The Valley Church of Christ

Series: Daniel (Faith among Babylonians)

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

A few months ago I was doing work at our kitchen table while Ashley was with the girls in our room. She asked me to pull out dinner at a certain time. I was hard at work and at some point the smoke alarm went off. Dinner wasn’t due to be done for another 15-20 minutes, so I thought it was just giving off a little smoke, I fanned the alarm with a towel, it shut off, and I got back to work. But soon the alarm went off again. I went back to fanning the alarm, but more alarms started going off. The girls wanted to come out, but I told them, “No, it’s too loud, just wait until dinner is done cooking.” At some point it occurred to me that I should check what was going on with dinner in the oven. As soon as I opened the oven, smoke billowed out and eventually cleared to reveal a dinner that had been burnt to a crisp. And that’s when I finally took another look around the room and finally saw that the whole house was thick with smoke. I had thought there was just a little natural smoke being given off, but evidently I wasn’t seeing things right. Smoke was all around me and alarms were going off, but I couldn’t see it because I was convinced I still  had time.

Writing over 600 years after Babylon had fallen, in Revelation John depicts the wicked city in rebellion against God as a wicked, unfaithful woman named Babylon because he wants Christians to recognize that while literal Babylon has fallen, the spirit of Babylon is well and alive in their cities, whether we are in Laodicea or Phoenix. As preacher Jeff Wilson says, “It is always Babylon out there.” And now in our age of technology, we have built an electronic tower of Babel that puts the peak of Babylonian technology and culture in our pockets.

Like sitting in a room that gradually fills with smoke, it is hard to see Babylon for what it is when you are living in Babylon, working for Babylon, when Babylon is the one teaching you, and when you are convinced you live among the brave and the free in the greatest country in the world. It can be hard to imagine that there is a different way of thinking, learning, working, and living — or why anyone would want to do anything differently.

Today, we will note four things Babylon does in verses 1-7.

What Babylon Does (Daniel 1:1-7)

1. Babylon believes their power and their gods run the world (vs. 2). Nebuchadnezzar takes the vessels of the true God’s house and puts them in the house of his God. This is what ancient empires commonly did. In fact, when Babylon itself had been defeated by Elam, Elam took Babylon’s statue of Marduk to its capital city only for it to be recaptured years later and brought back to Babylon. They think, “We won, so that means either that our god is bigger than your god or your god joined our side.” Later, though God has told him otherwise in a dream, Nebuchadnezzar will only see his power as the reason for Babylon’s success, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” (4:30).

And yet, verse 2 says that “The Lord gave … Judah into his hand.” Babylon believes their ways, their gods, and their technology run the world, and that’s a problem because that means they don’t know how the world would keep on going without Babylon. How would things keep going without Babylonian power? gods? businesses? technology? education? And when we think we can’t live without something — we worship it.

The kingdoms of this world forget that the world has existed for a long time and that there is a God, king, and kingdom that both precedes them and will still be around after them: the kingdom of God. The God of heaven gave Babylon its power and would take it away, and the same will be true of every kingdom. Every rule, authority, and power must be destroyed (1 Cor. 15:24). Babylon doesn’t keep the world turning, God Almighty does.

2. Babylon values the young, the competent, and the good-looking (vs. 3-4). This was the Babylonian way. Other empires simply scattered people and had no use for them. Babylon operated differently. Their empire was rapidly expanding and they needed competent people to help run it. So, when they conquered nations, they did as they do with Israel here: they bring some from the royal family and nobility who are young, without blemish, good-looking, wise, knowledgeable, and competent to stand in the king’s palace. It is certainly a blessing from God to have any of those things, but do we see in this how Babylon views people? One author (Longman) put it like this: “The Babylonian court apparently did not want unattractive smart people or dumb attractive people, but rather people who were pleasant to look at and intelligent enough to contribute to the management of the state.” In the eyes of Babylon, people are valued for their usefulness. People are tools to bring us pleasure and get stuff done — and if you don’t fit the mold, you’re out.

We live in the thick of a world that prizes this utilitarian ethic: youth, good looks, and intelligence above the image of God. When Ashley has been pregnant the doctors ask if we want genetic testing — see what blemishes there are so we can determine if the baby will have a life Babylon deems worth living (i.e., do they fit into Babylon or not?). While we give glory to God for our strength and abilities, we need to remember that all humans are made in God’s image: the poor and rich, the old, young, and not yet born, those with high IQs and low IQs, those who live in Babylon and those who do not, those who have blemishes and those who do not.

3. Babylon indoctrinates people in its pagan worldview (vs. 4-5). These smart and good-looking youths are brought in to be educated in Babylon University for three years to learn the literature and language of the Chaldeans. Babylon always demands: you will talk like us, learn like us, think like us, act like us. Through the recovery of ancient cuneiform tablets, we know they would have likely learned the ancient Mesopotamian myths about the creation (Enuma Elish), the flood (Gilgamesh Epic), and more. It is possible they would have been trained in the Babylonian ways of divination — interpreting sheep organs and the stars to divine the future. They would have been taught a Babylon-centric worldview where all real history that matters begins and ends with Babylon. Babylon’s worldview encompasses everything. It changes how they view history, science, technology, government, and religion.

Are we able to see that it is no different today? And that can be okay — Daniel and his friends were educated in Babylon and by Babylon. But here’s the difference: they were forced to go to Babylon University, and they knew what it was. Whether we live in Babylon, work in and for Babylon, or go to school in Babylon, we can be holy, but only if we are fully trained in the ways of the New Jerusalem and see Babylon for what it is. But it is hard to see the smoke we’re sitting in. Whether we are at school or in company-sponsored training: we are not learning mere objective facts. The questions they ask and the answers they give are part of larger worldviews. Whether we are talking about history, social studies, economics, business, literature, science, or technology: there are Christian ways of viewing and doing these things, and then there are Babylonian ways of doing and viewing these things. Parents: we need to prepare our kids to see the difference. Babylon is training them eight hours a day. They have set the agenda for what education even means. Are we training them in the ways of the New Jerusalem so they can see all of Babylon for what it is?

4. Babylon tries to co-opt our identity (vs. 6-7). It is hard for us to see it, but Daniel, Hannaniah, Mishael, and Azariah are all Hebrew names that praise the name of Yahweh and Elohim, but do you notice what Babylon does? They changed their names to Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego — names that extol the gods of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar later says of Daniel that he was named “Belteshazzar after the name of my god.” (4:8)

Names mean something. If someone remembers our name, it means something — they remembered us and who we are. And naming someone denotes authority over a person. Adam named the animals and he named Eve. Eve named Cain. Naming says I have the authority to say who and what you are, I take responsibility for you.

Do we see what Babylon is doing? They have taken them from their homeland, put them in school for three years, and changed their names to Babylonian names. They are attempting to re-write who these young men are from the ground up.

And, as we will talk about next time, there’s a lot of this that Daniel and his friends don’t seem to fight. We will get into that next time, but what we need to realize for now is that this is what the kingdoms of the world do. It’s not something to pull our hair out over — it happened to Daniel and his friends and they are some of the most righteous people we read about in Scripture. But we also know that we are only told about these exiles. Verse 6 — there were others. We don’t know how they responded to all this.

The question is not whether or not we live or work or are educated in Babylon, the question is whether we recognize it for what it is. Do we see it? I was sitting in the smoke and because I believed I was safe, all the alarms were going off and I had no clue.

John 17:15–18 ESV, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”

Series: Christians and Technology

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Read Philippians 1:27-2:2. Paul is talking about a life that is worthy of the gospel. What does that look like? Christians to stand firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, to have the same love, and to be in full accord (harmony). Could we not say that the Christian life is to be one of connectedness with each other?

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook and modern social media who now owns Instagram, says this is why he created Facebook: “We are a company that focuses on connecting people. One of the reasons I started Facebook was that at the time you could use the internet to find almost anything except for the thing that matters most of all — people.” I believe him. And many of us have experienced the connectedness our technology can foster. We can organize in-person gatherings, share prayer requests, let more people know about events like singings or VBS. We can connect with people who are in a similar station in life as us in order to encourage and share resources — whether a group for Christian moms or even for preachers. YouTube and podcasts can connect us with the wisdom of Christian teachers in other places. We can use technology to help us connect in the ways Philippians talks about.

And yet, do these positive, God-honoring connections describe the majority of our experiences on social media? Zuckerberg created Facebook to connect us to people, but the evidence continues to demonstrate that for most of us, social media is having the opposite affect. In an interview, Chamath Palihapitya — former VP of user growth at Facebook — said this of social media platforms: “They are literally at a point now where we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works… It is eroding the core foundation of how people behave by and between each other.” He’s talking about the large-scale affects of social media on our society and our communities.

