Sermon

Influencer, Part 1: The War for Your Attention // Jamie Nunnally

Victory Fellowship Church Podcast

Open publisher episode ↗

Publisher transcript

Transcript

View source ↗
  1. You're listening to the VFC Sermon Podcast.

  2. At the end of this episode, please take a moment to download our free VFC Thomasville app, where you can access all of our messages, sermon notes, announcements, and small group lessons.

  3. Our app is the easiest way to keep up with everything going on here at VFC.

  4. We hope that this message helps you in your walk with Jesus and encourages you to belong, believe, and become.

  5. Normal people using YouTube, Instagram, TikTok have turned themselves into a media empire because they had an online following.

  6. US retail brands spent$37 billion to advertise their products through online content creators.

  7. That's more than double what they spent just four years earlier.

  8. Why would businesses spend that kind of money on somebody making videos while putting on makeup in their bathroom?

  9. Your attention.

  10. It's all about your attention.

  11. Influence is big business because your attention is a commodity.

  12. And today the primary way to get your attention is through the screen in your hand.

  13. Today we're starting a new series called Influencer, How Our Screens Guide Us.

  14. Now, this is not a phones or bad sermon series.

  15. This is not a social media is bad sermon series.

  16. As a matter of fact, your phone, social media, technology can be an incredible tool for the gospel, and we'll talk about that in a few weeks.

  17. But this isn't only a technology issue, this is a discipleship issue.

  18. You are being discipled by whatever has your attention.

  19. God wants our attention, the world wants our attention, the enemy wants our attention, and increasingly the battlefield is in the screen in our hand.

  20. So, your phone isn't just something that you look at.

  21. Your phone is something that through dings and rings and buzzes and algorithms, it's something that's trying to constantly get you to look at it.

  22. Why?

  23. This is important.

  24. Because whatever has your attention can eventually have your allegiance.

  25. Romans chapter 1, verse 25, Paul says something slightly terrifying.

    Romans 1:25

  26. He says, they traded the truth about God for a lie.

  27. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself.

  28. Now I know you would think I would never, Jamie, that's ridiculous, I would never worship a phone or a tablet or a computer or a TV screen.

  29. Well, let me define worship for you real quick.

  30. Worship is three things happening in a progression.

  31. First of all, it's attention that leads to your affection, which then leads to action.

  32. That's what worship is.

  33. In a church setting, we use things like worship music, which we experienced this morning.

  34. We use things like communion, which we experienced this morning.

  35. We use things like the sermon, which you're experiencing right now, to bring our attention to engage with God.

  36. That's how we give our attention to him.

  37. Then we reciprocate his love for us.

  38. That's our affection.

  39. And then we let that spur us on to further devotion towards the Lord.

  40. Maybe by doing good works to serve someone else or by living a holy life.

  41. That's our action.

  42. And that, my friends, is what worship is.

  43. Our screens, though, are leading us down the same progression or attempting us to do the same thing.

  44. But instead of worshiping the Lord, if we're not careful, we'll begin to worship other things.

  45. So we're going to walk through these three things attention, affection, and action, and we're going to see how we can be discipled by the Lord instead of our phones.

  46. Are y'all ready?

  47. Let's do it.

  48. First of all, screens compete for our attention.

  49. Screens compete for our attention.

  50. All right, here are the latest screen usage statistics.

  51. According to Pew Research, 40% of American teenagers say that they are online almost constantly.

  52. And some of you are like, only 40%?

  53. They're online almost constantly.

  54. But here's the problem before you think all these teenagers and their phones, the stat for adults is 41%.

  55. So it's even more.

  56. It's even more.

  57. According to research from reviews.org, Americans check their phones.

  58. This is wild.

  59. Americans check their phones 186 times a day.

  60. That's once every five minutes of their waking hours, assuming eight hours of sleep, which some of y'all aren't getting eight hours of sleep.

  61. Millennials, age 30 to 45, spend just short of four hours a day on their smartphones.

  62. Gen X, that's ages 45 to 60, I'm in that group.

  63. We average just over three hours a day.

  64. And Boomers, that's ages 60 and older, if you can find your phone, averages, I mean, you know it's true.

  65. Average just over two hours a day.

  66. Now let me point something out.

  67. That's phone time only.

  68. That's not TV time, that's not computer time.

  69. Only phone time.

  70. Alright, here's some fun statistics.

  71. 87% use their phone while watching TV.

