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Doomscrolling Done Right · Pastor John Piper's answers

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  Speaker 1: You take a break, you pull out your phone, scroll
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  Speaker 1: social media, and on any given day there's a good
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  Speaker 1: chance you'll be met with a disaster in your feed,
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  Speaker 1: war destruction, the aftermath of a hurricane, an accident bad
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  Speaker 1: enough to get national attention, silent security camera footage of
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  Speaker 1: some evil, and you feel a weight in your chest
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  Speaker 1: because you want to care about the suffering on your screen.
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  Speaker 1: You really want to care, but honestly, it's just too
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  Speaker 1: much and it a'll feel so remote. So what do
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  Speaker 1: we do with the heaviest tragedies on our screens? Today?
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  Speaker 1: On Ask Pastor John Doom Scrolling done Right. This very
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  Speaker 1: good question is from an anonymous listener to the podcast
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  Speaker 1: about a Bible text that we are going to read
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  Speaker 1: together in just a couple of days on Saturday, Pastor John,
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  Speaker 1: thank you for this podcast. In Luke thirteen, verses one
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  Speaker 1: to five, Jesus responds to two tragic incidents where people
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  Speaker 1: are killed, apparently in very noteworthy events that spread around
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  Speaker 1: fast like what we think of today as trending headline news.
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  Speaker 1: But then oddly he takes those stories and calls for
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  Speaker 1: repentance from all people in this example, First, do you
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  Speaker 1: think God intends for us to see or read about
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  Speaker 1: tragedies of others is a normal part of life, and
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  Speaker 1: if he does, that seems to change how I view
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  Speaker 1: news on my phone. Secondly, the purpose for it. Why
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  Speaker 1: do you think Jesus connects the headline suffering others face
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  Speaker 1: with the need for repentance from those who are simply
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  Speaker 1: passive onlookers to that suffering.
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  Speaker 2: This text Luke thirteen one to five had a powerful
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  Speaker 2: effect on me years ago as I was cleaning a room.
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  Speaker 2: It was so powerful I remember the very thing I
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  Speaker 2: was doing with the vacuum cleaner, cleaning a room in
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  Speaker 2: my house, listening to a cassette sermon for Arsie sproll
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  Speaker 2: entitled the Misplaced Locusts of Amazement. That was the name
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  Speaker 2: of the sermon, which I was very fascinated by because
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  Speaker 2: I don't know what the worldly meant, and it was
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  Speaker 2: a sermon on this text Luke thirteen one to five,
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  Speaker 2: And it shocked me. His sermon shocked me into a
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  Speaker 2: reality that ought to be plain to us as Bible people,
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  Speaker 2: but so often isn't. So let me read the text,
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  Speaker 2: because I don't think most people aren't going to have
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  Speaker 2: it in their head. And you look for the misplaced
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  Speaker 2: amazement in this text. There were some present at that
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  Speaker 2: time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilot
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  Speaker 2: had mingled with their sacrifices. So evidently Pilot slaughtered some
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  Speaker 2: worshippers and took some of their blood and mingled it
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  Speaker 2: with the blood of the sheep that they were offering
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  Speaker 2: in sacrifice. And some people brought Jesus the news of
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  Speaker 2: this atrocity. Keep going, And Jesus answered them, do you
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  Speaker 2: think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the
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  Speaker 2: other Galileans because they suffered in this way? So what
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  Speaker 2: these friends of Jesus seemed to assume is that to
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  Speaker 2: die in this terrible way must mean you've done something
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  Speaker 2: exceptionally evil. And to that assumption, Jesus responds his verse three, No,
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  Speaker 2: I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all
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  Speaker 2: likewise perish. So Jesus denies that there is a correlation
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  Speaker 2: between the degree that people suffer and how bad they are. No, no,
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  Speaker 2: don't do that. Don't look at that. In fact, he
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  Speaker 2: goes so far as to say, you deserve the same thing,
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  Speaker 2: like WHOA. I didn't ask you to say that when
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  Speaker 2: I was bringing you this news. And now he takes
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  Speaker 2: it even further and says this, This is verse four,
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  Speaker 2: And those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell
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  Speaker 2: and killed them, do you think that they were worse
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  Speaker 2: offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? So
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  Speaker 2: he moves from an atrocity caused by an evil man
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  Speaker 2: pilot to an accident or insurance companies would call it
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  Speaker 2: an act of God, a disaster of a falling tower
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  Speaker 2: with eighteen random people killed underneath the crashing tower, like
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  Speaker 2: a crane falling over in our day. And he asked
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  Speaker 2: the same question, were they worse than you because they
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  Speaker 2: died like that? And here's verse five? No, I tell you,
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  Speaker 2: but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. So
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  Speaker 2: what's the point of that story? The point is, well,
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  Speaker 2: there's two ways to say it. It's in what Jesus
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  Speaker 2: denies and what he affirms. What he denies is that
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  Speaker 2: we can identify different degrees of badness in people, from
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  Speaker 2: different degrees of suffering that they experience. He says, no,
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  Speaker 2: that's not true, don't do that. And what he affirms
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  Speaker 2: is that you the ones asking me this question, And
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  Speaker 2: I think that implies all of us are just as
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  Speaker 2: liable to perishing as they are. Unless you repent, you're
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  Speaker 2: going to likewise perish. Now think about that for a minute.
