JH truth in the trends

Intro

Welcome back to week 2 of NXT News, where we are talking about hot topics in todays Media.

It’s been said that “if you make it trend, you make it true.”

Last week, we heard about what is trending in sports, specifically, the NFL Combine. How hundreds of top tier athletes attend the annual Combine to showcase their skills and talent in hopes to make their dream come true of making and NFL roster.

The importance of that message was that “Idolatry Starts as an Identity Issue.”

This weeks story comes from the world of the public media where we are going to explore

Trending Topics in the Media

To begin our story tonight, I want to send it over to our correspondent, Danny Freed, who is on the ground in Hollywood California at the Dolby Theater.

Danny Video

Thanks, Jake!

Last week, the 97th annual Academy Awards, also known as the “Oscars”, took place here at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California.

Over 3000 people attend this award show with many notable names like Ariana Grande, Timothee Chalamet, and Robert Downey Jr.

The Academy Awards happen annually to honor the achievements in the film industries by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. The awards given recognize excellence in various categories to include acting, directing, and filmmaking.

Many popular films like “Wicked”, “Dune Part 2”, and “Anora”, took the top prize for top soundtrack, costume design, and best actor.

Aside from the awards, we see this fame and fortune on full display when the celebrities take their famed walk across the Red Carpet. According to Business Insider, the average cost of an outfit worn to the Awards ranges from $1.5million to $10million. Hundreds, if not thousands of paparazzi line up alongside the road to see each celebrity get out of their vehicle to debut their wealth through their attention grabbing outfits.

An event that is designed to flaunt success and talent, quickly turns into a best dress competition. Until one person, a very well known person arrives. Actor Adam Sandler turned heads when he arrived dressed in his usual day-to-day attire. A blue zip up hoodie, and baggy basketball shorts. To the ordinary person, he looked totally normal. But, to the Academy Awards, he looked like a fish out of water.

Subject

I believe that the Academy Awards and other events like it, bring up and interesting point when it comes to public image and being noticed. Specifically, how the media flaunts masking your true self to expose a fake, fabricated self. The world and the media celebrates when people arrive in fancy, expensive, and sometimes scandalous clothing. But when a man arrives in something that he would wear to his local Target, they make a mockery and laugh.

Need

In your generation, platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, encourage us to change and edit who we are before posting for the world to see. We crop and edit out our flaws and imperfections so that we can look acceptable or a part of “the cultural norm” so that we can fit in wit the trends of algorithm of the day.. This trend can create in you a false sense of security and also a crippling insecurity of trying to hide your true identity in order to feel accepted or wanted.

Big Idea

If there is one thing that you could remember from tonight, it is this

Jesus was rejected so that we may be accepted.

With NXT News, I’m Danny Freed.

Back to you, Jake!

Text Set Up

To look more into this idea of Jesus being rejected so that we may be accepted, let’s see what the Bible says about who Jesus was and how he was viewed by society during his time.

If you have your bibles, go ahead and open to Isaiah 53. In this passage, we read the Prophet Isaiah, telling an image of what Jesus was like. He was an ordinary man. A man who did not stand out because of his looks or his fame, he was just… himself.

Isaiah 53:1–6 CSB

1 Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him. 4 Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. 6 We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all.

Let’s see how Isaiahs prophecy of Jesus can encourage us today.

To expand on this topic of Jesus being rejected so that we may be accepted, I want to give you a saying that came into my mind as I was preparing this message: “Live a life that is Unfiltered”. Now, I know that some people can hear this and think to themselves, “unfiltered”? Like, don’t have a filter in what I say? No. That is not what I am saying. But, more so, is your life being displayed in a way that is real and authentic or is it being displayed in a way that is hidden behind the filters of social media or a “fake self”. So what does it mean to live an unfiltered life?

It looks like what living in a way where your flaws do not define you and fully trusting jesus (proverbs 3:5-6 TRUSTING IN the Lord) it looks like being open about your true self, not your filtered self. Or what is written in proverbs 29 about not fearing man’s judgement but trusting in God’s promise.

In order to really see if we are living a life that is unfiltered, I have 3 points for us tonight.

Accept your Humanity (where are you seeking approval?)

Secure your Identity (who defines your identity?)

Live Unfiltered (live unfiltered)

Point 1 - Accept your Humanity

What does it mean?

Verses 2-3 in the passage we just read talks about Jesus’ outward appearance and how people would have seen or viewed him. Isaiah says that he did not have an impressive form, he did not have a majesty about him that would draw people to look at him. He said that he had an appearance that would not cause people to desire him. He was despised and rejected. I read that and think about the fact that Jesus was probably just…. normal! This is not saying that he was some hideous ugly person - it is saying that he did not walk around, flaunting looks, trying to be noticed, and ultimately he did not hide his normality. While Jesus was perfect and could have come in the form of a beautiful, flawless looking human being, He came to look like us and to be like us. He accepted his humanity.

We live in a day and age where social media is encouraging us to hide our true selves and to filter out our flaws and imperfections. Maybe for you, it is editing out what you may think is a flaw about yourself so no one will see it. Maybe it is wearing specific clothes to be noticed or maybe you’re just striving for perfection and acceptance.

