Speaker 1: And then who is going to speak life into who
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Speaker 1: you are becoming? So who is going to speak life
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Speaker 1: into who you are becoming gets at this idea of
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Speaker 1: there's who you are currently, and then there's who God
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Speaker 1: is calling you to be. And we need someone who
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Speaker 1: will lovingly correct us and redirect us when we make mistakes.
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Speaker 1: Someone who will bear our burdens with us and help
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Speaker 1: us remove the speck from our eyes. Who are those people?
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Speaker 1: One or two. You don't need 20 people that's constantly
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Speaker 1: peppering you, but you need a couple friends you can
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Speaker 1: trust to say more than just constant agreement. If you
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Speaker 1: have a friend who never disagrees with you, either you're
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Speaker 1: not having deep enough talks or they may not be
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Speaker 1: a real friend. They may either be a fan or
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Speaker 1: they may just be someone who wants to vibe with you.
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Speaker 1: And those people are fun to be around, but they're
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Speaker 1: not great for accountability. They're not great for sharpening you
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Speaker 1: as iron sharpens iron. That requires contact. and generally a
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Speaker 1: kind of contact that bends you out of shape a
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Speaker 1: little bit so that then you can get bent the
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Speaker 1: other way and you end up forming a pretty keen edge.
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Speaker 1: Who can you call on when you need prayer and repentance?
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Speaker 1: Prayer and repentance are a key part of a believer's life.
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Speaker 1: So when we think about guardrails, and these are safe hedges,
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Speaker 1: We need a name. This can be mom or dad,
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Speaker 1: aunt or uncle, a mentor, a counselor, a teacher. This
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Speaker 1: could be a youth leader, like someone that you can call.
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Speaker 1: I need to confess this before you and the Lord.
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Speaker 1: I need help getting right. I need to make sure
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Speaker 1: that my spiritual practices, my healthy habits, and my safe
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Speaker 1: hedges are in fact helping me become more of who
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Speaker 1: Christ has called me to be. All right. So these
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Speaker 1: are our guardrails. Your child will grow in their faith.
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Speaker 1: 93% of undergrad students at George Fox last year through
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Speaker 1: the 2025 academic year said that being at George Fox
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Speaker 1: has helped them grow in their relationship with Jesus. We
15:45
Speaker 1: also want them to grow academically, which means being a
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Speaker 1: part of university with rigorous academic standards and opportunities to
15:53
Speaker 1: be engaged. They have a nationally recognized engineering, nursing, and
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Speaker 1: education programs, as well as chances to study abroad here
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Speaker 1: within the U.S. and then internationally. And finally, personally, to
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Speaker 1: be part of a vibrant campus atmosphere where you can
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Speaker 1: play intramural sports or part of their NCAA Division III
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Speaker 1: athletic programs with 23 sports available. The goal here is
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Speaker 1: to go to a place that's going to support your goals,
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Speaker 1: not try to make you support theirs. To have that
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Speaker 1: goal be to raise you up to be all God's
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Speaker 1: called you to be and to truly equip your young
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Speaker 1: person with my, in my case, my son's or my
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Speaker 1: daughter's to love God and then from their love of
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Speaker 1: God to go wherever God has called them. And that
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Speaker 1: includes being equipped with a degree that will help them
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Speaker 1: do that, to be missionally equipped to love and serve others,
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Speaker 1: to lead where God has planted them in, to know
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Speaker 1: the gospel for themselves and be able to share it
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Speaker 1: with others. So George Fox University is an amazing resource
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Speaker 1: for our kids, for our community here in the Northwest,
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Speaker 1: and for anyone who's looking to raise up a young
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Speaker 1: person who can love God and from that, love others.
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Speaker 1: Then I promise you to build up. So when we
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Speaker 1: talk about building up, Philippians 4 says, whatever is true,
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Speaker 1: whatever is honorable, whatever is just and pure. And I
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Speaker 1: want to specifically settle on this idea that when we
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Speaker 1: build up, we are not just saying what is true. Yes,
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Speaker 1: God is truth. And he is the complete truth. He
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Speaker 1: is truth and love. This is very important because especially recently,
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Speaker 1: I don't know if this has come across your world,
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Speaker 1: but in my world, a lot of people are big
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Speaker 1: on what might be called truth bombing. We want people
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Speaker 1: to hear the truth and then we're just going to
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Speaker 1: like let God pick up the baggage and be like, well,
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Speaker 1: God's going to do the heavy lift. I'm just going
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Speaker 1: to drop the truth and you have to deal with him.
