Pt.2-Choosing the “I’ll go rhythm” over the Algorithm

[main slide]

Intro

Prayer

Well God’s people, it appears that we find ourselves still stuck inside the algorithm. However, we determined on last week that we would prefer to respond to God properly and choose the alternative just as Isaiah did.

In chapter 6 of his book we are blessed to have received an actual template of the willingness to respond to the calling of God. “Send me I’ll go..”

But why don’t we often go? What is the delay?

What are the reasons for our hesitancy?

We read the text about so many accounts where people encountered Christ and then immediately went forth with as little as one healing or teaching. Yet, with all of our present-day biblical resources we can’t seem to shake these self-erected distractions. Many times we become stagnated, powerless, and unable and even unconcerned about kingdom advancement.

Today, family of faith, I merely want to highlight a few things that may be hindering the movement of God’s spirit among us, both , locally, and globally as a body.

Last week we read some of Paul’s letter last week seeking understanding about some outstanding gifts that God gave His church.

So we say again today, what does it take for us to chose the “I’ll go rhythm?”

Let’s reread to pick back up where we left off

[Ephesians 4 slide]

Ephesian 4:1-16

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says:

“When He ascended on high,

He led captivity captive,

And gave gifts to men.” — (Note that those gifts had nothing to do with things that are obtained in this life)

Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

[next slide-5 fold ministry given by God]

Let’s unpack a bit more about this vocation or call of Christ to possibly understand why we seem so content with being pupated by the algorithm.

What exactly is a ‘calling’ in the biblical sense?

By definition it is an authoritative summons (spoken or written) to participate or be present or take part in something; especially a summons to the hope of salvation in Jesus.

2 Peter 3: 9 says that “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

The Long suffering of the Lord (and we tend think that suffering is when we miss out on something that we want, but cannot have)

We should know that,God is not longsuffering so you can “get it right” ,He does that part. He is patiently waiting on your willingness to work.

Things to think about from the passage here. First, God waits, yet doesn’t have to, nor is obligated to. Secondly, it is God’s earnest desire that an individual takes Him up on the offer of Salvation. (Not wanting any to perish)

Sadly, most of us prefer to fool around and find out.

We beg for examples through forms of chastisement instead of just following the example given to us Jesus Christ.

So then how does this truth about the creator relate to this ‘calling’ that we have?

Great question.

Since we established a moment ago what calling means biblically, it should appear overwhelmingly obvious that God does expect those that applied for the blood to be actually showing up for work. What we’re talking about now is simply reasonable service...so when are we gonna clock in?

We lay out of work, or come in late, we complain about breaks being too short, and having to work overtime…and the list goes on.

Well, Mr. Holy roller I don’t ‘like’ some of these responsibilities that come with this ‘calling?’

Since we’re talking about what ‘I’ like its a great time to address what’s keeping us stuck in the algorithm anyway.

[Next slide-5 fold ministry given by the world]

Likes, Loves, Comments, views, and follows have seemingly trapped us in a web of perception void of perspective. Diving right in we come to ...

[Next slide-likes]

Likes

Whether its online social or in-person social circles If we ‘like’ something, doesn’t that equate to endorsing it? And if I’m not endorsing it then what is the real reason for my ‘ like’ or stamp of approval? Liking it isn’t the sin, however the object of your like can indeed be the sin or send you down a path to sinning.

A constant fixation on certain picture and images can become a passion and that passion can morph into a pursuit. That pursuit is most likely a destination where God doesn’t want you to be. Remember that a pursuit always takes you somewhere...But hey, according to the world “you like what you like” right?

Most of us are well aware that Jesus said “where your treasure is there your heart will be also”, yet we are often dishonest about what we’ve hidden inside of the treasure chest.

I lay the challenge at our feet this morning begging the question as to whether we really ‘like’ the things that God likes, and hate the things that God hates? Most likely not, but we tend to vocalize some ‘good guy’ and ‘girl practices’ that trick us into believing that we are sanctifying ourselves, when in all actuality we are merely following the “rules”.

I hear can us now saying things like, “big deal brother Sherm, I liked some things on the internet that aren’t necessarily christian” or “godly”, that doesn’t mean that I don’t love Jesus”. You are absolutely right in saying so. However, the way that we view loving Jesus most times doesn’t match His biblical definition on how to prove it.

[Next slide-John 14:15 ]

99% of us in here know what He said about that “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15) Not if you like the right things, if you like to refrain from wickedness, or that you like how missing out on some things makes you feel.