  72. Because there's nothing like watching a screen while you're watching a screen.

  73. I mean, I kind of understand this one because you gotta look up and see what other stuff the actor's been in, right?

  74. Do y'all have that fight?

  75. Where have we seen them before?

  76. Yeah, okay, same.

  77. All right.

  78. 56% use their phone while eating dinner.

  79. Our family had to make a rule.

  80. When our kids were still living at home with us, um, we we had to make a rule.

  81. We're like, look, no phones at the dinner table.

  82. And guess who the number one problem was?

  83. It was me, right?

  84. I was the problem.

  85. Sixty-eight percent of people use their phones on the toilet.

  86. Look, this is why I don't debate online.

  87. You're sitting here arguing with me about politics or theology, and you're sitting on the can doing it.

  88. No wonder your argument stinks.

  89. That's kind of fun though, when you can't say it out loud and you just text it to someone.

  90. I see some of y'all texting each other during the sermon.

  91. I'm on to you.

  92. I'm watching.

  93. 85% check their phone within 10 minutes of waking up.

  94. 85% within 10 minutes of waking up.

  95. Now here's the deal.

  96. I understand our phones have become so integrated into our life.

  97. Like you need to check the weather, right?

  98. Right?

  99. Some of us use our phones for our alarm.

  100. Uh, some of you, you use the UVersion Bible app on your phone and you do a devotional.

  101. So this isn't necessarily all bad, but you guys know how easy it is for you're like you're doing a devotional, you're checking the weather, and and the next thing you know, you're 20 scrolls deep into Facebook.

  102. Without even thinking about it, right?

  103. You have to be careful.

  104. 85% within 10 minutes.

  105. 46% of people consider themselves addicted to their phone.

  106. Almost half would admit, yeah, I'm probably addicted to my phone.

  107. The other half are lying to themselves.

  108. 40% use their phone on a date.

  109. You ever been out to eat and you see a couple and they're both just on their phone.

  110. They're not talking, they're not engaging, they're just on their phones.

  111. It's like, what do y'all, what are you doing?

  112. What's the point?

  113. This one, this is dangerous.

  114. 29% use their phone while driving.

  115. I know you've done it.

  116. I know you've tried it.

  117. Almost a third, we're getting near a third of people use their phone while they're driving.

  118. Uh, there's other studies you can look all this up.

  119. They found that distracted driving on your phone is actually even worse than drunk driving.

  120. You can't do it.

  121. Everyone thinks we can do it.

  122. I can just check it real quick.

  123. We can't do it.

  124. No one is that good of a driver.

  125. Is there any doubt that our phones have our attention?

  126. I mean, there's just none, right?

  127. So remember, attention is the first step towards worship.

  128. So we should probably pay attention to what we're paying attention to.

  129. Psalm 46, 10 says, be still and know that I am God.

  130. How can we be still and know that He is God if every time we're still we reach for our phones?

  131. Screens have invaded every quiet moment.

  132. Think about how easy it is to reach for your phone when you're standing in line.

  133. When you're in a waiting room.

  134. Remember before phones, we had to actually read the magazines that were in the doctor's office?

  135. When you're at a red light, when there's a commercial on during TV, during just a few seconds of silence, we automatically reach for our phone.

  136. Guys, can I let you know something?

  137. Boredom isn't always bad.

  138. I remember when I was a kid, my parents would just send me outside for what?

  139. Just to be out there.

  140. And I would walk out, I'd be like, okay, so I guess I'll throw a rock at a tree.

  141. Nothing much to do here.

  142. Well, check out the leaves.

  143. But it was in that boredom, it was in that silence that there was a space to think, to consider, to imagine, to notice things, even to pray and to hear from God.

  144. Several years back, I developed a habit of where every time I was in the shower, I would listen to podcasts.

  145. Don't raise your hand if you do that.

  146. I know some of you do, though.

  147. I thought, you know, this is efficient.

  148. This is a way that I can maximize my time.

  149. I can listen to a podcast, I can learn something.

  150. Hey, maybe it's even a sermon, maybe it's something good, maybe it's something theological, maybe it's it's worship music.

  151. And then one day I heard the Lord say to me, through my thoughts, he goes, You never have silence in your life, and there's not a time when I can talk to you.