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  Speaker 2: The word likewise does not mean with the same exact
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  Speaker 2: kind of death. That would be contradictory because he says
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  Speaker 2: to everybody that if you don't repent, you will die
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  Speaker 2: the way Pilot killed people. And if you don't repent,
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  Speaker 2: you're going to die under a falling tower. Well, you
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  Speaker 2: can't have it both ways, So the likewise doesn't mean
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  Speaker 2: precisely the same kind of death. Have your throat slit
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  Speaker 2: by pilot soldiers or die under a crashing tower. And
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  Speaker 2: the word perish can't mean only physical death because he
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  Speaker 2: says you won't experience it if you repent, Well, everybody dies.
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  Speaker 2: If you repent, you're going to die. So unless you repent,
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  Speaker 2: you're going to perish. Must mean something more than after
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  Speaker 2: physical death, namely perish in final judgment and hell. So
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  Speaker 2: here's the conclusion. Jesus is affirming that the atrocity that
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  Speaker 2: happened to the first group and the calamity that happened
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  Speaker 2: to the second group are not a sign of their
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  Speaker 2: exceptional evil, but a reminder that all of us are
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  Speaker 2: so evil that we deserve hell. The stunning thing for
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  Speaker 2: Jesus to do and to say, and what rc sproll
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  Speaker 2: meant by the misplaced locust of amazement, is that Jesus
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  Speaker 2: is saying, your amazement that some people died a terrible
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  Speaker 2: death is misplaced. What you ought to be amazed at
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  Speaker 2: is that you weren't among the number. You weren't among
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  Speaker 2: those whom pilot killed. That's what should amaze you. You
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  Speaker 2: weren't under the tower when it fell. That's the amazing thing.
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  Speaker 2: That you and I are still breathing and have some
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  Speaker 2: time to repent so that we won't perish. That's amazing,
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  Speaker 2: because we deserve to be under the tower. We deserve
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  Speaker 2: to be with our throats slit, just like those poor worshipers.
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  Speaker 2: This is a full scale indictment of the human race,
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  Speaker 2: just breathtaking. It is a declaration that our sinfulness is
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  Speaker 2: so deep and so thorough and such an indignity to
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  Speaker 2: God that every human being deserves to perish. So the
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  Speaker 2: answer to the question why did Jesus connect the headline
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  Speaker 2: suffering to the need for repentance in the onlookers, is
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  Speaker 2: that that's one of God's purposes in the headline suffering,
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  Speaker 2: don't point your finger at the bad people who just die.
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  Speaker 2: Don't point your finger. Rather be reminded that's what you deserve.
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  Speaker 2: Every time you read a headline, every time you see
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  Speaker 2: a hurricane or a tornado or some terrible flood or disease.
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  Speaker 2: What you're supposed to say is I deserve to die,
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  Speaker 2: and you can escape it. You can escape God's judgment
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  Speaker 2: by repenting, by turning to Jesus and saying, I'm done
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  Speaker 2: with sin, I hate my sin, I need a savior.
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  Speaker 2: I think this goes a long way to answering the
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  Speaker 2: other question, does God intend for us to see or
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  Speaker 2: read about the tragedies of others? And I think the
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  Speaker 2: answer is yes, if, big, if if. The effect of
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  Speaker 2: this awareness, this knowledge of suffering, doesn't just depress us
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  Speaker 2: or paralyze us or fascinate us, but makes us people
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  Speaker 2: who are more humble, more loving, more christ exalting. So
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  Speaker 2: looking at the news day by day on your phone,
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  Speaker 2: looking at the news just because it's interesting or shocking
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  Speaker 2: or titillating is not good. That's not a good motivation.