What’s really interesting about Jesus’ charge here is that He merely instructed them (us) to apply what had already been given. You see, during His earthly ministry, Jesus wasn’t going around handing out written rules. Himself, being the expressed word of God, demonstrated that relationship, obedience and application literally positions a person to be pleasing to God. Because of this approach to ministry Jesus wasn’t controlled by what He liked, rather by what God liked, under the influence of the Holy Spirit. #oneGodinthreepersons #onlyfollowoneinfluencer

Loves

Similar to ‘likes’, the ‘loves’ take the affirmation up a notch in the person communicating a seal of approval of what has been said, shown and/or shared. Its as if to say, I really, really, am on board with this. “I love it”

Since the symbol for ‘love’ on social media apps is that of a heart, shouldn’t we inquire about what that represents? Before we go put our hearts onto and into everything it would be wise for me to understand what God has said and is still saying about the heart of his people.

[Next slide-Gen 6:5]

Turn if you will to Genesis 6

Genesis 6 (NKJV)

Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.

And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.”

Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.

I’ll say it for you, “brother Sherm, this was about the people that God destroyed by the Great Flood, that doesn’t mean that our hearts are the same as theirs”.

And I would respond lovingly, ‘How are you so certain that they aren’t? I would respectfully beg to differ with easily locatable evidence found all throughout the text post-flood. The entire Bible talks repeatedly about man/woman having heart issues, and the worldy pursuits that we set our heart after.

So now the natural mind ponders, “well if God destroyed the earth because of man’s evil heart, and started over, why do we still have a heart condition?” That’s a fantastic question, but the better question is, what does tell you about the longsuffering and patience of your loving God?

[Next slide-Main]

We gotta get outta this algorithm family!

Thus far, we’ve covered ‘likes’, we covered ‘loves’, but we have a few other worldy “gifts” to unwrap before returning it to sender.

The next one is a fan favorite...

[Next slide-Comments]

Comments

Before I go any further, I want to be forthcoming with all honesty and say that I have had some really good laughs at comments on the internet, probably more or at least just as many of you.

And while I don’t chime in on every topic or issue, I too, sometimes drop a comment on certain online content also.

That being said, I have often wondered what effect the abundance of comments that we read and respond to produce in us. Both mentally and spiritually.

(I can hear it now-“He is really reading into this social media thing too much”)

Now, we can all sit in here this morning and act like the opinions expressed through comments and public opinion don’t effect us, but we’re smarter than that right?

Maybe its me, but doesn’t it seem like we are bombarded with tons of takes opinions that seemingly force us to “pick a side” on matters”? Gives us the topic to chase, the ideas that we should be concerned about, and what we should be mad about? #ImtriggeredanddontevenknowifIshouldbe

Before we know it, we become susceptible to the heard mentally that has us considering the position of the others and not standing on God’s truth

Out of all of the many Psalms I have always loved the first one that starts the catalog...

[Psalms 1 slide]

Psalms 1:1-6 reads

Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree

Planted by the rivers of water,

That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither;

And whatever he does shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so,

But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,

Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,

But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Have the comments made by random people become our counsel?

If enough people say it or agree with it does that now become our gospel? Our marching orders?

If the Lord chimed in on the issue or content, what would be His response? We used to say things like “What would Jesus do?” to gain perspective, now we presuppose that He is okay with a lot of things because of our religious proclamations.

(“But brother Sherman, God doesn’t use social media how would we know?”) Yes, He in fact does, because when we spend time studying His views about matters our comments becomes messages from the messenger.

Comments, Input,Commentary, My 2 cents, what I think

I’m sure all of us take issue with people in everyday life that seem to have something to say about everything. Dad, Mom, Husband, brother, sister, daughter, Uncles, cousins, whomever they are. They come across as being the subject matter experts or governing authorities on all topics.

I get how these people are the worst...By why do we run to so many comment sections online only to read threads and threads of comments?

As if to say, I really need to see what ya’ll think about this before I make my mind up. But who is the ya’ll? 100% of the time it is people that may have similar interests as, yet not a shared interested in serving God the same. The principle of being quick to listen and slow to speak does exist in many pockets of the Internet and social society.

“Blessed is the man or woman that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly.” The greatest blessings from God always come from regularly reading what He said, not reading what others are saying.

Choosing the "I’ll go rhythm” sees like a better option for us but we still seem to be hung up on a few other things that keep us in the algorithm.

Let’s talk about

[Next slide-Views]

Views

Historically speaking, the bible has been the best selling book for decades. However, aside from the likes and claims of loves for it content the effects from it has yet to go viral.