  152. And I stopped, I stopped listening to podcasts in the shower.

  153. I just, there were times for that, but I needed time to be quiet, to think, to consider, to let my mind wander.

  154. Because often, this is a brain hack.

  155. Whenever you finally get still and quiet, whatever your mind wanders to is often what has your heart in that moment.

  156. But we never let our minds wander because we're always feeding it with information.

  157. Maybe boredom isn't a problem to solve.

  158. Maybe sometimes it's space for God to move.

  159. When we fill every quiet moment with someone else's voice, we can't complain when we never hear God's voice.

  160. We have to learn to be still.

  161. Why does that matter?

  162. Why are you talking about that in church?

  163. Because almost every important spiritual discipline we can engage in requires sustained attention.

  164. It requires the ability for you to stick to it for more than just a minute or two.

  165. All right.

  166. Think about prayer.

  167. Have you ever been praying and then all of a sudden you're thinking about what you're gonna eat for lunch?

  168. Yeah?

  169. Me too.

  170. You ever been reading the Bible and all of a sudden you're trying to figure out what the lyrics of that song was?

  171. Yeah?

  172. Me too.

  173. Why?

  174. It's because of our attention span.

  175. And it's a skill to engage for longer than just a few minutes.

  176. But our lifestyle is making it harder for us to draw near to God.

  177. Because our screens are discipling us.

  178. Our screens have our attention.

  179. Another problem about how screens get our attention is how it affects our peace.

  180. Philippians 4, 8 and 9, it says, and now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing.

  181. Fix your thoughts on what's true, honorable, and right, pure, lovely, and admirable.

  182. Think about things that are excellent, worthy of praise.

  183. Verse 9, keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me, everything you heard from me and saw me doing, then the God of peace will be with you.

  184. Now it says, fix your thoughts.

  185. That is intentional attention.

  186. This is making yourself pay attention to something that matters.

  187. I find it interesting that we use the phrase pay attention because honestly, your attention will cost you something.

  188. There's a business idea called opportunity cost.

  189. When you're doing one thing, you aren't doing other things.

  190. We pay attention.

  191. We're giving God a sacrifice of our attention.

  192. And we're giving it to Him.

  193. Not murder podcasts.

  194. Or some of y'all like, oh, oh, that's too much, Jamie.

  195. Or political pundits.

  196. Or these things, honestly, guys, I don't know that I would a lot of the stuff that we listen to, we watch, I wouldn't say that it's honorable, pure, lovely, or admirable.

  197. I don't, I don't know that these are the things we should be feeding ourselves with.

  198. Do you guys know that the news is not an accurate reflection of the world going on around you?

  199. It's just not.

  200. They report deviations to what's normal.

  201. They don't report what's normal.

  202. So if if there's a plane crash, you're gonna hear about it.

  203. Why?

  204. Because almost every plane never crashes.

  205. But that's not news.

  206. The crash is news.

  207. So what we call the news is actually the bad news.

  208. And so you've got to be careful with that.

  209. I'm not saying you should be ignorant of what's going on in the world around you.

  210. But I am saying you weren't designed to carry the emotional weight of every tragedy on earth before breakfast.

  211. It's making you anxious.

  212. It's making you afraid of things that you really shouldn't be afraid of.

  213. Instead, fix your thoughts, intentional attention, fix your thoughts on good things.

  214. Create a deliberate gate, an entryway into your mind that filters what gets sustained access to your mind.

  215. Notice what Paul says.

  216. He goes, when you do this, then this is called an if-then clause.

  217. If you do this, then this will happen.

  218. Then the God of peace, the God of peace will be with you.

  219. Constant exposure to everything wrong everywhere creates anxiety about things that aren't even happening near you.

  220. Think about this for a second.

  221. For most of human history, even when we had newspapers, even when we had the printing press, even though that's only 500 or so years ago, for most of human history, you didn't know what was going on in the world.

  222. You knew what was going on in your town.

  223. You knew what was going on in your village, in your neighborhood, and you knew the person three doors down was dealing with a difficult situation, and that bothered you, and you prayed for them, but you didn't know about the next town over.

  224. You didn't certainly didn't know about the other country or the other side of the world.

  225. But through the printing press, now we had more access to information.

  226. It took a long time to get it.

  227. Now it's instant.

  228. 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you have access to the worst things that are happening on this planet.

