Sermon Tone Analysis

Message

I give my greeting to our brothers and sisters at the Kendall and Gables campuses, along with all of those joining us online today.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was with God in the beginning.

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:1-5

Friends, take hope and take heart that our God walks with us through our darkest seasons and gives us life.

Today, we continue with one of our favorite message series of the year called, ‘At the Movies.’

This series connects relevant issues illustrated in popular films with the wisdom of God’s Word.

And today we look at one of the most popular animated films of the summer, “The Mitchells vs.

The Machines.”

[[[show pic of film poster]]]

This is a movie about the awkward, craziness of family life!

It’s a movie about not giving up on each other.

It’s a love story between a father and a daughter.

And it’s a movie about the robot apocalypse…

Because who agrees that technology is taking over our lives?

***Wait, I am feeling a phantom vibration right now.

Do you ever get those?

Like when you’re certain that you just felt your phone vibrate in your pocket, but it didn’t.

:)

Yeah, I need help.

In fact, last Monday some of you had the most productive 6 hours of your day in a long time when Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp shut down, didn’t you?

Yeah, we all need help.

In July, Netflix reported that more than 58 million households watched The Mitchells vs The Machines in the first 28 days of its release, making it the most successful Netflix animated film in history.

The film is about the Mitchell family.

The oldest daughter, Katie, is starting film school, and while on the family road trip, the social media monopoly, Pal, sends robots to capture human beings into little green pods - by enticing them with free wifi - and then send them on a way trip into outer space.

Essentially, social media and technology take over the world.

On the night before the Mitchells embark upon their road trip to take Katie to school, the Mitchells sit down for one final family dinner together at home.

This scene depicts a common setting: the tech connected - but relationally disconnected - family?

Take a look:

Play CLIP 1 - Mitchells at the Table - 1:48

Not only does every moment of this film make you laugh, but it holds a mirror up to us and asks:

How do we harness the best of our technology without being taken over by it, and how do we embrace the best of our humanity by deeply connecting with others in it?

A few weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled, “Drowning in Dopamine.”

The author described how social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, along with gaming and online shopping, stimulate dopamine releases in our brains.

When you get something that you want, your brain releases dopamine to say, “That made me feel good.

I want some more.”

Our brains love dopamine because dopamine gives you the feeling of pleasure.

No wonder why you love scrolling through Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Youtube, Amazon, Netflix, whatever… because all of these sites use computer programmed algorithms designed to feed you more of what you want, and when you get what you want, your brain releases dopamine, and when your brain releases dopamine, your body feels pleasure.

In the article, however, the author reports that extended periods of social media use cause what medical experts call ‘dopamine floods’ … in the brain, and when this happens, our brains shut down the dopamine receptors to preserve the brain, leading to emotional responses like depression, anxiety, and fear.

You know that saying, ‘too much of a good thing…’ Well, it’s not only true, it’s biology.

Too much of a good thing literally shuts down your brain, and…

When we receive dopamine hits from simply watching screens, then doing life off screen becomes even harder.

Social media companies make big investments to accurately predict and provide you what you want on your social media feed because the more that you feel pleasure for getting what you want then the more watch time that you will spend on the platform.

More watch time equals more revenue.

Social media is built on a business model based on satisfying your cravings, but the algorithm is the consumer, and you are the product.

What “The Mitchells vs The Machines” captures so well with such light hearted humor is the invasive and detrimental side of that business model on our lives.

Make no mistake, according to this model, you are the product, and your life is the revenue stream.

You are the product.

We are the product.

We are the ones being consumed.

One YouTube engineer said of the social media algorithms that he created, We are training them [[[the algorithms]]], and [[[the algorithms]]] they are training us.

“Inside TikTok’s Highly Secretive Algorithm,” Wall Street Journal, July, 21, 2021

In a book released by the Barna Research Group titled Faith for Exiles, [[[show pic of book, Faith for Exiles]]] author, David Kinnaman, writes:

Generation Z, which comprises 15-23 year olds, spends on average 2,767 hours per year, the equivalent of 7.5 hours per day, connected to social media.

Compare that figure with how many hours the typical young person invests into spiritual formation per year: about 150 hours.

That means: for every one hour of spiritual formation, a young person spends 20 hours on social media.

Kinnaman writes: The age old questions of being human remain unasked, shriveling like neglected seedlings.

Deep spiritual longings, which ought to be lovingly tended and skillfully cultivated, are being choked to death by binge television, immersive gaming, and social media scrolling.

Faith for Exiles, p. 17

The deeper into the rabbit hole of social media that algorithms take you, then the greater the distance that forms between you and others, you and yourself, and you and your creator.

Now, please hear me say that amazing, life-affirming moments happen on social media all the time.

In fact, the Gospel goes forth from this church through several different social media platforms every Sunday and multiple other days during the week.

I am aware that some of you even found this community through social media.

[[[hold phone]]]

This piece of technology allows my children to know their grandparents.

The same for many of you!

I’m certainly not condemning social media or technology.

We need it.

In fact, to disconnect entirely from social media and technology could do you a disservice in our culture, but let me encourage you:

Above all else - above your platform, above your influence, above your desire for affirmation and likes, above all else - guard your heart - because your heart is exactly what social media algorithms are after… for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 4:23

Some of you might need to disconnect from social media for a while and reconnect to your real life.

About a year ago, I disconnected from social media almost entirely.

I am rarely engaged.

This won’t be forever, but right now, I need some space from it.

This is due in part because I want to invest more time with my wife and 4 kids, but also because my heart needs it.

Some of you may need to disconnect, too, but all of us need to hang up and hang out.

And shorten the distance between ourselves, others, and our Creator.

In the film, the distance between Katie and her Dad is palpable.

They want a relationship so badly, but they don’t know how to overcome their distance.

Ever been there?

Take a look:

Play CLIP 2 - Understanding - 1:33

Katie says, Dad doesn’t care…

But Dad says, I care so much!

Katie and her Dad want the same thing.

They want what all of us want: they want to feel needed and known by each other.

Isn’t this the best of humanity when we feel needed and known by each other, but overcoming the distance requires the risk of vulnerability.

C.S. Lewis once wrote, “The prayer that precedes all prayers is may the real me meet the real you.”

This is like ‘no filter’ - heart wide open - vulnerability.

This is the key to overcoming relational and emotional distance, and it’s also the best of your humanity.

Vulnerability is how we show up for each other.

If you feel distant and tangled up in social media and need to find some relief, then perhaps today, you need to hang up and hang out.

Get close.

Listen.

Let yourself be seen.

Take a step toward vulnerability.