17:34
Speaker 1: The only problem with that is that actually is closer
17:37
Speaker 1: to the way the devil deals with us and less
17:40
Speaker 1: like how Jesus deals with us. Let me be very
17:42
Speaker 1: clear on this. Jesus calls Matthew. He's a tax collector,
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Speaker 1: so he is both a thief and a traitor to
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Speaker 1: his people. He's working with an occupying army, and he
17:50
Speaker 1: is stealing from his neighbors to enrich himself. Jesus calls him,
17:55
Speaker 1: and apparently all he gets is a, follow me. There's no,
17:59
Speaker 1: and I'm going to make sure that you really look
18:01
Speaker 1: bad for these decisions you've made. He calls Peter twice.
18:06
Speaker 1: And I want to focus on the second time with
18:08
Speaker 1: Peter because Peter denies Jesus. He's told he'll deny Jesus.
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Speaker 1: Then he denies Jesus. He feels awful. He then sees
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Speaker 1: Jesus alive twice. I want to read you this first one.
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Speaker 1: This is from John 20, 19 through 23. On the
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Speaker 1: evening of that day, the first day of the week,
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Speaker 1: the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear
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Speaker 1: of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and
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Speaker 1: said to them, peace be with you. When he had
18:30
Speaker 1: said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
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Speaker 1: Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
18:36
Speaker 1: Jesus said to them again, peace be with you as
18:39
Speaker 1: the father has sent me. Even so, I am sending you.
18:43
Speaker 1: And when he had said this, he breathed on them
18:45
Speaker 1: and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. If you
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Speaker 1: forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If
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Speaker 1: you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld. John 20,
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Speaker 1: 19 through 23, Peter is in the room. He hears it.
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Speaker 1: He says, I forgive you. Here is my spirit. Go
19:04
Speaker 1: and do this work of bringing the forgiveness through repentance
19:08
Speaker 1: to the world. But don't worry, because the very next verse,
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Speaker 1: Jesus comes back because Thomas wasn't in the room. He appears,
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Speaker 1: Thomas is like, I'll never believe unless I put my
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Speaker 1: hand in his side. And Jesus appears and goes, Thomas,
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Speaker 1: put your hand in my side. And he says, Lord,
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Speaker 1: he goes, blessed are you because you believe, but blessed
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Speaker 1: are those who have not seen and believe. Then that
19:29
Speaker 1: brings us to John 21. Peter's reaction to these two
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Speaker 1: appearances of Jesus and Jesus himself saying, I forgive you
19:35
Speaker 1: of your sins is John 21. I'm going fishing. And
19:41
Speaker 1: it's only fun. Like that's, that's rebellious and it's not great,
19:45
Speaker 1: but like, it's so relatable. Like I'm so encouraged by
19:48
Speaker 1: Peter that this is the dude that Jesus is like
19:50
Speaker 1: on this rock, we're going to build our, build my church.
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Speaker 1: Peter goes fishing. Some of the other disciples come with him.
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Speaker 1: He sees Jesus alive. He is aware that Jesus is
20:00
Speaker 1: the risen Messiah. The savior of the world has heard
20:02
Speaker 1: him say, your sins are forgiven and And he simply
20:05
Speaker 1: can't buy it. He does not believe it. He's like,
20:07
Speaker 1: I've out send the living God of the universe and
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Speaker 1: I need to go fishing because I simply can't come
20:12
Speaker 1: back to Jesus. Like I I'm too far gone. I've
20:14
Speaker 1: made too many mistakes. John 21. Jesus shows up and
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Speaker 1: is like, have you guys, he actually says, have you children,
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Speaker 1: have you caught anything? And they go, no, cast the nets.