  229. Guys, our nervous systems were not designed to process the suffering of 8 billion people in real time.

  230. We are creative, we can't handle that.

  231. Some of us were asking God for peace while giving anxiety unlimited access to our attention.

  232. So pay attention to what's getting your attention.

  233. Amen.

  234. So screens compete for our attention.

  235. Here's the next one, the next progression in worship.

  236. Screens compete for our affection.

  237. Jesus says in Matthew 6.21 wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

  238. So Jesus says there's a connection between where we invest our treasure and where our heart eventually goes.

  239. One of the most valuable things that you have to invest is your attention.

  240. What you pay attention to.

  241. When you're online, you're building up a treasure house, a storehouse.

  242. You are accumulating views, you're accumulating memes.

  243. I love memes.

  244. You're accumulating posts.

  245. You're accumulating comments and reels and episodes and articles and series.

  246. You're accumulating all these, that's where your heart will follow.

  247. Whatever you store up is where your heart will go.

  248. Or we could say it this way What repeatedly catches your eye can eventually capture your heart.

  249. The constant messages we receive on our screens lead us to crave new things.

  250. You've experienced this.

  251. You didn't know a product existed, but now you're obsessed with getting it.

  252. The screen told you.

  253. The screen told you about it.

  254. You need this product.

  255. You need to look like this celebrity.

  256. Your house should be as nice as this house.

  257. Your marriage should look like this perfect marriage.

  258. Be afraid of this.

  259. Be angry about this.

  260. Everyone else has this.

  261. Oh, everyone believes this.

  262. And you're getting pressured, even bullied by an inanimate object to believe a certain way, do certain things, think certain ways.

  263. When God has given you the way to think, the way to behave, the way to believe.

  264. Here's what's interesting what you've viewed in the past is now creating an appetite for your future.

  265. Have you ever been to A restaurant, and you just have like the best meal ever.

  266. Like, man, what an incredible place.

  267. You don't think, all right, I've had that now, don't need to go back.

  268. No, what do you do?

  269. You start planning the next time you're going.

  270. Why?

  271. Because you now have an appetite.

  272. You had an experience that created an appetite, and this is happening to us in the digital realm as well.

  273. Your desires are changing based on your exposure.

  274. Why is this a problem?

  275. Well, the Apostle John explains it to us, 1 John 2, 15 and 16.

  276. Do not love the world or the things in the world.

  277. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

  278. For all that's in the world, okay, real quick, just you're about to read the only three things the world has to offer you.

  279. They can be summarized in these three things.

  280. For all that's in the world, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world.

  281. Alright, here are the three things: the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life.

  282. Or you can say it this way: feel more, have more, and be more.

  283. That's all the world can offer you.

  284. Or you can even say it this way: pleasure, possessions, and pride.

  285. There it is.

  286. Those are the three things every sin, everything the world has to offer is going to fall under one of those categories: pleasure, possessions, and pride.

  287. And John has warned us about this.

  288. Why is this an issue?

  289. What's wrong with?

  290. I mean, there's nothing wrong with some possessions, but why should we be careful?

  291. There's nothing wrong with taking pride in your work or being proud of a family member, but why should we be careful about the pride of life?

  292. We keep reading and he explains.

  293. Verse 17.

  294. And the world is passing away along with its desires.

  295. But whoever does the will of God abides forever.

  296. God isn't warning you about the things in the world because he doesn't want you to have any fun or he wants to keep good things from you.