But NXT, striving leads to exhaustion. (SLIDE)

IMAGE OF MY STORY - thinking that I was not created intentionally because of my size

people would call me names

they would do demeaning things to me

I would try to hide how I looked on socials to fit in

I believed the lie that I was not made correctly and that I was the weakest and smallest one

I thought that God had made me incorrectly

Maybe that is you. Maybe you are at a point where you are starting to believe the lie that God’s perfection is actually your imperfection. And what was created with a purpose, feels like a mistake. Maybe it is your body image. Maybe it is your personality. People calling you skinny/fat or dumb/annoying. And so you do all that you can to drown out what was created with a deep level of intentionality from the king of the world. The truth is, you are seen and you are loved - by God himself. And your IMPERFECTIONS and not imperfect. You were uniquely knit together in your mothers womb.

John 1:10–11 CSB

10 He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

And so, for my second point,

Point 2 - Secure your Identity

In order to secure your identity, you must IDENTIFY what it is that DEFINES your identity. What do I mean by this? As Danny spoke last week, sports was the topic. Is that your identity? Is that your identity? School? Music? Your family? “XYZ wouldn't be XYZ without ___” At the Oscar awards, people are really ONLY known because of their occupation. Notice how there are NEVER any headlines about these celebrities and how they are behind closed doors at their house. It is 100% about what they do and how good they are at it. And if something NEGATIVE comes out about them, it ruins everything because their identity was so strung up in their professional jobs!

I think one thing that I love about Jesus was his ability to boldly proclaim his identity. Not so much WHO he was but WHOSE he was (still is). We see in Matthew 3 when Jesus is being baptized, a voice from Heaven speaking “this is my son, with whom I am well pleased” in John 10:30, we see Jesus give praise to his father (God) and also acknowledge that he and the father are one. In Luke 22:71, we see Jesus on trial before he is crucified and when being asked if he is the Son of God, he confirms it with “You say that I am”.

He boldly proclaimed his identity. The Son of God. God in the flesh. He did not stumble when asked, he did not hide behind a filter, he didn't crumble in fear of judgement, he boldly confessed it.

So here is the beautiful thing. He faced rejection from the world so that we may have an opportunity to be accepted by him. Isaiah 53:5 - though we sinned and are imperfect, he sacrificed his imperfection so that we do not have to strive to put our identity in this world. And by his wounds, we are healed.

He has given us an opportunity to put our identity in him.

And finally, Point 3

Point 3 - Live Unfiltered

Jesus did not hide who he was. As I previously mentioned, he stood firm on who he was. It is so easy to want to blend in and just go with the flow so that we do not face hardships or get made fun of. We see all throughout Isaiah 53 that Jesus was not accepted by culture, yet he still stood firm and remained true to who is was and WHOSE he was, even up until the point of death.

With this concept of living an “unfiltered” life, I want to challenge all of us in here. Are we living lives that use our platforms to glorify God and make his name known? Are we using social media to display a fake life of our own? Editing out our flaws so that people may accept us?

I have been thinking about the concept of social media and if it really matters to me or not. Honestly, it doesn’t and my excuse for still having it is literally just to keep up with the Minnesota Vikings. But, there is someone that means a lot to me and is very well known around this church who is not on social media and he sent me a text yesterday explaining why he does not us it.

I asked Pastor Troy Dobbs, our senior pastor, why he does not have any kind of social media. He is pastoring one of the largest churches in the midwest and has no social media. In a day and age where celebrity pastors are everywhere on every platform, I was very curious as to why he is not.

Here was his response:

My take on Social Media

“1.  I don’t want people to twist my words/take them out of context/miss my heart behind them.

2.  I don’t want to create division based on my opinions.  Division based on truth-fine.  But opinions are subjective. (facts - good! opinions - drama!)

3.  I don’t want to overvalue myself.  Like everyone is just dying to hear from me about everything.  It feels arrogant to me/like I think too highly about my thoughts/opinions. (he wants to remain humble!)

4.  I don’t want to speak before I have really thought about things deeply.  It’s hard to recover from being uninformed/ignorant. (thats biblical!)

5.  The Bible says where words are many-sin is not absent.  Proverbs 10:19.  Proverbs 10:19

Proverbs 10:19 CSB

19 When there are many words, sin is unavoidable, but the one who controls his lips is prudent.

6.  When you put it out there on SM it STAYS!” (don’t think that deleting an iffy post or DM gets rid of it forever! It’s out there!)

While those are all very good points, the middle 3 stick out to me the most. He wants to remain humble, he wants to have time to think before he speaks, and he wants to honor God’s word by speaking life. In my opinion, social media is something that I wish never became a thing. It has damaged my life and has damaged the lives of many others. If you are someone that is on social media, evaluate your “why”.

To close, I want to leave you to reflect on your own life. Are you living a life that is striving for peoples approval? Or are you living a life that is unfiltered?

As Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 53:5

Isaiah 53:5 CSB

5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds.

Jesus was rejected - to the point of death, so that we may be accepted. He lived a perfect life here on this earth. He endured the struggles and the temptations that you and I face each and every day. He looked at humanity and said “that sin you are struggling with, I will die for it. That addiction you have, I want to take it away. That insecurity about your body or your appearance or your personality that comes from the enemy, I want to put it to death on the cross for YOU! And better yet? I am going to die, conquer death, and rise again. But it won’t end there. You have an opportunity to dedicate your LIFE to me. To give me your burdens, to place your trust in me and to be REUNITED with me when you enter into eternity.” Friends, Jesus wants to take your burdens. He put them to death 2000 years ago on the cross and he will continue to walk alongside you every moment of every day of your life.

With NXT News, I’m Jake Vaughan. let’s pray.