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Speaker 1: They catch 153 fish. Peter freaks out. Uh, he throws
20:28
Speaker 1: his clothes back on. He's like stripped down to his
20:30
Speaker 1: under robes. He throws his robes back on and swims
20:33
Speaker 1: a hundred yards back to the shore. And then apparently
20:35
Speaker 1: waits for the boat to arrive and then drags the
20:37
Speaker 1: net in himself. I'm like, you can see the man
20:40
Speaker 1: is disjointed, right? Like he is out of his mind, um, with,
20:44
Speaker 1: stress and was seeing Jesus there. And it's probably like excited,
20:47
Speaker 1: but then also like doesn't go to the fire right away,
20:49
Speaker 1: like waits for everyone else to run themselves in. The
20:52
Speaker 1: picture is fantastic. Goes and Jesus has this conversation with him.
20:57
Speaker 1: He says, Simon, son of John, do you love me
21:02
Speaker 1: more than these? John 21, 15. This is the truth talk, right?
21:07
Speaker 1: This is the conversation. Simon, do you love me more
21:10
Speaker 1: than these? Jesus brings truth, but he brings it in love.
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Speaker 1: And he's appears to be referencing the fish, not the disciples. Now,
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Speaker 1: do you love me more than these other 11? Well,
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Speaker 1: 10 at this point. But do you love me more
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Speaker 1: than these fish, these things you went back to, to
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Speaker 1: get control of your life again, to feel like you
21:25
Speaker 1: have some consistency? Do you love me more than you
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Speaker 1: love your ability to control your emotions and your ability
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Speaker 1: to feel right before me? He says, yes, Lord, I
21:35
Speaker 1: love you. And he says, feed my little sheep. And
21:37
Speaker 1: then it happens three times. And he's crestfallen that Jesus
21:40
Speaker 1: asked him a third time, And Jesus simply gives him
21:42
Speaker 1: the same direction. He's speaking truth. Simon, you are mine. Simon,
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Speaker 1: you are loved. Simon, you are redeemed. Simon, I paid
21:49
Speaker 1: for the sins that I called before you even committed them.
21:52
Speaker 1: And I love you still. You can't out sin the
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Speaker 1: loving father and go and do the good works I've
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Speaker 1: called you to do. Be faithful with where I've put
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Speaker 1: you because you love me because I loved you first.
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Speaker 1: That's it. Beautiful conversation because it's the opposite of how
22:09
Speaker 1: we handle it. Think about this. The last time you
22:11
Speaker 1: made a mistake that you knew was wrong. Now, this
22:14
Speaker 1: could be something like eating food to feel good or
22:17
Speaker 1: sleeping longer than you needed to just because you were
22:19
Speaker 1: kind of bummed out and it made the pain go away.
22:22
Speaker 1: Went online and you looked at things that stirred up
22:25
Speaker 1: lust inside you for instant gratification or you played a game,
22:29
Speaker 1: not because the game was fun, but because life wasn't.
22:31
Speaker 1: And you used to kind of medicate and numb your
22:34
Speaker 1: stress and your anxiety and your fears. These are all
22:37
Speaker 1: things that we do on purpose when we knew they
22:40
Speaker 1: were wrong. So what happens next? Well, the conversation beforehand was,
22:45
Speaker 1: I should go do this thing. And you have the
22:47
Speaker 1: fight inside your head. You're like, well... I know that
22:50
Speaker 1: would be fun, but like, I just don't like the
22:52
Speaker 1: way I feel afterwards. And the voice goes, yeah, but
22:54
Speaker 1: like you're super stressed out and you've been on a
22:56
Speaker 1: really good streak and it would just be this once.
22:59
Speaker 1: No one has to know about it. And frankly, it's
23:00
Speaker 1: not even that bad. And God's super gracious and he forgives.
23:03
Speaker 1: So like what we'll do is we'll just like a little,
23:07
Speaker 1: we'll just see how it goes. We'll kind of show
23:09
Speaker 1: up and just see where it goes from there. And
23:12
Speaker 1: eventually you make said mistake. You go to the place,
23:15
Speaker 1: you do the stuff, you see the people, you, you,
23:17
Speaker 1: whatever the mistake was. What happens to that exact same voice?
23:20
Speaker 1: You had a conversation. You're like, I know I shouldn't. Yeah,
23:23
Speaker 1: but wouldn't this be a good time? Yeah, but someone
23:26
Speaker 1: would find out. Yeah, but they would understand, right? Like
23:29
Speaker 1: you have a back and forth and then you make
23:32
Speaker 1: the mistake. And then what happens to that other voice?