  297. He's warning you because you're giving your affection to something that won't last and will eventually hurt you.

  298. Imagine you come across your dream car, your dream vehicle, whatever it is, an SUV, a truck, sports car.

  299. There it is, in the window, it says free keys are in the ignition, and you're like, this is it.

  300. Finally, I'm getting mine.

  301. This is everything I've wanted in a vehicle.

  302. You begin to get inside, and someone begins to run up and says, No, no, no, no, no, don't get in, don't get in.

  303. You're like, man, this is mine.

  304. I deserve this.

  305. And you close the door and they're waving at you, like, don't get in, don't get in, don't get in.

  306. You lock the door.

  307. Then all of a sudden, a light starts going.

  308. You hear a siren.

  309. And you realize it's a crash test car.

  310. And in about 10 seconds, it's about to take off and hit that big brick wall in front of you.

  311. What's gonna happen to the person inside that car?

  312. They're gonna pass away inside of it.

  313. In the same way, the things of this world are passing away.

  314. If you are inside of them when that happens, you'll pass away too.

  315. But it's enticing, right?

  316. It's your dream car, it's everything you wanted.

  317. Our screens are constantly enticing us with these three desires that the world can give us.

  318. Why?

  319. Because your algorithm doesn't care what makes you holy, it just wants you to keep scrolling.

  320. Again, you are a commodity.

  321. Your attention and your affection is a commodity.

  322. Our algorithm, my I have an algorithm.

  323. I I I've I've Instagram, I've got it, I've got it down.

  324. It's music stuff, it's stand-up comedy, it's Christian humor, it's a lot of cats jumping on things and goats falling down.

  325. Okay?

  326. I've worked really hard at curating my algorithm.

  327. But my algorithm is not asking what will make Jamie more like Jesus.

  328. My algorithm is asking what will keep Jamie watching?

  329. And the answer is goat videos.

  330. It's true.

  331. But those won't make me more like Christ.

  332. Our digital platforms capture our attention, learn our affections, and then sell access to us so companies can influence our actions.

  333. And that's worship.

  334. And that's the third point.

  335. Screens compete for our action.

  336. Eventually, what gets my attention captures my affection, and it will begin to affect how I live.

  337. That's by the way, in spiritual circles, that's called formation.

  338. You may have heard of spiritual formation.

  339. The question isn't whether you're being formed, the question is what or who is forming you.

  340. Romans 12, 2.

  341. Paul says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.

  342. I love that.

  343. Paul gives us two options here when it comes to forming conforming or transforming.

  344. Alright, what's the difference?

  345. Well, to be conformed means that you take the shape of a predetermined pattern.

  346. It's just like how water will take the shape of whatever vessel you pour it into.

  347. If you pour it into something that's uh a cylinder, water becomes a cylinder.

  348. If you turn it into something that's round, it'll become round, square, it'll become square.

  349. Water simply conforms.

  350. So the world and its desires chip away at you from the outside, sculpting you, trying to gain access to your inner self so that you will look like the world.

  351. But the other option Paul gives us is to be transformed.

  352. To be transformed, or changed into something new.

  353. While the world works on you from the outside trying to get inside, God works from the inside out to transform you into a new creation.

  354. He makes you new on the inside, and then you work out that newness on the inside to the outside.

  355. 2 Corinthians 3.18, it says this, and we all with unveiled face, he's referring to what he just previously said, unveiled face is anyone who recognizes Jesus as the Messiah.

  356. We all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image of the Lord, from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

  357. This is amazing.

  358. Paul just gave us how, like the mechanism of our spiritual growth.

  359. As we behold the Lord, how do we do that?

  360. Through spiritual disciplines.

  361. You've been doing it this morning through worship, through listening to the word, through communion, through reading the Bible, through gathering, through serving, through all these things that we do to draw near to God.

  362. As you behold the Lord, we're transformed from the inside out and we're made into his image.

  363. Now it's little by little, or as one translation says, from glory to glory, step by step, baby step by baby step.

  364. Each time, instead of reaching for your phone first thing in the morning, you reach for the Bible, you're transformed just a little bit.

  365. Each time you come and you worship here, you're transformed just a little bit.

  366. Each time you sit under biblical teaching, you're transformed just a little bit.

  367. And it may not, you may not see an immediate change, but give it a year.

  368. It never ceases to amaze me how many people come to VFC, get involved in our processes, Sunday morning celebration, Sunday night education, house, church, connection.

  369. And they just work the system.

  370. And they just go to the things that we have available.

  371. I can't make everything.

  372. No one can make everything.

  373. I don't even make everything.

  374. But but you make it a priority.

  375. And a year later, you're just different.

  376. You've been changed from glory to glory.

  377. Little by little.

  378. That's God's process for your spiritual formation.

  379. But what you feed on, this is so important.

  380. What you feed on eventually determines your formation.

  381. I find it so ironic that what we see on social media is literally called our feed.

  382. It's feeding us.

  383. And it makes sense.

  384. If I continually give something my attention and my affection, I shouldn't be surprised when it begins showing up in my actions.

