Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

Good evening, welcome to Harvest Students.

If you’re new here my name is Junior, I am the Assist Pastor of discipleship here at hbc, and i am excited that you have chosen to be here.

(Bibles available)

We are into our 3rd week in our series called 12 ways your phone is changing you.

We said #1 was we are addicted to distractions, #2 was We ignore our own flesh and blood.

Today we get to #3

No. 3 We crave immediate attention.

Meet Essena Oneil - a nineteen-year-old Australian model, who accumulated five hundred thousand Instagram followers.

In 2015 she called it quits, deleted most of her pictures, and revised the remaining descriptions to unmask the true motives behind the images.

Why the drastic move?

Essena had come to see that her online life was hollow, fake, and self-centered.

(Video)

“Over-sexualization, perfect food photos, perfect travel vlogs— it is textbook how I got famous,” she admitted.

But it was all part of a downward spiral she came to regret.

Basically, my self worth relied on social approval.”

She assumed that she could satisfy her heart by becoming “Facebook famous” or “Instagram famous,” but as her fame grew, her life felt more and more shallow and contrived.

The popularity made her feel— in her words— trapped in a cycle that became more empty, lonely, hateful, jealous, and insecure.

Today, Essena said, “I simply no longer want to compare my life with anyone else’s edited highlights.

I want to put all of those hours I looked into a screen into my real life goals, personal relationships, and aspirations.

I’m over this celebrity culture and obsession.

It’s silly, and for the most part, internally lonely and fake.”

Today, Essena said, “I simply no longer want to compare my life with anyone else’s edited highlights.

I want to put all of those hours I looked into a screen into my real life goals, personal relationships, and aspirations.

I’m over this celebrity culture and obsession.

It’s silly, and for the most part, internally lonely and fake.”

I don’t want to look to others for how I should live, speak, and create.”

I don’t want to look to others for how I should live, speak, and create.”

Most tragically, Essena admitted that she had mindlessly offered her body up for public admiration, posting selfies in order to be told she was beautiful and attractive.

“Being born into this screen-dominated age, we are taught to mold ourselves in order to gain the most social validation [likes, views, and followers across social media],” she said.

“I’ve simply taken myself out of the sculpting studio.

I don’t want to look to others for how I should live, speak, and create.” 5 In the end, she said, “I was a living paradox of conditional self-love and constant self-hate.

Basically, my self worth relied on social approval.”

She assumed that she could satisfy her heart by becoming “Facebook famous” or “Instagram famous,” but as her fame grew, her life felt more and more shallow and contrived.

The popularity made her feel— in her words— trapped in a cycle that became more empty, lonely, hateful, jealous, and insecure.

Reinke, Tony.

12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You (p.

66).

Crossway.

Kindle Edition.

Reinke, Tony.

12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You (pp.

65-66).

Crossway.

Kindle Edition.

If we are honest with ourselves we sometimes crave some sort of approval.

It may not be to the same degree of as Essena, but to the degree that we think that we should be the center of attention for others.

Sometimes only to find ourselves empty in our beds at night.

Reinke, Tony.

12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You (p.

65).

Crossway.

Kindle Edition.

If we are honest with ourselves in some way we all crave some sort of attention.

Whether it’s the approval of a parent, sibling, relative, friend, neighbor, coworker, class mate, celebrity, politician etc.

You name it, at some point we have learned the skill of being “an approval attention grabber”, and sometimes we will do anything to get the approval of ppl around us.

You may be thinking “Well what’s so wrong with that?”

You might ask!

So here are 3 ways craving for immediate approval is wrong:

It reflects our insecurity.

- Insecurity is when a person is not confident or sure: uncertain, not highly stable or well-adjusted, deficient in assurance: beset by fear and anxiety.

When someone is insecure, they show signs that they are discontent with their own value/worth so they look for approval to fill that void.

not confident or sure: uncertain〉

2:not adequately guarded or sustained: unsafe 〈an insecure investment〉

3:not firmly fastened or fixed: shaky 〈the hinge is loose and insecure〉

4a: not highly stable or well-adjusted 〈an insecure marriage〉

b: deficient in assurance: beset by fear and anxietyWhen someone is insecure, they are ignorant and/or discontent with their own value/worth so they look for approval to fill that void.

2. It reflects our ignorance - Any knowledgeable person would know that approval from others cannot permanently fill you, your worth and meaning in life can only ultimately come from God.

3. It reflects our Idolatry - The worship or adoration of anyone or anything other than the Lord God.

We should know by now that any pursuit that takes up most of your time, talent, and treasure is a pursuit that is more important to you than the Creator Himself.

That’s Idolatry.

The worship or adoration of anyone or anything other than the Lord GodWe should know by now that any pursuit that takes up most of your time, talent, and treasure is a pursuit that is more important to you than the Creator Himself.

That’s Idolatry.

So what do we do?

How do we fight against this tendency to crave for approval?

We are not saying that if you don’t have a phone this will not happen, we are saying that ultimately the problem isn’t the thing/phone, it’s the user/phone owner.

For example:

I am very aware of some of your parents cooking skills, when they are preparing food they use certain tools: Pots, pans, bowls, blender, grater, etc. and many more.

One tool that they use is a knife, they chop up vegetables, meat and so on, and then when it is all finished cooking, we taste the end product.

In the same way that your parent uses that knife for the good of preparing a meal for you and the rest of the family, someone else a knife to hurt someone else.

We can no more blame the knife for your parent’ tasty food, than we can blame knife for the persons death.

The blame must be on the evil motive of the person who hurt another.

Matt 6:1-

So what

It is not your phone that is making you crave approval it’s your heart.

Rather than using them to fulfill some fleshly desire, your phones have so much potential to be used for good, but it’s your heart that forms the motives for its use.

.

Let’s talk about motives for a moment.

gives us a bright picture of the some persons who did stuff for immediate approval, let’s look at the life of a pharisee for a second.

The pharisees was a Jewish religious party whose members required a very strict commitment to the ritual/ceremonial law (e.g.

hand washing, offerings, prayers) and to the traditions of those who came b4 them.

Jesus speaking he says

A Jewish religious party whose members required a very strict adherence to the ritual law and to the traditions of their predecessors.

1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others.

Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret.

And your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

It’s not that it’s wrong to be seen doing something good, it’s that it’s wrong to want to be seen doing something good.

The sin is not in the action itself it’s in the why!

What is the motive?

.

5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites.

For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others.

Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.