This post is a reply to a video posted on a younger sister's blog. For maximum benefit, please view the video before reading this post.
He has a very strong point as far as wasting our lives on pleasure. However, he fails to recognize the Internet as a tool. Rather, he (along with many of our own younger generation) equates it with a source of vanity and entertainment.
My Russian studies rely very heavily on online dictionaries and other such resources. And sometimes I refer to an online interlinear Bible and Greek references. Believe it or not, I've even had a lot of meaningful fellowship with other believers I know through Facebook chat. (Though granted, few people take advantage of this potential!)
Does doing these things in front of a computer make me a less spiritual believer than someone who sells himself into slavery on a island of outcasts? When he says that we should compare our lives to the lives of others, he's right in some sense but he's also treading on thin ice! In fact, Scripture contains a warning about the exact opposite side of things in 2 Cor 10:12.
Whether the Lord calls you to be a garbage man or a missionary to Californian cannibalism convicts, you have license neither to boast of your calling nor to live in complacency and pleasure. I do spend a lot of time online, and I'm sorry to say that some of it is wasted. But I seem to manage to waste just as much time even when I'm nowhere near a computer. Maybe I should just stop wasting time, period! Isn't this the real issue?
We can see it when someone leaves everything behind for a life of suffering: the decision to deny oneself, take up the cross and follow Him. But in some sense, don't they have it easy? The daily decision to serve or deny the Lord is clear-cut. But those of us called to serve the Lord amid a world of surfeit and pleasure certainly also face a real uphill battle. We too must be real men and women of God!
If all your time on the Internet is a waste, then go ahead and get off the Internet. Don't let me stop the Lord from convicting you!
But if you must use the Internet, don't just say, "Mature servants of the Lord don't use the Internet. So as long as I'm on here, I might as well serve myself."
Rather, "Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him." And "whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance: because you serve the Lord Christ." (Col 3:17, 23-24.)
Wherever you are, whatever you do, seek the Lord and His pleasure, not your own. Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him. Following Christ may take me to the computer or away from it. Am I willing to follow Him anywhere?
4 comments.:
here here. Cheerio.
Complete agreement
(-;
Well said, Jacob. Although I think I understand Paul Washer's motive for what he said, unfortunately he appears to be trying to impose his view on his listeners. IMO there is way too much of that in Christian circles. Far better to encourage others to examine their lives, not in comparison to others, but go before God to see what He might have for you.
For some Facebook and the internet may be productive pursuits, used as tools to further relationships with others or as a learning tool to educate and enable for future endeavors.
There are many ways to waste our time here on earth. For some the Internet is a snare. For others, going off into the "foreign mission field" may be a waste if our motives are wrong and that is not the path that God might have for us.
Sorry for going on, this is your blog not mine. I appreciate your perspective on this matter.
Andrew Hipps
Hi Andrew.
I'm not sure what you mean as far as "trying to impose his view on his listeners." Does he really have the ability to do that? :)
Seriously though, he did make some bold statements using rather forceful language. Frankly, I might not have minded if he'd been preaching from Scripture-- or even if his statements had been founded in Scripture. Unfortunately, I really don't see this as the case.
Thanks for the comment!!!
--Jacob
Good thoughts.
Post a Comment