By definition, ‘viral’ in adjective form means 1) of the nature of, caused by, or relating to a virus or viruses. The second adjective form meaning is 2) relating to or involving an image, video, piece of information, etc., that is circulated rapidly and widely from one internet user to another

Obviously, in today’s social media climate the second definition would usually apply, no matter how ironic the first meaning is.

So why isn’t the gospel going viral yet? Cats playing the piano, fight videos, NBA players with guns, sexual escapades and so on go viral before we go on lunch break when shared across platforms. Is it because Bible content is boring? The teachings of Jesus not interesting enough? The wickedness of the world not obvious? or do we already know what it teaches, and have it down to a science?

Views, in the social sense many times validate a person or groups legitimacy to the media world. Most people see someone’s abundance of views as something that they need to check out, look at, or look into. Why is this?

How common is it to see people record a video of someone getting brutally beaten rather than helping break it up. We sometimes laugh, we like it, we share it… but in Matt 5:9 God says “blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God”. So if He views altercations like that , where does that usually put us? People would rather watch you die for entertainment then observe you living out your calling.

We also fix our gazes on lustful content so much that our feed and timelines become even more sexualized. Some of us subscribe, love, share, and sometimes opt in to receive notifications for freshly produced sin. These things are not helpful to the man or woman of God that desires to walk worthy of their calling.

Last Sunday we ran into a bit of a conundrum of sorts pointing out that an all-knowing, all-present God can literally do all things except get our attention sometimes.

At least, by our own disobedience…He certainly has the ability to force you to pay attention but what value does that add to the relationship? Would that not be forced and disingenuous? He never meant for us to be controlled remotely.

So now this algorithm is continuing to gather up more behavioral data, increase our profile and conveniently put together the ultimate package of distractions. We now find ourselves getting closer to the algorithm and further away from the “I’ll go rhythm”, which can only come from the Gospel. Within the algorithm we are most likely thinking about things that have nothing to do with the Kingdom…and this will only prolong out stay here.

[Next slide- following]

Following

Last week we began talking about the social media concept of ‘following’ someone. Out of all of the worldy 5-fold ministries previously discussed we intentionally saved the best for last...

The Likes, Loves, Comments, Views, quite often dictate whom and what we follow.

The algorithm accommodates your behaviour patterns and search efforts in finding the treasure you desire to place your heart after.

Is it coincidental, or descriptive that the term used for connecting oneself to someones interest is called ‘following?’

‘I’m ‘following you’. Meaning, everything that your willing to share I’m down to check it out, what you like, what you love, what you view and affirm....I want to be involved. (Wow, when you say it out loud it doesn’t make it any less creepier either.)

The wise believer asks his or herself, why exactly am I following this person? What is it about them that has me so enamored. Why do I desire to have total access to the things they do? Is this who God wants me to be following? If I am subscribed to their channel, is there godly value in regularly tuning in? and finally is this merely a time and attention-consuming distraction to keep me away from the mission of ministry?

Listen, we won’t get out of this stupid algorithm until we address the things mentioned today in addition to knowing how to follow Jesus.

[Next slide-Mt.4:18-22]

Let’s look to the Lord to get answers:

Matthew 4:18–22 NKJV

And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

The key here is the immediate response by Jesus’ followers. These men responded to what they needed to do, over what they were currently doing. And this is something that we struggle with, hesitating and waiting to follow the Lord and walk worthy of our calling. There’s no doubt that the men fishing have plenty things to do other then walk around with Jesus but those things were calling them, not their calling.

Another example of following is found in Mt.8:18-22

Matthew 8:18–22 NKJV

And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

This is a great snapshot of Jesus expressing the reality of what one may encounter in ministry. You may not have the amenities and resources we so often take for granted on this journey. It was as if He was saying "I don’t have anywhere to go except out into the world to change it. Are you prepare to deal with that?

In Mt.16:24-25

Matthew 16:24–25 (NKJV)

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

This saying by our Lord is just as weighty as the others. Here we find out that a desire to be with the Christ first requires self-denial. This is a fascinating paradigm because He challenges the would-be follower to exchange one desire for another. A selfish one for a selfless one.

This charge aggravates the very essence of the sin nature which, by default, is self-seeking..

[Next slide-main]

What ‘I Like,’ is closely related to what ‘I love’. ‘I’ go on to make comments from the view points of those that ‘I follow’. As expected these vanity-laden commitments fit in perfectly with the 5-fold ministry of the world but not with the 5 that God gave.

Ephesians 4:1–17 (NKJV)

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says:

“When He ascended on high,

He led captivity captive,

And gave gifts to men.”

(Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,

Now that we are better acquainted with the gifts god has given and understand the importance of walking in our calling, we can choose the “I’ll go rhythm” and not the alternative.

Alter call