Convenience Is King: Adventures Become Threats

Welcome

Prairie Lakes Church! I know Pastor Chip said this last Sunday, but let me just say it again: Happy Summer! (And also: we’re just 2 weeks away from the days starting to get shorter and reaching the midpoint to Christmas. Ruined it for ya.)

Intro: Three Quotes

Hey: we’re starting a new series this weekend that I want to introduce to you by | reading you a few quotes.

Now: these quotes are all from the same book. Your task | is to guess which book they all come from.

And:

Bonus points if you know what year this book was written.

Ok? So: here’s the quotes. Three of them. Quote #1:

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“People will come to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.”

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(Repeat.)

Next quote. #2:

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“Most of our daily news is inert, consisting of information that gives us something to talk about but cannot lead to any meaningful action.”

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(Repeat.)

Final quote:

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“All that has happened is that the public has adjusted to incoherence and been amused into indifference.”

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And that’s the quote that probably gives you the best clue as to the book, because the title of said book is pretty much embedded into it.

Ok. The book containing all of those quotes is called…

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“Amusing Ourselves to Death”

-Neil Postman, 1985

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Forty years ago, to the year.

I’m always amazed at people who write things that, in hindsight, seem even more prophetic than they were at the time they wrote. Because it feels like each of those quotes could’ve been written in 2025, about 2025.

Transition: Series Intro

But I think Neil would love the series that we’re heading into this weekend. Here’s what we’re calling it:

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Show “Convenience is King” series graphic

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Covenience is King.

Now: the working title for this series (and the one we didn’t end up going with for reasons that will be obvious to you once I say it)—

But the working title for this series was actually “The Cancer of Convenience.” But, we just didn’t feel like we wanted to make light of that horrible disease, especially for those battling it right now.

But the idea behind that working title is probably closer to the bullseye of what we’re talking about—becuase:

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Even though convenience is king, it’s not a very good one.

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It’s not a very good king. Which is what Postman was talking about. In fact, it acts more like a cancer than anything else. Kinda rots us out from the inside unless we deal with it.

But dealing with it is… no joke.

Now: the subject matter of Postman’s book was actually the rise of TV. When he was talking about 1985’s version of convenience, the TV console was the face of it.

(And for you Gen Z’ers out there who don’t know what “TV consoles” are: we used to have these boxes with rounded screens that would sometimes be built into giant wooden structures (weighed about 4 tons… made out of solid oak) called “consoles” that could take over-the-air radio waves and make them into images. And there were (4) different “channels” you could receive… if you moved the foil on the antenna just right… but now we probably have to explain what antennas are…)

Postman wrote about the rise of TV and its impact on American culture. But even he had no idea about just how right he was—

Because all of the warnings he issued in his book only exponentiated with the rise of cable TV, then the internet, then social media…

To the point where…

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Even though convenience is king, it’s not a good one.

Convenience is no longer just an option. It’s an opiate.

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Convenience is a drug. And all of us—from 90 years old to 9—are addicted to it | and dependent on it.

Now, we’ve talked a lot about some of this already at Prairie Lakes—so I’m not going to re-lay some of the groundwork we’ve already established here. But if you ever want to go back for some good reminders, we’ve done several series on this: Attention Wars back in 2022; Scrolling in 2024; and just this year, the Anxious Generation back in April.

But in this series, what we want to talk about is the impact that our screen-addicted, entertainment-driven, convenience-is-king culture has on how we practice our faith—

And what we can do to not only fend off some of those attacks, but also to grow deeper and more healthy in our relationship with Jesus.

So here’s where we’re going in this series:

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Convenience Is King

Week 1: When Adventures Become Threats

Week 2: When People Become Problems

Week 3: When Opportunities Become Obligations

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(Explain each week’s idea.)

So let’s jump into the topic for this weekend by turning our topic into a couple of questions. Here’s the questions for us:

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What adventures is God inviting me to go on with him?

How does convenience make my default setting “no?”

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Again, if I’m translating for Gen Z—talking to my own kids—I’d say it this way:

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What adventures is God inviting me to go on with him?

How does convenience make my default setting “no?”

Why do I sometimes ghost God?

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(And yes—I can feel both of my kids cringe as they hear me say that.)

But those are the questions for us this weekend.

The Answer and the Problem

Here’s what I’m going to do, though:

I’m going to give you the answer to these questions right now. Right here, up top.

Why do we turn God down? Ghost him? Why is our default setting “no?”

Here’s why:

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Convenience is a king who makes us a slave to self interest.

When we worship convenience, we become a slave to selfishness.

So even the best of adventures with God become threats to our happiness.

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At a quick glance, here’s how this looks and feels in our everyday lives:

You wanna calm your mind down? You could entertain a few ways God suggests, like prayer, meditation on Scripture, silence…

OR, you can… scroll on.

You hungry? Don’t pause to think about the best way to satisfy your hunger. Just have some food delivered. Whatever you want. From your phone. And then do some scrolling while you wait. But also, you can check exactly how far away your food is from your doorstep. Either way: fasting is dumb. Amirite?

You lonely? God has some thoughts about how he’s designed you for some specific kinds of relationships that will be best for you. OR… you can just snap or insta, or pursue whatever kinds of relationships you want. Put God’s voice and expectations out of your mind. Your business is your business.

You like what kind of shoes that person has? They are only a couple of clicks away. Your money is yours to do whatever you want. Maybe God has some better uses for it. But maybe I think about that after I get this month’s credit card bill.

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King Convenience declares:

Whatever you want. Whenever you want it. However you want it.

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And herein lies the problem, because:

Tell me you can create a better life than that.

Tell me God can create a better life than that.

Go ahead.

Slave to self interest? More like in charge of your own life, amiright?