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  Speaker 2: Just want a little eye candy to shake me up,
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  Speaker 2: stir up my adrenaline or something. There are good reasons
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  Speaker 2: for knowing about the suffering of others. There are I'll
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  Speaker 2: give you six real quick. First, Jesus wants us to
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  Speaker 2: repent of our own sin when we see the suffering
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  Speaker 2: of others. That's a good fruit. That's what he wanted
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  Speaker 2: to happen here. You deserve the same thing, so repent.
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  Speaker 2: That's what suffering should do to you, make you penitent. Second,
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  Speaker 2: he wants us to see God's sovereignty over suffering, turning
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  Speaker 2: it for his good purposes. Philippians one twelve Paul's imprisonment
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  Speaker 2: advances the gospel he told them about it. He wants
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  Speaker 2: them to know about his imprisonment and how God is
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  Speaker 2: sovereign over it. Third, he wants us to prepare for
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  Speaker 2: our own suffering, which Jesus promises is coming in Matthew
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  Speaker 2: twenty four nine. You're going to suffer. Therefore, to hear
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  Speaker 2: about suffering in the gospels and be told about what's
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  Speaker 2: coming is useful for our faith. Fourth, he wants us
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  Speaker 2: to be made bold by the suffering of other Christians
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  Speaker 2: that we hear about. First the Solonians one sixth. He
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  Speaker 2: tells them about the suffering of the other Christians, so
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  Speaker 2: that they would be emboldened to be real and stand firm. Fifth,
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  Speaker 2: he wants us to take heart that we are not
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  Speaker 2: alone when we suffer, because Christians all over the world
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  Speaker 2: are suffering. First Peter five nine, that's what he does.
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  Speaker 2: He tells them about all that suffering all over the world,
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  Speaker 2: so that we will know we're not alone in this.
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  Speaker 2: And then finally number six, he wants us to be
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  Speaker 2: aware of the suffering where we can make a difference
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  Speaker 2: by ministering to others. Listen to Jesus, parable King. Jesus
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  Speaker 2: will say to those on his right, come you, blessed
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  Speaker 2: of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you. For
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  Speaker 2: I was hungry and you gave me food. I was
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  Speaker 2: thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger
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  Speaker 2: and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me.
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  Speaker 2: I was sick and you visited me. I was in
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  Speaker 2: p and you came to me. You can't do any
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  Speaker 2: of those if you don't know they're happening. If you
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  Speaker 2: don't know about the suffering of Christians, we are not
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  Speaker 2: God not close with this. This is really emotionally a
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  Speaker 2: big deal. We are not God and we cannot handle
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  Speaker 2: emotionally all the suffering of the world. We just can't.
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  Speaker 2: It would crush us if we saw everything happening right
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  Speaker 2: now that's painful in the world. It would absolutely devastate
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  Speaker 2: us emotionally. We can't handle it. We're not God. We
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  Speaker 2: should want to know the suffering that moves us to
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  Speaker 2: action and makes us better Christians.
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  Speaker 1: Every time you see footage of a hurricane or tornado
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  Speaker 1: or terrible flood or disease, what you're supposed to say
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  Speaker 1: is I deserve to die, and you can escape God's
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  Speaker 1: judgment by repenting, by turning to Jesus and saying I'm
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  Speaker 1: done with sin, I hate my sin, I need a savior. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: that is doom scrolling done right. When we see the
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  Speaker 1: headline about hurricane, flood, an accident, a war, disaster, it's
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  Speaker 1: a personal wake up call to turn from our sin
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  Speaker 1: and to turn towards the only one who actually can
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  Speaker 1: defeat all the evil of this world. Thank you, pastor John.
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  Speaker 1: And of course none of this gets in the way
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  Speaker 1: of tangible donations to relief efforts. Obviously that's part of
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  Speaker 1: this too. We want to respond to things that we
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  Speaker 1: see with very tangible means of service as well on
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  Speaker 1: this topic of screens. When it comes to the worst
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  Speaker 1: of our compulsive phone habits, we have covered a lot
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  Speaker 1: of ground on the podcast. You can see my summary
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  Speaker 1: digest in the Aspestor John Book on pages two seventy
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  Speaker 1: seven to two ninety on smartphone, social media and selfie sticks.
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  Speaker 1: There's a lot there. A lot has been covered. And
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  Speaker 1: when it comes to human limits, in God's limitless grace
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  Speaker 1: next time, God promises to repay us in eternity. So
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  Speaker 1: does that mean God owes us that's next. I'm Tony Rag.
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  Speaker 1: You will see you on Monday.