Exposing the Dangers of Social Media and Technology (05/22/24)

Take a moment to pray for these upcoming activities that they will be used by God to allow us to accomplish our purpose of proclaiming the Gospel and experiencing the miracle of changed lives.

In the News

According to a recent news article, teachers in Saline, Michigan will no longer be allowed to use gendered language when addressing students.

Instead, teachers have been instructed to call them students or children.

Teachers are also forbidden from dividing the students up into groups based on sex. No more boys in this line, girls in the other.

Teachers have been informed that such behavior would cause harm to transgender and nonbinary students.

Message: Exposing the Dangers of Media (Part 6)

Turn to and read Ephesians 5:1-14. Pray.

Ephesians 5:8 KJV 1900

For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

First of all, Scripture tells us that we are to prove what is acceptable unto the Lord.

Ephesians 5:10 KJV 1900

Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

Prove

Is our use of the technology or device pleasing to the Lord!

How do we know what is acceptable unto the Lord?

A. Test by the Spirit

B. Test by the Scriptures

C. Test by sanctification

1 Peter 1:15–16 KJV 1900

But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Is my use of technology helping or hindering my growth in grace?

Is it making me more or less like Jesus Christ?

Does my use of technology demonstrate maturity?

Reprove

Ephesians 5:11–12 KJV 1900

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

Sin thrives in secrecy, and the Internet gives the illusion of secrecy.

Illustration

Fourteen-year-old Angie Varona learned the hard way that the Internet is not secret. Using a private account on a social media site, she posted provocative photos of herself for her boyfriend. Someone hacked her account and accessed the pictures. What happened next became a living nightmare for Varona and her parents as the pictures were sold and used against her will.

Varona is now 30 years old and still cannot get away from the ongoing damage done. (In fact, she’s actually embracing it now.)

-------------------- is an internet sensation and fashion model, born on September 11, 1993. [Her] claim to fame is quite unusual. It is the one that caused her great trauma. However, she rose above it and made a name for herself in the modeling agency. [She] is stunning and has gone viral multiple times for her amazing physique.

In a news interview as a teenager, however, Varona made a heartbreaking confession:

“I took the pictures, I mean, in a way I hold myself responsible, which kind of hurts me too because it could have all been prevented if I just listened to my parents I would have never even had a cell phone. My parents didn’t even want me to have Facebook. They didn’t want me to have a MySpace.”

The social media site Varona used isn’t even popular today, but her misery is still very much present.

Question: What does the fact, that this particular social media site is no longer popular, illustrate?

The Internet is not a private place. When young people (or adults, for that matter) assume secrecy while using it, they are setting themselves up for major pain.

Protect your children from that pain by having open communication, public use, and clear accountability regarding their use of media.

The biblical principle of not fellowshipping with darkness does not exclude the Internet.

The warning is literal—have no fellowship with works of darkness. Not even under the promise of secrecy.

Question: So how do you purpose to have no fellowship with darkness?

Ephesians 5 gives us two ways.

By declaring your loyalty to Christ

Ephesians 5:11 KJV 1900

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

Many of the temptations Christians encounter online are solved simply by declaring - consistently and emphatically - our loyalty to Christ.

When your child makes it clear in his online profile that he is a committed Christian, at least a portion of the advances of ungodliness will consequently be warded off.

James 4:7 KJV 1900

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

But more than that, his purposeful testimony will help him remember that he cannot be loyal to Christ and have fellowship with the works of darkness simultaneously.

In 1 Corinthians 10:20–21 we see this truth in a first-century context.

Carnal Christians at the church in Corinth wanted to be able to remain involved with paganism through the week but come to church on Sunday and partake of the Lord’s Table as dedicated Christians. Paul wouldn’t have it.

1 Corinthians 10:20–21 KJV 1900

But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.

Similarly, Christians today can’t have a questionable online life and a godly “real life.” You can’t have it both ways. We have to choose a loyalty.

So in light of that, ask yourself, regarding your online presence:

Is my loyalty to Christ clear?

Does my profile (picture, username, bio—all of it) illustrate Godliness?

Is it clear that I love the Lord?

Protect yourself from fellowship with the works of darkness by plainly declaring your loyalty to Christ.

So, how can we purpose to have no fellowship with the works of darkness?

By declaring your loyalty to Christ

Then…

By refusing advances of darkness

Ephesians 5:11–13 KJV 1900

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

Secrecy is not the only environment where sin thrives; sin also thrives in darkness.