  385. Let me give you a couple quick examples of how tree uh how screens can change our action.

  386. One is through isolation.

  387. Technology can connect us in incredible ways, and we're going to talk about that in a couple weeks.

  388. Not everything's bad when it comes to this.

  389. But digital connection is not a replacement for face-to-face interaction.

  390. It's just not.

  391. Proverbs 18:1.

    Proverbs 18:1

  392. It says a man who isolates himself, seeks his own desires, he rages against all wise judgment.

  393. Wow, that's pretty intense.

  394. Now I'm not saying you introverts have to be an extrovert.

  395. I'm not saying you've got to be the friendliest person in the room.

  396. But I am saying there is something to obeying Jesus' command to gather.

  397. When you're looking at a screen, you're not looking at a soul.

  398. Think about, again, a family eating dinner while everyone's on the phone, or a couple sitting beside each other scrolling separate feeds.

  399. Or a group of friends who are physically together but mentally in another place.

  400. You can be surrounded by people and still be isolated.

  401. If your attention is somewhere else.

  402. We've never been more connected.

  403. We've never been more connected technologically.

  404. But connection is not the same as community.

  405. It's not the same thing.

  406. Guys, let me just be really honest with you.

  407. Online church is a blessing.

  408. We uh VFC has been an early adopter of technology.

  409. We we were streaming our services online over a decade ago.

  410. Um, and it's it's been a huge blessing to people when they aren't feeling well, uh, when they're out of town, when they've got to work, something comes up.

  411. It's it's it's awesome.

  412. There are people with mobility issues.

  413. But let me be honest, for most people, it should be the exception.

  414. It should be the exception.

  415. It's a gift that we have, it's it's an opportunity we have for you, but it should be the exception for most people.

  416. Watching church online is like watching a campfire on TV.

  417. You can see the light, but you can't feel the warmth.

  418. There's information you can receive by watching online, and thank goodness for watching online.

  419. Hey everyone watching online.

  420. Like it's great, but you're missing something that can't happen if you're not gathered with other people.

  421. There is more to a church service than songs that are sung or uh information in the sermon, but that's all you get on the screen.

  422. Online church is good, but it's not everything you need.

  423. Christianity is a one-another faith.

  424. Scripture is filled with commands to do things to one another, love one another, encourage one another, serve one another, forgive one another, pray for one another, and you can't one another yourself.

  425. You have to have another person to one another.

  426. Yes, by yourself, yeah, you are the temple of God.

  427. But you're not your own church.

  428. A church is a gathering.

  429. Another area where our attention and affection can lead us to negative action is phone addiction and digital dependence.

  430. 1 Corinthians 6, 12.

  431. You say I'm allowed to do anything, but not everything is good for you.

  432. And even though I'm allowed to do anything, I must not become a slave to anything.

  433. Now notice Paul's not talking about whether something's sinful or not.

  434. He's talking about whether or not something's helpful.

  435. Phones are helpful, digital connection is helpful, technology is helpful, but has it gone beyond beneficial boundaries in your life?

  436. Smartphones are great, but can you put it down?

  437. Can you eat dinner without checking it?

  438. Can you watch your kids game without scrolling?

  439. Although some of those games are boring, I get it.

  440. Can you leave the house without panicking that you don't have your phone?

  441. That's happened to me before.

  442. Like, oh no, what am I gonna do?

  443. What I did my whole life before there were phones.

  444. If you hear a notification, you feel a buzz in your pocket.

  445. Can you let it go?

  446. Something doesn't have to be sinful to become your master.

  447. It just has to be in charge of your decisions.

  448. Guys, there is a physical reality to phone addiction.

  449. Research shows that, like, notifications and likes and messages and even the anticipation of what might be waiting when you unlock your phone, it activates your brain's dopamine reward system.

  450. The dopamine releases uh in your brain and it causes us to repeat behaviors that might produce the same reward.

  451. So we keep checking our phones.

  452. Man, I I've been trying, I'm not always good at this, but I've been trying to post and ghost.

  453. Put something on social media, walk away, don't check it.

  454. I come back and some crazy person is taking over the comments.

  455. You know what?

  456. Whatever.

  457. That's what I'm trying to do.

  458. I'm trying to post and ghost.

  459. That's my goal.

  460. I do it sometimes.

  461. But we keep checking our phones because of this dopamine response.

  462. For some people, it becomes so compulsive that there are now treatment programs and digital detox centers designed to help people break unhealthy dependence on devices.