But this is not just true on a large-scale societal level, evidence demonstrates this is true for individuals like you and me. The evidence is pretty plain at this point that heavy users of social media actually feel far less connected with others (2017, American Journal of Preventative Medicine; also, “Feeling Lonely? Too Much Time On Social Media May Be Why” by Katherine Hobson). Frequently, the technology created to connect us often causes people to feel significantly more anxious, depressed, and lonely.

Consider 1 Corinthians 10:23-24. ““All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.” Is social media

I love my phone when I use it to listen to helpful podcasts or online classes and to facilitate communication with people I care about. Our screens make infinite connections possible. But are we connected, really? Are we really built up by maintaining relationships through screens?

Five Ways Virtual Relationships Can Harm Us and Others

Why is so much connection leading to so much unhappiness, depression, and isolation? Let’s consider four ways the over-connection to our virtual relationships can actually harm us.

1. Social Media can lend to self-absorption.

• Consider the nature of most social media platforms:
  • We skim until we find something we like. How classy would it be for me to walk around this room, listen to a couple seconds of each conversation until I found a conversation that was relevant to me? Not so much. Furthermore, on social media, most rarely engage with others at all because while some seem to have no fear of posting anything and everything, a lot of us are on the other extreme and we are terrified to engage. But again, how often can we just choose to ignore people who try to engage with us in the real world simply because that makes us anxious or it’s not relevant to me?
  • Or, we share things with what hope? Often (not always), we hope what we say will be liked by hundreds of people. Is that how real-world relationships work? “Here’s what I think, here’s what I did — do you like or love that?” The moment we post, there’s fear isn’t there? What if people don’t like it, or me? These are the sorts of fearful, anxious, self-absorbed impulses social media can foster not only online, but also in the real world.
• A few summers back, my brother and sister-in-law were relaxing on a beach in the Bahamas when they saw a middle-aged woman walk to the water with her daughter. Standing in the water, the mother started posing while her daughter took pictures of her. Eventually the daughter quit and they walked back up the beach. A few minutes later, this mom was back in the water while her husband snapped shots of her. Eventually, the dad quit. A few minutes passed… and the woman returned to the water with a selfie stick — posing and smiling. This went on for *at least* an hour and a half.
• Why does this happen? In a study by Donna Freita on the effects of social media, a college student said something that was quite revealing. “People used to do things and post them… now the anticipated approval is what’s driving the behavior or activity.” Did you catch that? In the past, we used to do things because we found enjoyment in them. Later, we might share it with others, and the approval would be a nice benefit. But for many, that’s now changed. The fun is not in the activity, the fun is in the approval we get for posting our activity. Here’s what’s sad. This woman went through so much trouble to travel the Bahamas, but she took very little of it in. She was so self-absorbed and consumed by capturing the moment that, if you think about it, she really didn’t take a vacation to the Bahamas. She was just an actress on a stage.
• Are our social media habits causing us be self-absorbed? Philippians 2:3–7 (ESV), “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” It’s not inherently wrong or unwise to share things on social media, but it is not a natural way of communicating. And we need to ask: why are we doing this? Whether we use social media or not, our aim is to be like Jesus. He was in the form of God, but he came to serve, heal, and speak the truth in order to point people to the Father, not himself. If we use social media, we need to understand it is built to guide us towards self-absorption, and we somehow need to push back and focus on others and the glory of God, not on gaining approval.

2. Social Media can fuel unhealthy comparisons.

• Nice to connect online with others who are good at reading, preaching, exercising, eating healthy, organizing their homes, interior design, raising children, serving in the church. We can learn from others.
• And yet, the challenge, especially with the influencer model, is now we are connected to everyone who is an expert in their field. Suddenly, we now see everyone who has better looks, a better designed home, more behaved children, etc. And when we try to be like them, we may find ourselves anxious, overwhelmed, jealous. But not one of these people is good at all of these things, it is their job to be good at design, or exercise, or health — not yours.

Ecclesiastes 4:4, “Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.”

1 Corinthians 12:14-20 — the danger of envy of another person’s role, gift, strength

3. Our phones can lend to building low effort communities.

• When my account is active, I think I have around 1500 Facebook friends. Relationships require no effort to start - just click a button. Another click silences annoying people, and they aren’t even notified. It’s easy to craft a unique online community with people who understand, appreciate, and value us.
• Let’s be honest, of those 1500 friends, with how many of them have I have had to fumble through the slow, awkward process of building a real friendship? How many awkward pauses have I endured? Faults, quirks, or bad hair days have I overlooked? Almost none.
• Do you think that is confusing at all when we come to real world, face to face relationships? As one author put it, it can feel so natural to communicate with others online… but communicating with others on Sunday mornings can be awkward (12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You, Tony Reinke, pg. 69). That’s because virtual communities are easy. AI delivers you a newsfeed that is carefully crafted around what you generally like to see, so we have similar values and life situations. Flesh and blood communities are hard because they confront us with the real world - people are slow, awkward, imperfect, impatient, and diverse.
• Furthermore, real friendships and communities always ask for our faithfulness and our flesh and blood presence. How many virtual friends do I have to be reliable for? Sit with in difficult times? Be patient with?
• But this isn’t how real communities work. Acts 4:32–35 (ESV), “Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common… There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.” Acts 2:46 (ESV), “And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts.”
• In real relationships and communities, we can’t check in only when we feel like it. We can’t not show up without consequences. Flesh and blood relationships and communities cost. We do things that are inconvenient. To help our communities, sometimes we give up Saturday mornings and spare bedrooms. Sometimes, you even sell family land.
• I think John’s reminder in 1 John 3:18 is helpful (ESV), “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” We have to take care that our virtual communities are not redefining what real love is. Let us not love in likes and shares, but in deed.
• The good news is that when we invest in real communities, they are there for us in ways our virtual friends will never be. Likes and sad-faced emojis can never replace lunch or coffee with a friend — and what a blessing those times are!

4. Our phones can make us over-connected and exhausted.

• Studies show we thrive in communities of about 150 people. Even though virtual communities cost little, they can be terribly exhausting, can’t they? There is always some new huge revelation - good or bad - in someone’s life. I can’t rejoice or weep with every virtual friend (cf. Romans 12:15). I can’t pray about every tragedy. I can’t “be aware” of every new illness we might succumb to. I get numb to it all, don’t you? It leaves us with nothing for the people who are truly around us.
• It seems easy to write a letter, communicate through a screen, or read an update, but we exhaust ourselves when we constantly transport our minds to other places because we aren’t God. It is of God that David said, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139:7 ESV) We are not God. We are confined to bodies and we can only be in one place at a time.
• This doesn’t mean we should stop all communications with people elsewhere. The apostles wrote letters and prayed for Christians in different places. And yet when you think about it, we have relatively few letters from their hands. Why is that? 2 John 1:12 (ESV), “Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.” We can communicate with people in different places, but wisdom knows when to put the pens and the phones down to live where our bodies are.

5. Screens can distract us from flesh and blood relationships around us.

• A few years back, I sat across from a new acquaintance at a dinner with friends. Her daughter and I were both trying to interact with her for a solid hour and a half, but she was on her phone the whole time. I decided to be persistent. I asked questions. I shared stuff. I’ll never forget the moment when, in the middle of a story I was telling, I stopped to see if she would notice that I had stopped talking. She had no clue.
• I have made this mistake too many mornings and evenings at home - missed conversations, loved ones.
• This is the bad part about porn - it will make us miss a real, flesh and blood relationship for a virtual fantasy.
• In fact, don’t we sometimes intentionally keep people away with screens and books? If I sense an exhausting conversation coming, to often have I quickly pulled out a book, phone, or remote.
• I wonder how many valuable connections we will miss as a church over time - here and in the world - if we don’t decide to be present with the people around us. One of the most earth-shattering verses in the Bible is John 1:14 (ESV). “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” THE God didn’t text us. He didn’t send us a video of himself. He humbled himself, became flesh, and lived among us. He looked people in the eyes. He sat and ate with them. He talked with them. He touched them.

Concluding Thoughts

And yet, flesh and blood relationships can be a bit challenging these days. Over the last century, society is less and less set up for meaningful connections. We rarely live next to people we are close to. We are often isolated in our homes and neighborhoods with very little connection to people we live next to. As we go about our business, it is rarer and rarer to bump into people we know and connect further — one click and everything we need shows up at our home. I could talk about this for days, but my point here is simply that there’s a reason why social media is so tempting: many of us feel very disconnected from others.

The goal of this lesson is not to disconnect. As Dr. Kimberly Young puts it: the goal is to disconnect to reconnect. The goal in taking off the old man is to let God renew our minds and help us put on the new man. This lesson is intended to caution us about the ways social media may impact our relationships and burden us in ways that distract us from the real people around us.