23:36
Speaker 1: It speaks in perfectly true things. You knew this was wrong.
23:38
Speaker 1: You've done this before. So-and-so would be so mad if
23:42
Speaker 1: they found out about this. Like it speaks truth. But
23:45
Speaker 1: is it in love? Does it seek restoration and redemption? No.
23:49
Speaker 1: One of the names for the devil is actually the accuser.
23:52
Speaker 1: And he'll add little subtle lies that are very believable
23:55
Speaker 1: to this. Like, you knew this was wrong. That's true.
23:59
Speaker 1: You are bad because you did it and you knew
24:02
Speaker 1: it was wrong. Also, not entirely untrue, but if you're
24:05
Speaker 1: a follower in Christ, you aren't bad because you made
24:07
Speaker 1: a mistake. You are fallen. You need to repent. But
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Speaker 1: you're a follower of Christ. You are redeemed. Even when
24:14
Speaker 1: you made a mistake. That is really, really important. Your
24:18
Speaker 1: actual lack of repentance, the thing that Peter did is
24:20
Speaker 1: the thing that marks rebellion because you actually believe you
24:23
Speaker 1: somehow are more bad than God is good. This truth
24:26
Speaker 1: speaking without love, just truth bombing on people is what
24:30
Speaker 1: the devil does. It's how he shames us and beats
24:32
Speaker 1: us down. And the difference between guilt and shame is
24:35
Speaker 1: that shame doesn't have a solution. Like you are dumb.
24:39
Speaker 1: You are bad. You are broken. Doesn't bring resolution. I
24:44
Speaker 1: have done something wrong and need to tell someone. I
24:47
Speaker 1: wronged that person and need to make it right. I
24:49
Speaker 1: have taken and need to give back. Guilt drives us
24:53
Speaker 1: towards action. And so that is a very loving conscious,
24:57
Speaker 1: conscience tap from the Holy Spirit. That's beautiful because it
25:00
Speaker 1: reminds us of what's true. I'm a child of God.
25:02
Speaker 1: I don't live like this. That is, that is Holy
25:05
Speaker 1: Spirit conviction, but not condemnation. Condemnation comes with no solution.
25:10
Speaker 1: And I want to note that because as we talk
25:12
Speaker 1: about building up, we want to, use our voice to
25:15
Speaker 1: build others up, to bring conviction and love and to
25:18
Speaker 1: help other people recognize, hey, you're not walking in freedom
25:22
Speaker 1: that Christ has called you to. And we do not
25:24
Speaker 1: want to simply truth bomb on people either on the
25:26
Speaker 1: internet or in real life, in our church or within
25:29
Speaker 1: our family, or even to our own selves. We've got
25:31
Speaker 1: to recognize when our own voice picks up the lies
25:34
Speaker 1: of the devil and starts repeating them to ourselves. Ephesians 4.29 says,
25:39
Speaker 1: let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth, but
25:41
Speaker 1: only such as is good for building up and fits
25:43
Speaker 1: the occasion that it may Give grace to those who hear.
25:46
Speaker 1: So we're not going to bring corrupting and destructive talk,
25:50
Speaker 1: even if it smells like truth. Initially, we need to
25:53
Speaker 1: make sure it's truth and love. Grace and truth, as
25:57
Speaker 1: we are told Christ is, he is full of grace
26:00
Speaker 1: and truth, both of them completely. And then Luke 6,
26:03
Speaker 1: 43 through 45, for no good tree bears bad fruit,
26:08
Speaker 1: nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit. For
26:10
Speaker 1: each tree is known by its fruit. For figs are
26:13
Speaker 1: not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from
26:15
Speaker 1: a bramble bush. The good person out of the good
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Speaker 1: treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person
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Speaker 1: out of the evil treasure produces evil. For out of
26:24
Speaker 1: the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks. When we
26:27
Speaker 1: talk about speaking, we want to make sure we speak
26:30
Speaker 1: truth and love. We want to make sure that if,
26:32
Speaker 1: by the way, the good person isn't good because they
26:36
Speaker 1: do good. They're good because their heart is good. And
26:39
Speaker 1: what makes our heart good? Faith in Christ, being made
26:43