You don’t have to look far to find dark-sided media.

Some times the name of video games gives it away. (Think: Grand Theft Auto.) However, it’s not just the names that are foreboding.

The games themselves are full of violence and the glorification of evil that should send a chill up the spine of parents.

From horror movies to violence-laden video games to social media friendships with people with evil intentions, the online dangers your children face are real.

They are as dangerous as—if not more than—the strangers you warn them of that they may meet on the street.

Unfortunately, many parents are too uninvolved to really know what video games even do—let alone which games their children play.

Proverbs 29:15 (KJV 1900)

The rod and reproof give wisdom: But a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

Don’t be oblivious to your child’s technological activity.

You don’t have to be pro-level at their video games to guide them.

Ask them to explain the games,

Review their Netflix activity,

Require them to play and watch out in the open spaces of the house where darkness is far more likely to be exposed.

Teach your children to have no fellowship with darkness, and always be aware of how your child is using technology.

By refusing advances of darkness

Then, as we seek to not have fellowship with darkness, allow me to add that we must…

Recognize the power of darkness (technology)

Proverbs 27:23 KJV 1900

Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, And look well to thy herds.

Obviously, media can be a tremendous tool for spiritual growth.

Question: How can technology and media be a tool for spiritual growth?

It can be used for live streaming church services, providing devotional emails, giving ministry updates, and much more.

The point here is not that technology is harmful, but that it is powerful.

Just as you wouldn’t give your five-year-old a power saw to experiment with and figure out on their own, you shouldn’t be letting your children feel their own way through the minefield of social media.

They need your guidance, oversight, and boundaries. Stay involved.

Satan works diligently to gain entrance into our minds, and he uses any form at his disposal— including the constant pings of social media or the lure of a tablet screen—to do it.

2 Corinthians 11:3 (KJV 1900)

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Scripture warns us that we must vigilantly guard against Satan’s advances and pull down the strongholds, imaginations, and every thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.

2 Corinthians 10:3–5 KJV 1900

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

A stronghold is an enemy fortress in our minds.

In the lives of many individuals - young and old - technology and media have become stronghold issues.

A common example is teens texting each other or playing video games until the wee hours of the morning or a teen (or adult) who cannot go an entire church service without checking her phone.

When something has an addictive-like hold on us, causing us to neglect vital disciplines of life such as sleep, devotional time with the Lord, or family time, that is a spiritual stronghold, and it must be cast down if there is to be spiritual and relational growth.

Prove what is pleasing to the Lord regarding; reprove what is not pleasing, and finally, seek to protect your children.

Protect

The statistics we’ve uncovered in this lesson are heavy. But remember that we do not need to fear the darkness.

We protect our children from the evil advances of Satan, even the ones that come through technology, the same way we overcome natural darkness—by turning on the light.

Question: What are we called in Ephesians 5:8?

Ephesians 5:8 KJV 1900

For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

Question: According to Psalm 119:105, what else is light?

Psalm 119:105 KJV 1900

NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path.

God’s Word is light. It reveals the true content of things that are in the darkness. This is why Scripture must be the ingrained standard of our hearts—and for our children—of what we allow in our lives.

A Christian who is strong in God’s Word will have a higher sensitivity to encroaching darkness— even if he is not particularly knowledgeable of everything that particular form of darkness entails.

Conclusion

Parents who are educated with God’s truth are able to discern between good and evil even in areas in which they are not personally fluent.

When it comes to the works of darkness— whether they take place in the traditional settings with which you are more familiar or through media inputs with which you may feel out of step—we are to reprove them, to bring them into the light.

Ephesians 5:13 KJV 1900

But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

After the Lord gives this warning in Ephesians 5:13, He reaches through the pages of our Bibles and says, “AWAKE!”

Ephesians 5:14 KJV 1900

Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

Question: What would Satan like you, as a Christian parent, to do?

Satan would love for all Christian parents to put their heads in the sand and not care or not realize that their children will be affected by their lethargy. He would like you to believe that technology is simply beyond your area of expertise and that you can’t possibly guide your children in electronic matters.

Make no mistake about it: Satan hasn’t forgotten your kids. He is out to destroy them.

1 Peter 5:8 KJV 1900

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Don’t ignore his advances. They are no less real because they flicker through a screen than they would be if Satan himself were physically present.

Prayer Requests

Echo Prayer App

Dianne White’s mother

Silas’ recovery

10-15%

Related Media

Related Sermons