Jesus said in John 13:35 (ESV), “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John the Baptist lived in the desert, ate locust and wild honey, and wore camel’s hair. He was weird. But he did it to show people that he wasn’t part of the way of Jerusalem. He did it to show his hope that God would pour out his Spirit in the desert. Many thought he was crazy, but people eventually left the cities to see what was up with this disconnected prophet. Our virtual communities may dissolve and people may think we are weird. But if we will disconnect with faith that God can use our real connections with real neighbors to show people real love, disciples of Christ may become distinct: the people who love one another and others enough to set the phone down, step outside our homes, and give people our presence and attention.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM (1)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM (1)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

We often approach belief in God from a scientific perspective. Give me evidence that God created the world, that the biblical stories are historical and that God really raised Jesus from the dead. These objective evidences have an important place in Scripture. But the Gospel of John tends to dismiss those who are impressed for only those reasons. John’s gospel contains a couple of odd accounts of people believing for completely different reasons. On one hand, there are people who see all the evidence — the blind man healed and dead Lazarus raised — and they immediately began plotting to kill Jesus for these things. On the other hand, there are a people in John who saw none of this and were blown away by Jesus for a seemingly insignificant reason. And we will press into this today so we can see what they saw and our faith can be enriched.

Nathanael (John 1:45-51)

Look at John 1:45-51 (ESV), “Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.””

Nathanael is a total skeptic upon hearing about this “Jesus of Nazareth,” but that suddenly changes when he meets Jesus. At first, Jesus says something that might sound totally disingenuous. “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Imagine someone said that to you today upon meeting you for the first time. We’d be put off. “How do you know me?” — like Nathanael says. But Jesus comes back with something that stops Nathanael in his tracks. “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

This was knowledge of Nathanael that Nathanael knew Jesus couldn’t have derived from some magic trick, this was someone who saw him, who knew him. That was enough for this skeptic to become an instant believer. “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

Jesus even says, “Nathanael, you are going to see so much more and yet you believe?” (We can talk about the angels picture another time - it’s an image of Jacob’s ladder). Why is this so significant for Nathanael? Jesus knows him.

The Samaritan Woman at the Well (John 4:16-19, 28-30)

There is another significant account like this. Jesus is sitting by a well in a Samaritan village. A Samaritan woman comes to the well and he asks her for water. She’s stunned. “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” Jews had no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus says he’s talking to her because she needs the water he can provide that will quench her thirst. John 4:16-19 (ESV), “Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.” It’s a funny conversation. She could have gotten annoyed or mad at Jesus’ truth-telling, but instead she says, “I perceive that you are a prophet.”

They get into a little theological debate. She says, “Messiah is coming and he’ll sort this out when he comes.” The conversation comes to a halt when Jesus responds, “I who speak to you am he.” And suddenly she has an epiphany. John 4:28–30 (ESV), “So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.” Her reaction is similar to Nathanael’s. She has not seen the lame healed or the dead raised or had her belly filled by fish. But suddenly she realized she was in the presence of the one who knew her when she was in her mother’s womb.

Rest assured, this is no gimmicky twist on fortune telling. Why does Jesus’ knowledge of a person matter?

1. Jesus knew them intimately, yet accepted and lived among them.

To be truly known by someone has mattered to us from the beginning. The Scripture tells us Adam and Eve were naked and not ashamed. They accepted, loved enjoyed one another — moles and all.

Consider the intimate knowledge Jesus had of Nathanael and the Samaritan woman. When Jesus first met Nathanael he declared to Nathanael precisely who he was — a genuine seeker of God — and where he was earlier that day. And with the Samaritan woman, he knew her, but it wasn’t pretty — married five times and not married to the man she was with. Jesus knew her heart and her life. Maybe she had been repeatedly dumped by unreliable men. Maybe she had looked for happiness in all the wrong places over and over again. Likely both. So he says, “You keep coming here for water and yet you are still thirsty. I have water that can quench your thirst.” He didn’t speak the truth about her to make her feel ashamed. He was forcing her to see she had made a mess of her life by trying to satiate her thirst in all the wrong ways.

Consider all the good and the evil we have committed that nobody knows about. Consider all the pain your heart has endured and is enduring. All the joys. Isn’t it so frustrating sometimes that nobody really knows us? What’s good and bad? What makes us glad or sad? Proverbs 14:10 (ESV), “The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy.” It is terribly isolating to feel like we really aren’t known by anyone. Though we often avoid being fully known because of our shame, we crave to be known and accepted.

And yet, good or bad, painful or joyful, messy or not — Jesus showed he knew people’s hearts and lives. And he knows yours. He knows you. And despite the totally mixed bag he saw there, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” and allowed us to see his glory. This is what is so impacting. Jesus actually saw them for who they truly were and he loved them regardless. Yes, he later looked them square in the eyes and told them to “Go and sin no more,” but he didn’t say that without knowing what they had been through, where they were and what a change that would be.

Do we feel alone? Are we Isolated? Grieving? Confused? Are we righteous and yet mistreated? Have we lost our way in the weeds of sin? Jesus knows you and what you are enduring. You are seen. And one day, we’ll be able to see him face to face and see that knowing look come right back at us. As Paul says, “Then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known,” (1 Cor. 13:12).

2. Jesus knows his sheep by name, unlike thieves and hired hands.

Let’s take this a step further and consider how this contrasts with people who would take advantage of us. Consider John 10:1-5, 11-15 (ESV).

Jesus is the good shepherd who calls out his sheep by name. He knows who are his and those who are his know him. Doesn’t it kind of stink when someone meaningful to you forgets your name? For someone to recall our name means we carry a permanent place in their heart that is easily recallable. To remember someone’s name is to know and care about them.

But even though we know one another’s names, usually we refer to one another as “hey.” So when someone speaks to us by name, that speaks to us at a deeper level. I suggest that this is what is so impacting about what happened when Mary Magdalene encountered Jesus after his resurrection. Mary was grieved because she didn’t know what had been done with Jesus’ body. John 20:14–16 (ESV), “Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).” She saw Jesus, but it didn’t register. Faith does not come by seeing, but by hearing. He spoke her name, “Mary,” and she had heard him call that name before.

Why does all this matter? There are so many people out there that act like they care about us. They sound like angels telling us that we matter and that they have our best interests at heart. They come in the form of bad friends, politicians, radical activists, self-help gurus, and more. Often in reality, they just want to use us for their cause or their wallet. In the words of Jesus, they are strangers. Thieves. Hired hands. They don’t know your name. They don’t care anything for us. They act like we mean something to them until the wolf comes. Then they run. That’s not Jesus.

Look at verse 5. “A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” If we are truly the sheep of Jesus, we will not listen to other voices because they are strange to us. If we are his sheep, we will run when we hear them. If we do not, we are listening to a hired hand who cares nothing for us and will take advantage of us.

3. Jesus knows and declares the truth about every person.

Notice how this theme plays out in John 2:23–25 (ESV), “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.” Isn’t this an interesting group? They believe in Jesus when they see the signs he’s doing, but Jesus didn’t believe them. It is often said that Jesus wouldn’t turn anyone away, but we’re led to believe that he walked away from these “believers.” Why? Jeremiah 17:9-10 tells us that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ‘I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.’” Our hearts are so deceitful. We may see signs and say we believe, we might say, “Lord, Lord!” while our hearts continue to be set towards lawlessness. And he knows. He did not entrust himself to them because he knew the truth about them.

And yet on the other hand, as John says in his first letter, our heart may condemn us — we may be distressed with illegitimate feelings of guilt — but God is greater than our heart, he knows our deeds. We can rest assured that if we are workers of righteousness, Jesus knows the truth about us even when we aren’t confident about that.

Our hearts, our consciences, our inward thoughts and conversation with ourselves, it’s all a very strange thing fraught with mystery. We want to be able to trust our evaluation of ourselves — whether good or bad — and yet, even Paul insists in 1 Corinthians 4 that even though his conscience is clear, he is not the final judge of himself. But when the Lord comes? He “will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.”

Many trust the Lord through ups and downs, quietly doing good work to be seen by the Father. Many loudly do great works, maybe even in Jesus’ name, so they can be seen by man. Many are very confident that they are faithful, and may or may not be. Many are insecure about how they stand before the Lord, legitimately or illegitimately. Many suffer, and few know the pain we endure.

Jesus’ knowledge of us and the fact that one day he will bring to light what is hidden and disclose even the purposes of the heart is a terrifying thing. Hear that again: He doesn’t just know the underlying hidden motives that drive the things we say and do. He will expose them.

And yet, while we should fear him for that, can’t we also take comfort in that? Even when that means he knows about the good we have done, and also about the evil, or even the things that seemed good, but we had evil motives. If we feel like we are invisible, like our faithfulness goes completely unnoticed — take heart, he sees. And one day he will bring to light thing that are hidden. And, if we feel like we are invisible, like our waywardness has gone completely unnoticed, he does see. And yet, if there are secret sins or hidden motives in our lives, don’t they just make our bones ache? (David, Psalm 32) Why not take comfort in his knowledge of it? What’s the harm in confessing to him what he already knows? If we will only let our hearts be broken, if we will only come to his throne and beg for help, we stand to gain everything.