  463. I mean, these exist.

  464. There's a real issue.

  465. Your phone doesn't just compete for your attention, it can train your brain to keep giving it your attention.

  466. And that's scary.

  467. Most of you know that Eric and I have a podcast, a comedy and theology podcast called Not the Sermon.

  468. If you listen to it, you expect a sermon, you'll be disappointed.

  469. Because it's not the sermon.

  470. About a month ago, we posted a reel in Instagram about a bizarre research experiment, and our video ended up going viral to the tune of 7.3 million views.

  471. It was it it wasn't even our best moment.

  472. It was a terrible clip.

  473. It was just me reading a research report.

  474. Thank goodness Eric's face didn't even make it on there.

  475. But I think this story that we talked about is a great example of what we talked about today, so let me share it with you.

  476. So researchers in Milan, Italy put a woman who appeared pregnant on a crowded subway to see who would offer her their seat.

  477. So normally, they did it several times, about one-third of passengers would give up their seat for the pregnant lady.

  478. But then they added Batman.

  479. Another researcher walked into the train dressed as Batman, and suddenly over two-thirds of passengers offered the woman their seat.

  480. That's double the amount.

  481. Why?

  482. Because they didn't want Batman to kill them.

  483. I'm just kidding.

  484. This is what the researchers found.

  485. They believe the unexpected event of Batman showing up in their train interrupted people's routine, made them more present and aware of what was going on around them, they looked up.

  486. Having something out of the out of the normal thing they were expected to have made them look up.

  487. Look up from their devices, look up from their what they were reading, their tablets.

  488. And then when they looked up, they noticed her.

  489. Their attention stirred their affection, and their affection changed their action.

  490. So what are you missing because you're distracted?

  491. How many opportunities to hear God, to love someone, to be with your family, to encourage someone, or simply to enjoy the world around you?

  492. How many times have you missed those?

  493. They're right in front of us, but we're looking down at our screens.

  494. Maybe one of the most spiritual things you can do this week is look up.

  495. Look up from the screen, pay attention, pay attention to God, pay attention to the people around you, because attention leads to affection, and affection leads to action, and the war for your attention is ultimately a war for your worship.

  496. My question to you is this who or what has your attention?

  497. Let's stand for prayer.

  498. Next week, Eric is going to share a digital rule of life.

  499. He's gonna help you craft your own way of approaching technology.

  500. And if if you pay attention and you take some of the information he gives you, you will walk out of here next week with your own plan for your own digital discipleship and for your family.

  501. If you have kids living in the home, it's gonna be awesome.

  502. Get super practical.

  503. I'm gonna continue.

  504. I'm gonna talk about the good things we can do with technology, and then we'll end this series.

  505. I'll talk about how to navigate social media.

  506. It's gonna be great.

  507. But before we get to those things, let's do some business with the Lord.

  508. Close your eyes.

  509. Begin to consider your own behavior.

  510. Maybe you thought so-and-so really needs to hear this message.

  511. Well, maybe they will, but right now the Lord wants to deal with you.

  512. Ask the Holy Spirit, how am I doing with my discipleship in this digital age?

  513. Think that thought to the Holy Spirit.

  514. Often what'll happen is you'll receive a bounce back thought.

  515. It's often immediate, and it's if it's biblical, it's not condemnation, it's often the Holy Spirit speaking to you.

  516. Speak to us, Holy Spirit.

  517. Show us the areas where we've gotten out of bounds.

  518. Help us, Lord, navigate this new reality.

  519. I'd love to lead you in a prayer where we surrender this part of our lives to the Lord.

  520. If you would pray this after me, say, Father, thank you for the gift of technology.

  521. Thank you that we can be connected with the entire world.

  522. But Lord, I need help with my digital discipleship.

  523. So, Holy Spirit, I invite you.

  524. Convict me and correct me.

  525. When I get out of bounds, when I go beyond your boundaries, I want to be discipled by you and you alone.

  526. Show me when I'm going down the wrong path and give me the grace to repent and turn back to you.

  527. I surrender this part of my life to you.

  528. In Jesus' name.

  529. Amen.

  530. Amen.

  531. Awesome.

  532. Awesome.

  533. Thanks for listening to the VFC Podcast.

  534. If you live in the Thomasville area, we would love for you to connect with us in person.

  535. For more information about our weekly gatherings, including service times and directions, you can visit us at VFC Thomasville.