God - Next Generation Ministry

It appears we have hit a crossroads in America. Will we serve Almighty God or the almighty dollar? We need money to live on but without God, we don’t even have the breath to breathe. The answer to the question may seem simple but the outcome is proving that most in this world believe the latter to be more important.

The world at its present is going bonkers over money. Gambling is taking over sports and people are paying big bucks to see their favorite entertainers perform on the stage, the field, or the screen.

It’s said Taylor Swift will soon amass over $1 billion dollars and that she makes $9-13 million every time she performs. Granted, Taylor does give some of her money back for good causes and charities. However, our contributions as Christ-followers could be better spent on other means than that of attending Taylor’s expensive venues.

As Christians, we’re to be in the world but not of it. We should be about advancing God’s kingdom and not the kingdoms of this world. Now, there’s a lot of kingdoms out there in this world. There’s the magic kingdom, the barbie kingdom, and if you’re a Swiftie, I’ll say the Swiftie kingdom.

The problem with promoting the kingdoms of this world is that worldly kingdoms aren’t meant to last and they do not match the values and ideals of God’s Kingdom. For example, one of Swift’s latest new hits is a song that goes by the name Karma. In it, she sings these lyrics:

Cause karma is my boyfriend, Karma is a god, Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend, Karma’s a relaxing thought, Aren’t you envious that for you it’s not?, Sweet like honey, karma is a cat, Purring in my lap ‘cause it loves me, Flexing like an acrobat, Me and karma vibe like that.

Now, I left out a couple words in the above lyrics because Swift takes the liberty to use the Lord’s name in vain. What I’m saying is God’s kingdom and the kingdoms of this world don’t mix. They don’t match either.

I’ve been wrestling with the question of how we Christians are going to reach our culture. The other day, I had an epiphany: We’re going to reach our culture in the same way our world reaches the culture. Thus, I would submit that we need more Christian entertainers, artists, comedians, musicians, actors, inventors, and the like, not less. Author Daniel Pink says our world belongs to the right-brained. Seeing what people spend their hard-earned money on, I’d have to agree with him.

Stadiums, theaters, malls, and concerts are packed. The problem is most of these kingdoms are from and are for the world. For example, the new Barbie movie promotes a lot of new-ageism, including karma. When you make idols out of Swift, Barbie, or anything in between, you may end up looking, dressing, and behaving like your idol.

If you’re a young lady, you might say, “that doesn’t sound so bad”. After all, Taylor and Barbie are good-looking ladies that have a good voice—”I want to be like them”. The problem is that neither is bearing good fruit because they’re not of the kingdom of Christ. If Taylor were of God’s kingdom, she wouldn’t take his name in vain. And if Barbie were of God’s kingdom, she wouldn’t take up new-age practices.

Not everything that appears good is good. Remember the fruit in the Garden of Eden? or what the Bible describes as the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, or the pride of life?

Money may look good. It may even smell good. However, the Bible says that money is the root of all kinds of evil. Now, money isn’t the root of all evil, but it sure is causing a lot of damage to people’s lives right now. Gambling can destroy a family, but even worse, it can obstruct one’s relationship to Almighty God. Jesus said it best: “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other or you will be devoted to one and hate the other. You can’t serve both God and money.”

Thus I end this post where I started. Will you serve the Almighty God or the almighty dollar? As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!

Inflatable Costumes - cell phone costume

James K. A. Smith has proposed that humans are what they worship. If this is true, I would propose that most humans, then, are nothing less than a walking smart phone. Did you know, for instance, that according to Pew Research, 80% of Americans own a smart phone and that the number rises to 96% if you are in the 18-29 age range?

The smartphone has become so common that many have identified it as an extension of the human body. After all, if an alien were to visit our planet, I think the first question he would ask himself is, “What is that body part called that is always seen protruding out of man’s right or left hand?”

Have man and machine finally collided into an inseparable bond? Wasn’t a man made to be more than a machine and a machine made to be less than a man? Yes, according to Genesis, it was this way in the beginning. It’s rather simple. God made man and man made machine. But now, man not only makes machines. He talks to his machines and his machines talk back. These conversational robots not only talk back. They perform specific actions that man commands and even allow men to talk to other men through them. “Hey Alexa, . . .” However, as time has passed, machine has demanded more from man and man has granted machine his request.

Will you put your machine down for just enough time to consider, to wonder if you might have been created for something more? You don’t have to be a walking smart phone! You don’t have to be defined by all of your social media accounts and apps that you use and that use you. You don’t have to become your avatar or avatar(s). You can choose to use the digital without worshipping it or worse, becoming it.

How?

Like the coronavirus, shut everything down. Turn off the Wi-Fi and the devices and then Seek God in that moment. Wasn’t it Jesus that said you can’t serve two masters, God and machine, I mean, money. Get alone with God in His Word and see what he might have to say to you about your machine. Oh, that’s right — your Bible is your machine because it’s on your machine. In that case, read the Bible on your machine without attending the bells and whistles of your most recent notification. In fact, turn your notifications off if you have to. Then turn off everything and enter an extended period of time in prayer about what you just read and what God would have you to do from what you just read.

You can have control of your machine, but you must first turn it off. In your solitude, put God first and let your machine fade into the background. In this way, you will see that you are more than your phone.