In John 2, he walked away from a crowd who said they believed because they saw the signs he did, because he did not trust them. In the very next sentence, one from that crowd who believed because of the signs, Nicodemus, came to Jesus under the cover and obscurity of night. Nicodemus wanted to believe, but it seems he wanted to do that secretly. But that didn’t mean Jesus was done with him. Notice his plea to Nicodemus for him to have faith that is truer in John 3:16-21.

Judgment has already been cast, Jesus says. We are already condemned. Our sentence is death. We don’t have to act like everything is okay. He came because he loves us and wants to turn the darkness into light. And yet, many want to hold onto their secrets and stay in the dark. Why? Will we not see the blessing of being known and loved by our shepherd? Ultimately, the woman at the well, Nathaniel, Mary, and submitted to the God who knows all about them. And Nicodemus, he later came into the light with another secret believer and both defended Jesus and asked for his body after he was killed — in Jesus’ darkest hour. Why run from what he already knows? Submit to the light. Let us not hide in obscurity from him or from one another any longer. Come back to the good shepherd who knows your name and invites you back to his pastures.

Series: Christians and Technology

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Is It Helpful? (1 Corinthians 6:12)

Is it right or wrong to use tvs, tablets, phones, and computers? That’s an important, but very incomplete question, isn’t it? And yet, isn’t this sometimes the only question we ask about our lives? “Is there any law against xyz?” And it’s a pretty childish way of thinking. Paul shows us a more mature way of thinking in 1 Corinthians 6:12 (ESV), “‘All things are lawful for me,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful for me,’ but I will not be dominated (NASB: mastered) by anything.”

The Corinthian church was divided, but this is because they were immature. Many often read 1st Corinthians as a letter where Paul dispenses what is right and wrong when it comes to many issues in this church — lawsuits, marriage, meat sacrificed to idols, head coverings, etc. — that’s not exactly what Paul is doing. Paul will say “do this” or “don’t do this”; but even then, he backs up to talk about why. He says in 1 Corinthians 3 that he feels like he has to talk to them like they are infants. They are obsessed with their rights — what is right and wrong, while Paul is begging them: does anyone around here have wisdom? That’s because many issues in 1 Corinthians aren’t related to morality. “You can get married, but should you?” “You can speak in tongues, but will this build anyone up?” “You can eat meat sacrificed to idols, but think about what that does to your brother.” He frequently offers his judgment, but he continues to urge them to look at the evidence and judge for themselves. He wants to develop their discernment, because he knows that after this — and even today for us — he can’t write a letter every single time an issue comes up. He’s not trying to write a new law, he’s trying to form wise, loving people.

This truth is clear in both Proverbs and 1 Corinthians: spiritual children only ask “what is right and wrong?” and often get themselves in trouble. The mature take it a step further. “What is wise and helpful?” As we judge for ourselves “what is helpful?” with phones, tablets, computers, tvs,  and video games, Paul shows us a good question to ask: are we being dominated by our screens? Are we being mastered, enslaved, brought under the power of our tech?

The Sons of This World Are More Shrewd (Luke 16:8)

Consider an excerpt from a 2014 NY Times article by Nick Bilton.

“So, your kids must love the iPad?” I asked Mr. Jobs… The company’s first tablet was just hitting the shelves. “They haven’t used it,” he told me. “We limit how much technology our kids use at home.”

I’m sure I responded with a gasp and dumbfounded silence. I had imagined the Jobs’s household was like a nerd’s paradise: that the walls were giant touch screens, the dining table was made from tiles of iPads and that iPods were handed out to guests like chocolates on a pillow.

Nope, Mr. Jobs told me, not even close.

Since then, I’ve met a number of technology chief executives and venture capitalists who say similar things: they strictly limit their children’s screen time, often banning all gadgets on school nights, and allocating ascetic time limits on weekends.

I was perplexed by this parenting style. After all, most parents seem to take the opposite approach, letting their children bathe in the glow of tablets, smartphones and computers, day and night.

Yet these tech C.E.O.’s seem to know something that the rest of us don’t.

Chris Anderson, the former editor of Wired and now chief executive of 3D Robotics, a drone maker, has instituted time limits and parental controls on every device in his home. “My kids accuse me and my wife of being fascists and overly concerned about tech, and they say that none of their friends have the same rules,” he said of his five children, 6 to 17. “That’s because we have seen the dangers of technology firsthand. I’ve seen it in myself, I don’t want to see that happen to my kids.”

The dangers he is referring to include exposure to harmful content like pornography, bullying from other kids, and perhaps worse of all, becoming addicted to their devices, just like their parents. (“Steve Jobs Was a Low-Tech Parent,” Nick Bilton)

Something Jesus said at the end of one of his parables is quite relevant here. Luke 16:8 (NIV), “For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.” The original context is different, but the principle still rings true. Sometimes we only think about morality while the world is 5 steps ahead of us being shrewd, wise, thoughtful. To be sure, these tech execs need morality. They remind me of drug dealers who keep the devices far away from their kids, but they happily get rich off our addiction to it.

But, addiction? Is that too strong of language? You may be familiar with this, but the brain science actually shows this to be true. Dopamine is like a happy drug — it is the neurotransmitter that fires in our brains to reward us for particular behaviors — exercise, sex, completing our to-do list. But if the action is easy, there is a strong danger for harmful addictions to be created - like snorting cocaine, pulling the lever of a slot machine, or checking our phones. Our brain compulsively tells our body to repeat.

Workers within app developers like Facebook have openly admitted that their apps are designed to take advantage of the addictive cycles created through dopamine releases. Chamath Palihapitiya was the former Vice President of User Growth at Facebook who gave a talk about this a few years back. Writing for Harvard University, Trevor Haynes reflects on this talk. (“Dopamine, Smartphones, & You…”)

“‘I feel tremendous guilt,’ admitted Chamath Palihapitiya, former Vice President of User Growth at Facebook… ‘The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works,’ he explained. In Palihapitiya’s talk, he highlighted something most of us know but few really appreciate: smartphones and the social media platforms they support are turning us into bona fide addicts. While it’s easy to dismiss this claim as hyperbole, platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram leverage the very same neural circuitry used by slot machines and cocaine to keep us using their products as much as possible.”

The dings we hear, buzzes we feel, and likes we get are designed to release dopamine and keep us addicted to our apps. But we don’t need brain science to tell us this: we all have compulsively reached for our devices and gotten stuck on them somehow — wondering why we can’t put them down. It’s because they were designed that way. Our brains tell our hands to look for a hit of dopamine. What stinks is we find little to no enjoyment in these habits - email checking and newsfeed scrolling.

But why is it so tough to put down the phone or remote once we pick them up? There’s a lot that goes into this, but one reason it is so difficult is because we don’t have many stopping cues any more. TV used to turn to static when the show was done — now there are more episodes and more shows. Newspapers used to end, but now we keep scrolling for more information. In a store, at some point you finished looking through the racks and had to make a decision — now it is easy to hunt through 10 different stores for the best product at the best price. We scroll, scroll, scroll — and the more time we spend on their platform, the more money they make.Why Being Mastered by Screens Is a Spiritual Matter

But is there really a danger here for Christians? Consider Psalm 1.

Lasting happiness, stability, and fruit-bearing are a result of meditating on God’s word.  Psalm 1:1–3 (ESV), “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.” If we want a blessed, happy, stable, fruitful, and prosperous life, Psalm 1 makes a bold claim: the person who avoids the counsel of the wicked but rather delights in and meditates on God’s instructions day and night will have all this. What do we meditate on day and night? Are we being put in the counsel of the wicked — or even just noisy fools — through our media? Are we able to quietly contemplate God’s word? Deuteronomy 6 says the word should be in our hearts and in our conversation “when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” We are to bind them on our hands, put them between our eyes, and on the doorposts of our homes. But what is it really that is continually bound to our hands, before our eyes?

Meditating on God’s word is challenging in the digital age because constant inundation with screens changes the way we think. Nicholas Carr, writing for The Atlantic Magazine in 2008 put his experience like this.

"Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going—so far as I can tell—but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.”

"And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski."

The danger is obvious: our minds are being trained to skim on the surface, but the Bible is deep meditation literature. The silence and deepness that comes with meditation can be uncomfortable. We might have serious thoughts and even see some uncomfortably large holes in our hearts. But phones give us such an easy way to keep those thought patterns away — and we become addicted to distraction.

