Mobile Technology: The Cure
Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Matthew 7:13-14 (NKJV)
All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
1 Corinthians 6:12 (NKJV)
Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness?... For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said... 'Come out from among them and be separate.'
2 Corinthians 6:14-17 (NKJV) *
There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego... They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up.
Daniel 3:12 (NKJV)
The broadband width of modern media can’t fit through the narrow gate of Jesus.
HOWEVER… the Great Commission IS a broad job for a narrow band of people: Actors, models, and talent for Christ! But…
Is the cure for smut we see on our phones to toss these devices in a trash can? Certainly not.
'Come out from among them and be separate' doesn’t mean we’re supposed to leave the world. 'I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one' (John 17:15).
To be separate means to sanctify: 'To be set apart as holy' (Random House Dictionary).
In Bible times, four Jewish teenagers (Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego) acted out the cure. They showed us how to represent the Lord in a vast and idolatrous culture. Is modern media much different? No! So here's the plan:
Be 'Ten times better' (Daniel 1:20) than everyone else. Excellence paves the path to success. ‘A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men’ (Proverbs 18:16).
Enter the culture, and study its ways. Don’t condemn it, and don’t blend into it. Instead, extend the fruit of God’s Spirit. Act in surprising love, joy, and kindness.
Don't worship idols. Don't do the bad stuff. Don't cheer the bad stuff. Don't text the bad stuff, and NEVER sell out. 'You shall no more worship the work of your hands' (Micah 5:13).
Actors, models and talent for Christ: 'Be as cunning as serpents and as innocent as doves' (Matthew 10:16). Within YOU is the Cure for all the ills of man’s modern mobile technology.
Mobile Technology: The Cure (Part 7)
* Some believe the ‘them’ you’re supposed to come out from… are church groups of misguided Christians, who are NOT acting like Jesus and NOT obeying Jesus. Instead (wittingly or unwittingly) they’re following the Satan, the Accuser: ‘For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him’ (John 3:17).
NOTE: This is a 2023 update of a 2013 Carey Lewis Devotion. You may see notes to 'Actors, Models & Talent for Christ.' If you think you're not in show business, think again. Shakespeare said, 'All the world's a stage and all its men and women merely players. Mostly true. But you're not merely players. You are messengers and ambassadors for the King of kings.