Convenience is king - in 2025, for sure. But:

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King Convenience declares:

Whatever you want. Whenever you want it. However you want it.

So what’s the problem with that?

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Exegesis: Luke 14

Turn with me to Luke 14.

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Luke 14:16-24

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In this passage, Jesus tells a story that I think gives us a pretty good insight as to why we do—why so many of us, even when we know that convenience isn’t a good kind, nevertheless still worship it.

In fact: this is why Jesus tells stories—instead of just straight up preaching sermons:

Stories have a way of helping us see the world not only differently, but more accurately. More truthfully. Connected to a deeper reality, below the surface.

It’s also why Jesus doesn’t just tell stories, but stories with a hidden lesson in them.

So we’re going to read this parable first—then back up to see what inspired Jesus to tell it.

Let’s start in verse 16:

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Luke 14:16–24 “Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’ “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’

“Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ “ ‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’

“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.”

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Now, there’s the story. A guy was preparing a huge party and wanted everyone to be there. But everyone who was invited—though giving what,on the surface at least, each feels like very understandable reasons for not being able to come, are nevertheless categorized as “excuses” for not coming.

And that’s the first tension Jesus raises for us in this story:

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When convenience is your king, we make what God sees as excuses into what we see as priorities.

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“Oh… you got a lot going on?”

“Oh… just a crazy season?”

Yeah. And we all understand, right? We all understand.

That’s the other layer to this, by the way:

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When convenience is your king, we make what God sees as excuses into what we see as priorities.

Convenience stays on the throne because everyone bows to it.

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Becuase, yeah… we all know that on some level, we’re all just making the same excuses about not doing what we should be doing or what God is inviting us to do.

We know that our busyness isn’t really a good excuse. We all know that.

But as long as we all go along with it…

I let you off the hook for what you’re not doing, becuase you let me off the hook for what I’d rather not do…

Because that’s just the way it is, then…

Great.

We could say it this way:

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When convenience is your king, we make what God sees as excuses into what we see as priorities.

Convenience stays on the throne only when everyone bows to it.

Convenience crowdsources its power.

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We might lament the rise of screens, or sports travel schedules, or the rise of consumerism and lack of generosity,

But what we’re getting in return is permission to do whatever we want, whenever we want, however we want—

Or to not do whatever we don’t want to do, whenver we don’t want to do it.

So… fair trade.

Now: Jesus finishes his story in a really interesting way.

The party thrower isn’t content to just allow convenience to mean empty seats around his table.

God won’t let his house be empty.

So what does he do?

He goes to the people who aren’t being well served by convenience.

Because as it turns out, convenience isn’t working for everyone—and isn’t working for everyone equally.

Not working great for the homeless. Or the poor. Or the disabled and disadvantaged. So God invites them.

And you better believe that when they got that invitation to the party, they “cleared their schedule” and RSVP’d.

See the difference?

There’s a group of people—busy people; family people; productive people; good people—who have a tendency to see the world through the lens of their own convenience. Because it’s serving them pretty well.

But convenience causes them to see invitations—even from the greatest party planner, God himself—as a threat to whatever they already have going on. God’s invitation is just another thing on top of all of the other things—and probably not as good as all of those other things.

But there’s another group of people—in Jesus’ story, the people who don’t have any of those really good things—who don’t see the world through the lens of their own convenience. Mostly because their life isn’t convenient. It’s mostly inconvenient.

But it’s because they don’t see the world through that lens that they are able to see God’s invitation for what it truly is:

Better. Better than whatever they have going on.

Let’s say it this way:

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In order to say “yes” to God’s invitation, you’ll need to dethrone convenience.

Because as long as convenience is your king, you’ll be unable to see anything else as better.

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How Do We Dethrone Convenience: Understanding

So the question becomes “how.” How do we do that? How do we dethrone convenience? Becuase it’s easier said than done. Turns out convenience’s tentacles go pretty deep.

So let’s back up a little bit now to see just what inspired Jesus to tell this story in the first place. Because that’s going to give us a clue as to the starting point.

Turns out, Jesus tells this story about a party when he was…

At a party himself.

And he was watching people kinda fall over themselves to jockey for the best social position at the gathering.

And so after kinda rebuking them for that immature behavior, he offers this instruction in verse 12:

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Luke 14:12–14 “Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

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Here’s the lesson for us from what Jesus is saying here—and a really critical thing to understand if we’re going to start dethroning convencience in our lives so that we don’t just default say “no” to God:

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When Convenience is your king, you chase after what seems better for me now.

When Jesus is your king, you chase after what is best for others later.

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Better for me now? Or better for others later?

With convenience, what’s good is what’s instant.

With Jesus, what’s good takes time, stands the test of time, and always goes beyond just me.

How Do We Dethrone Convenience: Doing

So how do we dethrone convenience so we can see God’s invitation as better and respond to it with a “yes” than with our default “no?”

I want to offer you three ways—adventures, really—that God might be inviting you to go on as you begin this task of dethroning convenience.

And the good news is this:

They all invite you to do less, not more.

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Dethroning Convenience: Three Adventures in Doing Less

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That’s really the invitation, and the adventure. You’ll start to dethrone convenience from the throne of your life when you start to work hard at doing less.

And I think that’s the best way to say it—working hard at doing less. Convenience always promises you more now. But God is inviting you to consider less for later. Which is work for us, I think—because it’s so different from our default setting.

Alright: here they are:

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Dethroning Convenience: Three Adventures in Doing Less

Sabbath: a day where your only obligation is to enjoy God’s good gifts and give him thanks.

Solitude: setting aside time and place to be with God and God alone.

Silence: disconnecting from all forms of noise to listen to God’s voice.

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(Explain each.)