This reminds me of Isaiah’s words in Isaiah 28-30. Judgment was coming and Isaiah called out for them to examine themselves and see their sickness, but they were too drunk on wealth and wine to hear. And so, Isaiah’s words became incomprehensible to them. They mock Isaiah’s preaching saying his words are incomprehensible babel — “blah-blah-blah, line after line after line.” Judah was so high on their pleasures they had little interest in listening carefully to the prophet’s words. Isaiah said his words became like a closed book of which they said, “I can’t read that.” How many Western Christians have said the same thing about Isaiah? The prophets are too difficult for common people, we aren’t scholars after all. Maybe we think need something easily understandable. But we forget: Isaiah, Ezekiel, Ephesians, Revelation, and even Jesus’ own words were all spoken and written for common people to understand. Those who heard Isaiah and Jesus were condemned when they walked away. What happens to our brains through digital drunkenness is indeed a spiritual matter.

Some may say this is an overreaction, but I would point to the research. For our little ones, recent studies have demonstrated a plain connection between regular screen use and the severity of developmental issues like autism spectrum disorder. From infancy to age five our brains have the opportunity to grow and develop in ways that will never be repeated again — this development happens as we move, explore, touch, try new things… but screens put our little ones in a vegetative state. But even for teens: these years are a time for crucial brain and social developments that are not repeatable and will be missed if they spend it in front of screens. This is one thing Simon Sinek explains in his concerns about teens having phones — most alcoholics discovered alcohol at a young age like 10, 13, or 15, and the changes to their brains — the addiction — became permanently hardwired. Sinek believes the danger is similar with frequent screen use for our kids and young adults.

Again, Steve Jobs wouldn’t let his kids touch an iPad.

Neil Postman argued in 1984 that soon we would not be illiterate, but post-literate. We are able to read or listen, but for many it is difficult unless it is simplistic, amusing, and bite-sized. Without understanding the ramifications, the modern world, “why read when you can watch it on a screen?” But the writers of God’s word are calling out for us to slow down and meditate on what they have written  — whether we read it or listen to it  read to us — so we can find real life. But will we sober up from digital intoxication so we can hear and see?

We become what we look at, what we worship. If behold Christ in the word, Paul says we are transformed back into the image of God so that we are jars of clay carrying a treasure with us wherever we go.

And yet, if we are addicted to our screens…

“We all with unveiled face, beholding the world through the lens of Fox News, CNN, X, Instagram, Facebook , and Ticktok, are being transformed into their image.”

“We have this meme, snap, tweet, video in jars of clay.”

Conclusion

And yet, healing is possible. God lamented that his people were blind and deaf to his glory, but through Isaiah he promised when God returned, “The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped.” And indeed, Jesus opened the eyes of the blind and proclaimed good news to the poor. And finally, they could see wondrous things through Jesus who is the Word of God. May we sober up from digital intoxicators, or else we will miss delighting in the mysteries God has planned for ages. “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” (Psalm 119:18 ESV)

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM (1)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

I want to consider the implications of a simple question with you this morning: what happens when something clean touches something that is not clean? This is the basic nature of the question Haggai puts to the people of Judah in Haggai 2. At this point in the history of Israel/Judah, the temple had been destroyed, the people exiled to foreign lands as slaves. But God had brought them back on their land to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem some 15-20 years before Haggai started prophesying. He prophesied in 520 BC.

One of the key problems Haggai addresses is how the pole went back to Jerusalem, but they first started rebuilding their homes and neglected rebuilding the temple due to some intense opposition. God didn’t care if they had opposition, it was time to rebuild the temple! Like the first generation of Israelites on the land, they had forgotten the power of their God.

The Lord used the message of Haggai to stir up the leaders and all the people to restart work on the house of the Lord. Opposition came, but they didn’t stop working. “God charged us to rebuild his house, so we are going to do that.” (cf. Ezra). Exactly three months after the work restarted and the foundation was completed, Haggai came with another message to encourage them. Notice Haggai 2:10-14.

Two Questions (Haggai 2:10-19)

1. If something holy touches a common thing, does it become holy? (in other words, if my hands are clean and I touch dirty dishes, do the dirty dishes become clean?) NO.
2. If something unclean touches a common thing, does it become unclean? (in other words, if my shoes are muddy and I walk on your clean floors, do the floors become dirty?) YES.

This second question is what Haggai hones in on. This second question reveals the situation Judah is in. Every common thing they are touching becomes unclean. Everything they offer to God is unclean. Everything in their life is unclean. Why? And what does he want them to learn and do?

First, why? Why is everything they touch, do in their work, and offer to God unclean? Because they had stopped working on the temple. We know this because Haggai later says the thing that will change their situation is that they have now finished the foundation to the temple.

Second, what did God want them to learn from this and to ultimately do? Notice Haggai 2:15-19. Now that they were doing the holy work God had commanded them to do, the work of their hands — the seed they sowed — would become fruitful again. God would bless them. He says, “Mark this day: the 24th day of the 9th month (December 18th, 520 BC) — this is the day you will look back and say ‘that’s when everything changed.’”

God told them this so they would be encouraged to continue the work, to see that their lives really are better doing God’s work. Funny thing is, we learn in Ezra that this doesn’t mean they wouldn’t have opposition. They learned the value of doing God’s work even when it is hard.

What Are We to Learn from This?

Though buildings like this can and do serve a place in helping us honor and glorify God, our ultimate aim is not to build a physical temple, but to build up the spiritual temple of God — God’s people, nation, household, family. We are called to use our gifts to build up God’s family, God’s temple — strengthening, encouraging, shepherding, serving, teaching, growing one another. We are called to use our lives to show that God is the future king of this whole world — do God’s will as it is done in heaven and bring God’s rule here — evangelizing and serving the hurting and lost in this world.

1. When we leave this work behind, it could be said that everything we do has become unclean. This is not what we would normally think. Normally, people think that sins that I commit (“sins of commission”) are what really mess us up. Leaving stuff out? That’s not a big deal, right? But Haggai shows that the uncleanness of the people here was simply a lack of doing the work God called them to. And it affected their whole lives. Their day to day work never prospered (“every work of their hands”). And their worship and sacrifices to the Lord weren’t accepted either (“And what they offer there is unclean.”).

The same is true for us. Are you here today feeling like your life has become a mess? Like nothing you do is prospering? Like the gifts you give to the Lord don’t really matter? Consider that one possible reason for this may be the same: maybe we have made the mistake of Israel. We expect all to be well when we center our lives around making money, building our homes, and improving our health. But it all keeps falling apart doesn’t it? Jesus called his followers to “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you,” and that’s the same call Haggai is making here. Let us receive Haggai’s and Jesus’ admonitions: stop leaving behind the work of God to worry about getting our homes and lives in order; seek the prospering of God’s kingdom and the doing of righteousness, justice in the world, and those things we worry about will get fixed up. How true I have found this to be in my life! I can say that the times I am least concerned about my home, my money, my health are when I am doing God’s work. He provides.

2. When we have uncleanness of any sort in our lives, worship doesn’t cleanse us. Oh that we would hear this so clearly. Offering gifts to the Lord didn’t cleanse them from the uncleanness of not building God’s temple. Our lack of working like we’re supposed to, speaking as we should to our families, and using our spiritual gifts in the church and in the world on Monday through Friday aren’t cleansed by singing uplifting songs here on Sunday. Our sins on Saturday night aren’t made better by giving contribution on Sunday. We know this is true from our day to day lives. If I am dishonest at my job, but then show up early and work extra hard the next day, that doesn’t correct what I did yesterday. If we yell at our spouse and then hand them roses, it doesn’t solve the yelling. We must deal with the sin, then the gift can matter. But how, oh how, can we deal with all this uncleanness in our lives?

3. Jesus breaks the rules: contact with him cleans the unclean. The amazing thing about Haggai’s little parable here is that it doesn’t account for a totally unheard of category: a person who has clean hands who can simply touch the dirty dishes and they are clean. Lepers were considered unclean. They had to live outside of society because their uncleanness would pass to others. And yet, when Jesus walked this earth, he touched lepers and their uncleanness didn’t pass to them. Rather, his cleanness passed to them and their leprosy was healed.

As I consider my youth and look back over  my life, I am overcome by my sin. I have mud and blood all over my hands and my heart. I should not be able to live. I should not be able to be considered clean. And yet, when we turn from our sins and come in contact with him, we become clean.

Let us not ignore our sin. Let us not cover it up with righteousness. Let us deal with it by coming to the clean one. Let us deal with it by doing the work God has called us to. Rise up and build. Don’t stop. Persevere till he comes from the sky to finish what he started in us and in this world.

Series: Christians and Technology

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

When does technology become idolatry? You may have heard comments to the effect that in the ancient world they had idols like Baal and Nebo, but we have idols today too. But is there really any comparison?

