Rubbish!!

I have always had to find the balance between getting what I need, and convincing myself that what I want, is what I need. Do you ever think about what you used to live without? Seriously, there is so much in my life that I would say I could “not” live without, that I totally used to live without it’s crazy. Not trying to be confusing, sorry.

I must confess I might be tempted to say that I could “not” live without my cell phone, anyone else? I bet I am not alone here, so I typed the words “cell phone” into a Google search = 834 million results. I then typed in the word “Jesus” = 428 million results. That is a HUGE difference, and a telling sign = regardless of statistical reasoning, there is just about one half as much information about Jesus, as there is information about cell phones.

This is not just a random stream of consciousness. My almost sixteen-year-old daughter’s cell phone broke this week, and she has spent almost every waking moment searching to find a way to replace it. She has searched carriers and products on websites and auctions until she has lost the use of her fingers. Why? Because she tells me she can’t live without it, and as I hear her argument, I start to lean toward agreeing with her…then I snap out of it - wait just one picking second!

Now, if we are completely honest, technology has become our savior. It has saved us from countless hours of worrying what our friends are up to, moment-by-moment, or instantaneous real-time sports score updates. We no longer have to blacken our fingers searching through pages of newsprint looking for a story or a coupon; we simply look up the story on our “smart phones” or show the image of the coupon we want to use. Let’s not even get started about paying for something with them…ohhh yea, that!

I am by no means anti-technology, but I am pro-Savior. Ten plus years ago I met Jesus, I was lost, and He found me as I was searching to fill the hole I felt inside of me, with every want I could imagine. Problem was, nothing filled me; I was never satisfied, and I was always wanting more. Then I met Him, in a book: a book I had known about most of my life. Nothing special, no super crisis introduction, just His Words between two hard covers of a big book: the Bible.

Technology is AWESOME, and in and of itself, is not a problem. When technology has at its core motivation to make us ever-dependent, and get us to believe that it is not “if” we need it, but how much we need it, then it becomes one. Technology is not rubbish, but making or putting anything in a position where we treat it as a savior is. Look at what Paul wrote about his priority of Jesus, almost two thousand years ago:

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”
Philippians 3:8 (ESV)

There is no better time for a Savior than now, amen? Then we need to get back to our Savior, hearing His Words, from His book, letting them sink into our hearts and our lives, so as to be forever changed. We need to become completely dependent on Him, and what He has done, over anything and everything else. No rubbish there.

…just sayin’

In His grip,

Pastor Pat