Who's in Your Ear?

A Crisis of Crises: Who is in Your Ear?  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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Introduction

In his book, The Mis-education of The Negro - first published in 1933 - Carter Godwin Woodson stated: “When you control a man’s thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not t stand here or go yonder. He will find his “proper place” and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary.” The profundity of this statement begs the question: “Who is in your ear?”
Mr. Woodson was both an historian and an educator who lived during a time of racial segration and systemic discrimination in the United States may have been at its highest levels. It was a time when Black Americans had very limited educational opportunities or civil rights. He understood full well that whomever is able to control your thinking controls you.

The Battleground of Your Mind

In my message last Sunday, I shared with you the fact that the battle of the enemy is against your mind. Let’s read again from the word of God 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 which is the foundation of the message today. This passage informs us that the battleground is your mind; therefore, you must protect it at all cost. The only true way to protect your mind is to submit it to God’s will.

Who’s Your Influencer?

Today, on social media there are persons that are considered influencers. These are persons that have a huge following; some of them have followers in the millions, and they are committed to their influencer. Whatever the influencer tells them, they believe. If the influencer promotes a product, their followers rush to buy it - whether clothing, colognes, shoes, or almost anything else. They love the music that their influencer promotes and seem to know almost everything about their influencer’s life. It is for these reason such persons are called influencers; they are able to move their followers to action. It is for this reason that big name companies and brands partner with influencers - it’s a numbers equals money game.
Who is your influencer? Is it Lil Wayne, Lil Naz, or Megan Thee Stallion? Whomever your influencer is, what is their message to you? What does your influencer bring out in you? Does he or she make you feel like getting high or drunk, having immoral sexual escapades (breaking all of the rules of decency and getting your sex freak on) with that guy or that girl who gave you their phone number? The wrong message from the wrong influencer can snatch your destiny, ruin your future, and destroy your life!
In 1 Kings 12:1-16, Rehoboam, son of King Solomon, became king over Israel. Rehoboam did the right thing in that he sought the wisdom of others for how he should rule, but he took the wrong advice from the wrong influencers, and he lost his kingdom as a result.
Who is in your ear? Who is helping you to decide your future, the quality of relationship that you have with your husband, your wife, or with that person with whom you would love to spend the rest of your natural life? Sometimes, your influencer may be that ride or die friend or family member who gives the worst possible advice about how you should deal with the person in your love life. They tell you things like: “Girl friend, you gat time eh?” Or, they say things like: “Brudda, why buy the cow when you can get the milk free?” - meaning: You that fool to talk ‘bout marriage when you already getting and doing everything that would happen in marriage anyway?”
Your ride or die does not always want to see you become successful in your other relationships because they know that they are going to need to back off, and they don’t want to be the third wheel in your relationship or left alone while you and your new husband/wife are becoming the power team that you were meant to be. They are looking out for themselves and not for you. Who is your influencer?
At other times, your influencer may not be a person; instead it can be a thing: a slack song, an R or X-rated movie that promotes fornication through casual sex, prostitution, adultery, homosexuality/lesbianism or even some clothing trends. Yes - that’s right! It’s very unfortunate and so sad that today that here in The Bahamas one cannot turn on public radio while your child or children are next to you because of the type of music being played over public airwaves. The songs are mostly sexual, some promote violence, and these days, some of them play what could be considered as cuss words without even attempting to bleep them out. They no longer care about the young minds being influenced by this horrible genre of music. It seems not to matter that there are millions of songs that can be played that provide wholesome influence on both adult and young minds. If there is a demand for slack music, and I’m sure that there is and the demand is high, then such music should be made available on a pay for play platform and not over public radio where there is no filtering out who listens and who is therefore influeced by the garbage that is readily played. Am I suggesting that all music played over the radio is garbage? No! But, much of it is. What is your chosen music influencing you to do? Do you feel like being violent toward someone because you’re tired of being a victim?

You Always Have an Influencer

So, you’re sitting or standing there listening to me, and you’re probably saying: “I don’t have any influencers,” but the truth is that each of us has an influencer. Ultimately, that influencer is either God or satan. Listen to the words of 1 Corinthians 6:16-17. We all listen to and are influenced by someone. The influencer that you follow is either a reflection of God or of the devil our common enemy. Romans 6:16 teaches that whomever or whatever you choose to follow even though it may come through a person, music, movies, drugs, become your master - you are the slave/servant of the one to whom you give control of your mind because you continually obey them or it. Let’s read that passage together. If you are influenced to do righteousness, then God is at work somehow whether the influence comes through a preacher, family member, friend, music, or movies etc.
Some influencers want you to reject the Bible - God’s word. They want you to believe that it was written by ordinary men and should not be followed. They want you to believe that it is a book of made up fantasies. So, they tell you that the world came into existence by an accident that they call evolution. God, knowing their hearts provided an anwer long ago since their lies are not new. Read with me 2 Peter 1:19-21; 3:1-13.

Conclusion

Choose the right person to be in your ear. Choose the best influencer by believing Jesus Christ to be the Son of God who died for your sins and was resurrected by the power of God. Repent of your sins, confess Jesus as Lord, and be baptized in water so that the blood of Jesus washes your sins away. God will give you his Holy Spirit to continue influencing your life and your destiny.
Aren’t you tired of the drama? Aren’t you tired of the police showing up at your doorstep even when the incident had nothing to do with you? Isn’t it time to get yourself some new friends that will build you up and inspire you to take control of your mind rather than turn it over to others that have no good intentions for you?
I pray that God will give you both the strength and courage to make those decisions that you should have a long, long time ago - the decision to say “No” to that someone that gets you into trouble all the time. You know that you’re good until you and that ride or die get together to go somewhere; you’re good until you link up with that cousin or other family member that’s nothing but ratchet. You know that it is past time to cut off some connections for your own good - they’ll be mad - since they refuse to elevate their lives or yours. You’ve been friends since primary school or even kindergarten - some 20 years or more, and still all they can offer you are some smokes and drinks to get high and drunk. Neither your life nor theirs has improved emotionally, economically, or spiritually. It’s time to change your cirlce of friends, and in some cases even certain family members. May you give God the opportunity to truly become your influencer through the gift of the Holy Spirit who is by nature the greatest influencer; that’s one of the reasons He’s referred to as a guide. Listen to Him.
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