I realize it’s a big deal for me to even ask this question. I recognize I’m going to say some big and tough things throughout this series. In case my tone ever sounds different, understand from the beginning that I am very much with you in this. My hope is to stimulate a conversation that will continue for many years —which will be necessary because I won’t be able to gain perfect perspective or perfection today.

Before we talk about our tech, we need to ask — why does God forbid idolatry?

Why Does God Forbid Idolatry?

After forming the heavens and the earth, God made humans in his image and ordered them to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it…” Pagans fill their land with temples and images of their gods, trying to enact the dominion of their gods to every space. But God tells us — the image of Yahweh God — to fill the land and subdue it. So, here’s the biblical imagination of creation and humans in it: we are royal priests filling the earth like a temple with God’s image to the end that God would have dominion over all creation and be glorified in it.

We have not seen Yahweh’s form, therefore, God forbids idolatry because there is no way we can fashion some representation of him. Furthermore, idolatry exalts creation to the place of the Creator. And it even connects us to dark spiritual powers. We often talk about the side of idolatry we can see — it’s just a lifeless idol! But Paul chastised the Corinthians for thinking they could eat in pagan temples — because in so-doing they were not only in the space of a lifeless idol, but sharing table with demons (1 Cor. 10).

Finally, idolatry is a problem because God has already formed us as his living, breathing images. We are to serve as creation’s connection point to the true God. Idolatry trades our dominion away to something that wants to dominate us.

What Happens When People Make Idols out of Technology?

With the rest of our time let’s consider five things that happen when idolatry is a reality, and one thing that happens when it’s not idolatry.  Something like idolatry is happening when…

1. We gain a burden. Isaiah 46:1–2 (NIV), “Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low; their idols are borne by beasts of burden. The images that are carried about are burdensome, a burden for the weary. They stoop and bow down together; unable to rescue the burden, they themselves go off into captivity.” Isaiah paints a picture of these idols - Bel and Nebo - being carried by weary animals and people. But the images are too heavy for them and the people can’t prevent their idols from going into captivity, and the idols cannot rescue the people who carry them.

Do you ever feel like this with your phone? Away for a few minutes… and then comes that itch to check it. Do you feel this with shows? Dominating our schedules and keeping us up late? What about the news? How does all that tragic global information we can’t do anything about make us feel? Do we ever do anything with that information except for become more woke than the woke? Or shopping? We have everything we need… but apps pull us online to discover new products. And then burden us with the search for the best product at the best price. And then leave us with a hefty credit card bill.

I am not longer convinced that our screens are neutral tools and “it just depends on how you use them” — they can be used as tools, but they they want to use us for so much more. It wants to dominate our attention as if it were a god. And historically, false gods and their demons always ask for more and more. Psalm 106 tells us people eventually sacrificed their sons and daughters to these idols, these demons. What have we sacrificed at the altar of our screens? Time with family? God’s people? Time in God’s word? In prayer? Fruitful goals?

So often, tech burdens us instead of giving us what we need. Shouldn’t a god carry its people? Is. 46:3–4 ESV, “Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.” Shutting the screen off, bowing our knees to pray, picking up God’s word to listen — these are ways we let the Lord take our burdens and carry us. If that feels burdensome, Satan, his demons, and their idols are nearby.

2. We exchange perception of God in creation for images resembling creation. Romans 1:19–23 (ESV), “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” When we look at the things God has made, we are supposed to learn about God and be filled with awe and wonder for him. Yet, today, the average American spends all day indoors and roughly 90% of their free time on devices (Adam Alter TED Talk). Often, we are looking at screens which display an image resembling some bit of God’s creation.

We can all enjoy a picture of the Grand Canyon or of a grandchild, or appreciate FaceTiming with some distant family, but we also know it’s just not the same. In the end, it’s just an image or a video produced by man — a lesser representation of the reality God made for his glory. It doesn’t fill us with the same thanksgiving to God as the real thing.

Psalms 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” I love trips to places where man hasn’t overshadowed the Creator. With skyscrapers, it is hard to see more than a repeat of Babel. But when we sit under the stars on a clear night, or walk on the beach near the roaring waters, or enjoy good times with friends and family — we worship God for what he has made. This is not to say that using a screen is immediately idolatry, its a warning that an exchange is happening that can become idol-like if it dominates our lives. Let’s put it like this: if we find it hard to take our eyes off of what men have made so we can listen to what creation is telling us about God, the power of idolatry is near.

3. We become what we worship. Psalms 115:3–8 (ESV), “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.” Idols are visually spectacular, but if we look closer, we see they aren’t much. They look so full of life, but they can’t speak, see, hear, smell, or walk — and those who trust them become like them. The Psalmist is saying there’s simply something different about humanity of idol-worshippers. They don’t perceive and interact with you or reality in the same way. They become less than human.

What do we say about the best screen and the best media? It is arresting, captivating. The best entertainment literally puts us in a vegetative state, glued to the screen. Our hands, ears, eyes, and feet go limp — we become as motionless as our screen. Or, we are distracted by dings on our watches or phones when we are with people, we suddenly appear less than human as we distractedly nod and grunt at the people we are with.

I’m sure many of us have stories of times when we unexpectedly had to go without our phone for awhile, and after a while we were suddenly surprised by how free, focused, and alive we felt. The world suddenly became bigger because we could see it. Something is idolatrous when it makes us less than human. If we are lazy, fruitless, distracted, and tired, idols may be nearby transforming us into their image. We become what we worship, but this is also true with the Lord: Paul tells us that through Jesus and the gospel, we can all with unveiled face behold the glory of the Lord and be transformed into his glorious image (2 Cor. 3:18).

4. We gather in excess (Isaiah 2:6-8 ESV). “For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of things from the east and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners. Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots. Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made.”

Isaiah criticizes Judah because their land was full of idols, fortune-tellers, silver, gold, and horses. Now, God made gold, silver, and horses and declared to be good — so why does he lump them together with idols and fortune tellers? Judah had a misplaced love and trust in these things that was made evident by their excesses. God had explicitly told Israel not to gather gold, silver, and horses in excess because he knew these things would capture their love and trust (Deut 17:16-17). “Where your treasure is (or, your excesses are), there your heart will be also.” (Mt. 6:21)

There are so many different devices we can gather that can pump media to us to every corner. Do we gather these devices in excess? — or other possessions? The number of shows that have been produced in the past decade is staggering. Do we binge them? Do we fill our lives with social media? Or music? Or gaming? One wife told Ashley sometime back that after she repeatedly tried to get her husband off the Xbox to spend time with her, he replied that she needed to find a hobby. What we accumulate grabs our hearts.

The point is not to remove enjoyment of creation. In fact, when creation is in the right place, we receive God’s creation with thanksgiving and in holiness (1 Timothy 4:1-5). “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.”

Just as Satan is at work in excess, Paul says demons are at work in when we cannot enjoy the good things God has given us with thanksgiving and holiness. Now, to be clear, Paul is simply not talking about our screens or media. He’s talking about marriage and food. And, honestly, it deeply concerns me that at this point in the lesson, this question even enters my mind — can’t we enjoy what God has made?! As if people had no enjoyment in God until the television and the iPhone. It also concerns me because — how much more would we enjoy to God’s glory what Paul talks about right here — God-honoring meals with our brothers and sisters or the friendship and intimacy of marriage — if we would put that phone down.

But, can our screen usage honor God, be holy, and something that we receive with thanksgiving to God? I struggle with this. Can we confidently say: “Yes, my usage is holy. I thank him for it and it honors him?” I’ll leave that to you to decide.

I think Proverbs 25:16 is helpful regardless: “If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it.” (ESV) We may find honey in our tech and media — good! I have too. I love having access to educational podcasts. I really appreciate BibleProject videos. The occasional certified fresh thought-provoking movie can be very stirring to me. The point is to use wisdom — if you find honey, eat eat and enjoy honey in moderation. But let’s be honest, is that what is happening?

5. We love another master (Matthew 6:24). “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Jesus here exposes that idolatry doesn’t have to look like bowing down in front of the carved image of a cow or a monkey, idolatry happens wherever we try to serve two masters. In this, he’s also exposing that for many, money is not something that serves those who carry it; rather, many who hold it serve it. Let me ask two questions here. Let’s not give the answer we want to give, but the one that is actually true of our lives:

1. How often does my smartphone come between me and time with the Lord?
2. Who is master: me or my smartphone? The Lord or my smartphone?

Conclusion

Phones aren’t just neutral tools. It’s easier to use a rake or a candle in God-honoring ways than it is to use a gun or a phone. We are here to fill the earth with God’s image and to bring creation under his dominion. If tech is distracting and controlling us, it’s not under God’s dominion, it’s idol-like, corrupted by Satan, and needs Gideons and Josiahs to rise up and either destroy them or put them in their place.

“God help us to see that you do not want to suck our lives of joy. Help us to see that it is the demonic idols that are harsh masters want to ruin us. Help us to take up Jesus’ yoke: for it is easy, it is light. Give us pleasures at your right hand forevermore.”