Speaker 1: a new creation, dying to our old selves and being
26:45
Speaker 1: raised as a new self, not Nathan 2.0, but Jesus
26:49
Speaker 1: within me, now living through me. That is what bears
26:53
Speaker 1: good fruit. So when I see bad fruit, I don't
26:54
Speaker 1: just stuff it away or pull it off and hide
26:57
Speaker 1: it somewhere. I go, oh no, like something's wrong with
27:00
Speaker 1: my heart and I need Jesus to do a good
27:02
Speaker 1: work here. Third and finally, we look to help. Galatians 6,
27:05
Speaker 1: 1 and 2 says this, brothers, if anyone is caught
27:07
Speaker 1: in any transgression, you who are spiritual, should restore him
27:11
Speaker 1: in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest
27:14
Speaker 1: you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens and so
27:17
Speaker 1: fulfill the law of Christ. So we're going to love
27:19
Speaker 1: our neighbor, which includes our enemies, and then help other
27:22
Speaker 1: people do the same. Go share the gospel with all nations,
27:26
Speaker 1: baptizing in the name of the Father and the Son
27:28
Speaker 1: and the Holy Spirit, so that they can hear the
27:30
Speaker 1: good news of the gospel that they are to love
27:33
Speaker 1: God with all they are and to love their neighbor
27:35
Speaker 1: as themselves. We are to catch others in transgression, not
27:39
Speaker 1: to expose them, not to truth bomb them, not to
27:41
Speaker 1: make ourselves a name on our YouTube channel or our TikTok,
27:45
Speaker 1: but to lovingly correct them. Because we are told in
27:48
Speaker 1: James 5, 19 through 20, my brothers, if anyone among
27:51
Speaker 1: you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,
27:53
Speaker 1: let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from
27:56
Speaker 1: his wandering will save his soul from death and will
27:59
Speaker 1: cover a multitude of sins. So what do we do
28:02
Speaker 1: with someone who is anxious, who is depressed, who is unhealthy?
28:04
Speaker 1: This is not your job to save them. You can lovingly,
28:08
Speaker 1: if you're young, like we're talking elementary school, you find
28:10
Speaker 1: a loving adult. If you're in upper junior high and
28:13
Speaker 1: high school, loving it, you engage that loving conversation to
28:17
Speaker 1: an extent. And then if this person is beyond your help,
28:21
Speaker 1: like they are actively depressed, they're actively self-destructive, they're actively
28:25
Speaker 1: believing lies. You engage them with loving adults because you
28:27
Speaker 1: care about them. You're looking out for their good. not
28:29
Speaker 1: simply for their comfort. It's not about, well, I don't
28:31
Speaker 1: want to make them uncomfortable. Like, yeah, but we want
28:34
Speaker 1: them to be whole in Christ and there's freedom for
28:36
Speaker 1: them to have. So this is not for you to
28:38
Speaker 1: nitpick their personal decisions. This is for you to ensure
28:42
Speaker 1: that sin is not taking a hold in their life.
28:44
Speaker 1: And if you're seeing bad fruit, that you lovingly go
28:46
Speaker 1: to them first, then you go with a witness, then
28:49
Speaker 1: you go and bring them to someone who can help
28:51
Speaker 1: and love them because this is what looking to help
28:54
Speaker 1: looks like. So we think about our Philippians 4 test,
28:57
Speaker 1: young people, we put up guardrails, We build up with
29:00
Speaker 1: our words and our actions, not just with truth bombing,
29:03
Speaker 1: but truth and love. And we look to help. So
29:07
Speaker 1: please go and talk with a friend, a family member,
29:10
Speaker 1: a teacher, a mentor, a pastor about what guardrails and
29:13
Speaker 1: building up and looking to help can look like for yourself,
29:16
Speaker 1: for your youth group, for your church, and for your community.
29:18
Speaker 1: I hope this is encouraging to you. If it was,
29:20
Speaker 1: share it with a friend. Have a conversation with your family.
29:23
Speaker 1: Pray into what the Lord is doing in your own heart.
29:24
Speaker 1: And then if you have any questions, you can reach
29:26
Speaker 1: out to me, Nathan at GospelTech.net. or on Instagram, Facebook,
29:29
Speaker 1: and YouTube at LoveGodUseTech. And we'll have more conversation next
29:33
Speaker 1: week as we continue to talk about how we can
29:35
Speaker 1: love God and use tech. Talk with you then.