Series: Christians and Technology

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

This series was done in collaberation with Daniel Broadwell. He wrote this sermon.  His sermon on this topic can be viewed here. 

1. Introduction
   1. Do any of these pictures reflect the way you use digital devices?
      1. Waking up and spending the first moments of the day on your phone.
      2. Spending time with people, but everyone is looking at a device.
      3. Using the phone in the car to send another message or check an update.
      4. Gravitating in solitary moments to so something (anything) on the phone.
      5. Gotten on computer to “do something,” 30 (60) minutes later still on.
      6. Sat down to watch “a show,” looked up and it’s past midnight.
      7. Can’t sleep, roll over to grab the phone and spend the final moments with it.
   2. For many of us, our use of television, computers, smartphones is characterized by mindlessness, or thoughtlessness. We use this stuff without thinking.
      1. That’s natural, our world has become inundated with digital technology, and when something becomes so common, we stop thinking about it.
      2. But if you are here, you are being thoughtful, and are to be commended.
   3. The goal of this lesson is to ask the question: How should I as a Christian begin to think about all the technology that I use in my life?
   4. And so we go to the beginning and sketch two visions of human ingenuity and technology—one from the Garden of Eden, and one from the City of Babylon.
      1. I’m suggesting that these are two distinct visions, and we must choose one.
      2. With these pictures, we can (should) be self-critical and evaluate ourselves.
      3. Please follow along in your Bibles as we look at Genesis 1 through 11.
2. Eden vs. Babel: Two Visions of Tech
   1. The Eden Vision (Genesis 1-2)
      1. The work of creation is God—through His word—bringing order out of chaos. Days 1-6, God orders the cosmos, then fills it with life, and “it was good.”
      2. On Day 6, God crowns His creation with humans, who are made differently—and with a different purpose—than the rest of creation. Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
         1. God makes man & woman in His image/likeness, with connection to God and faculties (spiritual, mental, emotional, social) setting them apart.
         2. God charges man to rule over creation, to subdue and have dominion. This is royal language. Humans created to be benevolent kings, ruling over creation, under the authority of God their Creator.
      3. Genesis 2 gives a more detailed account of creation and man’s role in it, and says at the first, “2:5 Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground… 7 Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. 8 The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. 9 Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
         1. The text indicates that plants did not sprout (grow up) until 1) God sent rain, and 2) Man was there to cultivate the ground.
         2. God makes man and puts him in the Garden, in Eden, from which flows rivers that expand to the earth outside of Eden (intention of expansion?)
      4. The task of man in the Garden is stated explicitly, Genesis 2:15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. 16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;  17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
         1. Humans made to cultivate (work, serve) — a productive purpose.
         2. Humans made to keep (protect, guard) — a protective purpose.
      5. Question: What would it have looked like for the humans to fulfill their God-given role? To multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it? To rule over the fish, birds, & beasts? To cultivate (and expand?) a garden and receive every plant & fruit as food? To protect that garden from potential threats or dangers?
      6. Question: Do you think doing all of this would have required man to invent things? Create things? Build things? Asked another way, do we think God intended for man to apply his ingenuity, intelligence, & creative ability to the carrying out of his task?
      7. What is the Eden vision of technology?
         1. God made man to submit to His will, rule over creation, cultivate the produce of the earth, protect the garden, fill the earth with God’s glory.
         2. Being made in God’s image, humans have intellectual abilities which they were intended to use to carry out their God-given purpose.
         3. By implication, God intended man to build, to create, to invent—to use technology in a way that would serve creation and glorify God in the earth.
   2. How did that work out? (Genesis 3-10)
      1. Humans rebel against God, defining good and evil for themselves, reaching out and taking what was forbidden from a desire to have the mastery. (3:1-6)
      2. The consequences of this are catastrophic—they are removed from God’s presence, removed from the garden, and cast out into a harsh, broken world.
         1. Human relationships broken, characterized by pain & mistrust (3:12, 16)
         2. Man’s relationship with creation broken, full of toil & difficulty (3:17-18)
         3. Cut off from the tree of life, humans now suffer the same fate: death (3:19)
      3. And so they go out, east of Eden, retaining the same purpose for which they were created, but now in a broken and fallen world (3:23)
      4. The rebellion of humanity continues in the following chapters of Genesis.
         1. Cain kills his brother (how?), told to wander yet builds a city. (4:12-17)
         2. Cain’s descendants continue rebellion (Lamech a violent bigamist, 4:23-4)
         3. They also develop technology (musical instruments 21, animal husbandry 20, metallurgy 22). Do what purposes? We can only speculate, but the picture is that humanity is rushing headlong into rebellion/violence.
         4. By days of Noah, it’s so bad that God destroys the whole earth. (ch.6-8)
         5. Noah & his son start the cycle of sin over, leading to the Tower of Babel.
   3. Human Rebellion at Babel (Genesis 11)
      1. Genesis 11:1 Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. 2 It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. 4 They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” 5 The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 The Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.
         1. The humans continue east and settle in Shinar, where they develop a new form of technology—burn bricks and use tar to stick them together.
         2. What is done with this fantastic new technology? The building of a city (!)
            1. “A tower whose top is in heaven” - ambition, pride, false worship
            2. “Let us make a name for ourselves” - ego, control of our own destinies
            3. “Lest we be scattered and fill the earth” - disobeys God’s command
         3. This is, of course, laughable to God, who has to “come down” to see this great city and tower. But it is also a serious evil that must be confronted.
            1. “This is just the beginning…” - God sees this as the start of rebellion that will only get worse and worse if humans are left to their devices.
            2. “Nothing they purpose will be impossible” - All humanity crammed into one city is a guarantee of violence, oppression, and wickedness.
         4. So God scatters them (fulfilling His purpose in spite of their rebellion) and this becomes the biblical city of Babylon—the city of human rebellion, the city that charms the whole earth with her sorcery and seduction, the city that God’s people are called to come out of lest they be corrupted.
      2. What is the Babel/Babylon vision?
         1. We as humans are intelligent and capable; the potential for intellectual and technological advancement is unlimited. (We don’t need God.)
         2. In fact, we are better off seeking our own purposes rather than any “limiting” purpose imposed on us by religion or tradition or morality.
         3. We can (and will) discover, invent, and build in order to overcome our limitations and create the world we want for ourselves.
      3. And this is precisely the vision of modern technology:
         1. Modern technology is about achieving the impossible. And the possibility becomes the justification—if we can do it, we should.
            1. We can figure out how to create life in a test tube; we can figure out how to travel to other planets; we can do surgery through robotics from around the world, we can develop software to write books.
            2. If it can be done, we will do it, and “nothing will be impossible for us.”
         2. Modern technology is about creating the world we desire. We are still trying to ‘make a name for ourselves’, allured by the prospect of utopia.
            1. We envision heaven on earth, in which technological innovation and scientific discovery have ended hunger, cured sickness, and brought about world peace.
            2. It’s our destiny, and we will create it.
         3. Modern technology is (in fact) resisting the limitations imposed on us by God and brought on as the consequences of our sin.
            1. Broken Relationships - internet/social media designed to connect the world (literally undo Babel by removing the language barrier).
            2. Broken world (toil & hardship) - automation means farming without toil, food is so abundant we invented refrigerators to keep it from spoiling
            3. Death -  Apple watches tell us when we are about to have a heart attack, modern medicine will conquer all sickness, James Vlahos creating an AI version of his dad to keep him around after he died.
      4. And how’s it going?
         1. We are more connected than ever before, are we closer to people?
         2. We have access to more information, are we smarter, wiser?
         3. We have comfort, entertainment in abundance, are we happier?
         4. We live longer, face less pain, have options, are we less afraid of death?
3. What is our vision of technology?
   1. Have I bought into Babylon’s vision of technology?
      1. Am I operating under the “If I can…I will” mentality?
         1. Just because it’s possible, available, or even affordable doesn’t mean we should get the device or adopt the technology.
         2. Newest iPhone, Amazon one-click ordering, smartwatches, robot vacuums, smart houses—I can, but should I?
         3. The point isn’t that the answer is always no. But that it’s not always yes.
      2. Is personal pleasure / fulfillment the end goal of my technology use?
         1. The goal of the Babel project was “do what we want”, and technology was subservient to that self-serving purpose. Is that true in our homes?
         2. Are our tech/media habits (and our kids’) simply, “What I want to do”?
         3. Are we simply trying to make like as easy for ourselves as possible?
         4. Or, perhaps, we (like at Babel) are resisting the pain of our limited human existence, using tech/media to escape boredom, sorrow, or hard work.
      3. Does technology / media leave me empty & isolated?
         1. Like at Babel, that kind of rebellion is futile, and our attempts to flee brokenness often lead to more brokenness.
         2. Do I feel ‘better’ after my media consumption? Or worse? Do I feel closer to people in my life from social media time?
   2. The beautiful truth is that God has a plan to reverse the curse and restore what humans forfeited in their rebellion—that’s the gospel of Jesus Christ.
      1. Through His blood, we are reconciled to God and unified with each other.
      2. In Him, there is redemption for the brokenness of life, peace, joy in Him.
      3. By the Spirit of God we will conquer death, live forever when Jesus returns.
   3. And, part of the story of human history and of the gospel is that parts of our broken and fallen world can be redeemed—including technology.
      1. Cain’s line invented musical instruments, and David used those same instruments to create beautiful and moving songs to God.
      2. Tubal-Cain invented metallurgy, but metal working was put to use in the implements for temple worship and offerings.
      3. Ultimately, the final picture in Scripture of the new heavens and new earth are not just a garden, but a city in which God’s work and man’s work harmoniously give praise to God in perfect beauty and splendor.
   4. So, we can adopt the Eden view of technology even now:
      1. Can I use my device in submission to God?
         1. If God made me to have dominion over the creation, I need to make sure I’m master of my devices, and not the other way around.
         2. If I believe that God intended for us to make tools to do the work He has given us to do, how can I put my devices to that purpose.
      2. Can I use tech & media to produce good fruit in myself and others?
         1. In particular, God desires fruitfulness. Think fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, etc.) or the fruit of righteousness.
         2. How can technology and media be used to cultivate fruitfulness?
      3. Does my use of tech give glory to God?
         1. Babel is about look who I am, what I’ve done, etc. But in Christ we use every aspect of our lives to praise God.
         2. Does the way I use technology and social media give honor to God?
   5. These are the kinds of questions we invite you to ask this weekend.
      1. The goal is for each of us to be self-critical. This is not a “kids these days” or “world out there” sort of series. This is for all of us.
         1. Irony about young guys delivering these lessons. We recognize that.
         2. We want to humbly offer these things and ask for your insight.
      2. Start a conversation about these things, not give you the answers.
      3. Join us as we seek wisdom and fruitfulness together in the Lord.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM (1)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

From the Bible’s perspective wealth is neither absolutely bad nor absolutely good. The story of the Bible begins and ends with humanity in a rich, lush garden with God. God wants to set his presence among us and bless us for his glory. But the Scriptures also tell the story of how in this age, Satan exalts beauty, wealth, and power as things that are good in their own right, by themselves, without God. God’s people can be ensnared by prosperity and led to forget God. God does good work on our hearts by blessing us — filling us with joy, wonder, and thankfulness over his goodness towards us, giving us resources to do good kingdom work; unfortunately, Satan also does some of his worst work through God’s blessings. It made the Laodicean church completely worthless to Christ.

Prosperity with God is untarnished and good in the beginning in Eden and in the end in the New Creation, but for now it is a mixed bag fraught with blessings and dangers. In Babylon where wealth is worshipped, we need to make sure that if we are made poor, we rejoice in our humiliation, and if we are enriched, our wealth is like the beauty of the New Jerusalem — bringing both delight to us and honor to God — and not arrogant or idolatrous. To help us grapple with this, today we will discuss the dangers of prosperity from Deuteronomy 8-9.

Israel: Caution in Canaan (Deuteronomy 8-9)

At this point, Israel was familiar with the dangers of the wilderness — the dangers of discouragement and of testing God and giving up on him. But now they were about to enter a paradise reminiscent of the Garden of Eden. What do we do when we stumble out of the wilderness into God’s richest blessings? Moses offers four warnings.

1. Take Care: Keep Commands (Deuteronomy 8:6-11)

Notice how Moses makes a connection: do not forget to keep God's commands. Why? Because you are about to enter this great land of blessing. You will not lack of water, fruit, bread, or precious metals. As we grow in wealth, we can become puffed up and forget God's commands.

Who accepted Christ's radical commands to seek his kingdom first? There are exceptions, but the weak, sick, poor, and troubled often followed most readily. Jesus told the rich ruler to follow him, but the ruler went his own way; he told blind Bartemaus to go his own way, and he followed Jesus. Previously, Bartemaus looked like a sad law-breaker. Previously, the rich ruler looked like a joyful command-follower until a single command changed our perception forever. He walked back home to his wealth with grief in his heart — a sad slave.

Wealth can cause God’s words to lose their weightiness. Wealth can become a harsh master stealing joy. It can create so many cares and concerns that make fruit-bearing difficult. But take it all away, be left with nothing but God to cling to, and it’s amazing how serious his words suddenly appear — because don’t want to risk displeasing God, the only support we have left. Instead of relaxing in prosperity, let’s be motivated by God’s kindness to be even more careful to listen closely and obey.

2. Beware: Remember Who Blessed You (Deuteronomy 8:11-18)

Notice again the connection Moses makes. When you have built homes and your flocks and gold are multiplying, do not become prideful and forget the Lord who did this for you. How could they do this? Verse 17. "My power got me here.”  In other words, we say: “All my hard work has paid off.”

And the moment we think we can conjure up this life on our own, we stop thanking God with the same fervor because we aren’t really sure how active he is or how much we need him anyway. We forget how God has been answering many prayers, how he sustained us with so little through the wilderness, how we really shouldn’t be where we are today. Maybe we can only look back and see how we have maneuvered ourselves into good situations and had some good luck too. Remember from Romans 1 the beginning of the road to hell: For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him…

If we see our faith and love for God have grown tired and cold, this mindset can be the root. We may have worked hard, but it was God that gave us the power, energy, and wisdom. All glory must go to God for what we have — including whatever breath we had in our lungs to obtain it. Let us verbalize this to him day by day, because he doesn’t give that strength to everyone all the time. He has led some people through the wilderness for so long that they feel they have no strength left in their bones to even get out of bed. He has caused others to be born into abject poverty that no amount of hard work could ever reverse. God both impoverishes us and blesses us to the end that — regardless — we will boast in him.

3. Do not Say: This Is Because of My Righteousness (Deuteronomy 9:1-8ff)

Notice the connection: when The Lord gives you success over other people, do not say it is because of your righteousness. This is a tricky one. After all, Proverbs teaches us that God does often bless those who are righteous. Good things can come to those who are wise and godly. But Job and Ecclesiastes are so memorable because there are many exceptions to that rule. Often, the righteous are poor and disdained while the unrighteous are wealthy and honored.

Saying, “This is because of my righteousness” is dangerous because it creates in our minds a direct correlation between physical success and God’s pleasure with us. So, when times are good, we think “God is happy with me.” Moses tells us why this is so dangerous throughout the rest of chapter 9. They are stubborn and unrighteous, but God is about to bless you anyway.

To fight against this dangerous mindset, consider adopting this prayer: God, my sins should have earned me the darkest corner in the world, but you have shown me kindness that is completely out of proportion to my righteousness.

So we have seen the need to take care to keep God’s commands, to beware to not forget who blessed us, and to not believe our prosperity is because of our righteousness.

4. Remember: Man Does Not Live By Bread Alone (Deuteronomy 8:1-5)

Moses says in God was disciplining and teaching Israel an important lesson by letting them hunger and eat unknown manna in the wilderness for 40 years. “Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” That works in two ways.

First, the words God speaks are like rain on thirsty ground. They are so nourishing and life-giving to those who hear and trust his voice. Brothers and sisters, don’t ever forget that. We hold in our hands a book full of God’s life-giving words. Here, we hear words that cut through the clutter to speak true wisdom. Here, we hear hope-filled promises. We learn the story of the God who pursues us. Here, we come to know our God. It’s like we can bring the the Garden and Temple with us wherever we go — whether to the valley of the shadow of death, or to Phoenix.

Second, we live and are sustained in the wilderness because God speaks it. If he says our shoes will not fall apart, and our homes will stand, and that food will grow — it will happen.

It is vital to remember the wilderness in the promised land. Otherwise, we get the new chariot, new house, new clothes, better food and we don’t know how we ever survived with what we had before. How did we survive before? God spoke and by his word we were cared for. How else could a nation survive for forty years in a wilderness? God spoke: and by his word, both our bodies and our souls were nourished. This is why God says in Jeremiah 2:2 that he loved the wilderness years — it was the honeymoon period when Israel had no choice but to depend on the Lord. Don’t be surprised, brothers and sisters, when he brings us back to the wilderness to learn that dependence again.

Conclusion

In the New Jerusalem in the new heavens and new earth, we will enjoy God and his blessings completely untarnished. Until then, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils and through it many God-fearers have been destroyed. So let us make Jesus our bread and wine. Without him, the most beautiful garden is a dry desert. But with his Spirit, the simplest of gardens feel like Eden, and the valley of the sun? Maybe we could say Isaiah and Ezekiel foresaw days when it would become a fruitful field.