Central Point: Attention as your most precious resource and what Christ seeks. “Revelations 3:20”

##Intro The central idea is that what you pay attention to, what you hear and see, etc what creates impressions on your soul becomes a part of you or… even controls you. The thing that you pay attention to the most.. is what you worship. We are vessels, and we can be vessels for God or other spirits. In the NT there is a theme of light, watchfulness, wakefulness, sobriety juxtaposed with darkness, distractedness, slumber, and stupor. To pay attention to things lower than God is to be in the darkness and to pay attention to God is to be “enlightened”.

There are many warnings in both the Old and NT of guarding one’s heart. In short, to guard one’s heart is to guard one’s soul from idols that may compete for our attention and worship. If we find ourselves obsessively looking at something or paying attention to something, this is a distraction and perhaps may even become an idol. For example, a person who is constantly checking his bank account balance or stocks is doing so out of attention to his finances. Taken to an extreme, this attention to one’s financial situation can become idolatrous.

To Christ, to lack attention to prayer and to God is to fall asleep, to have ones eyes closed, and effectively to be blind and in the darkness. To not be watchful is to let the thief break into the temple of the Holy Spirit (ie our souls). He warns about this most explicitly in the parable of the watchful servant, but this theme of vigilance and wakefulness is scattered throughout all of the New Testament.

Mark 13:35-37 “35 Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning— 36 lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. 37 And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” and equivalents in Matt 24 and Luke 21.

Social Media and the internet is an extremely potent tool for it is an “extension” of our eyes. This tool is most analogous to the Palintir in LOTR. It grants us vision and knowledge of things that isn’t accessible normally, and if used without vigilance can lead to possession and influence from the evil one.

Main

1. Social Media scatters our attention and creates a disembodiment between mind and body.

• We are constantly going from one thing to another. One tab to another, one photo to another, a post to another. Very rarely do we attend to a single thing for more than a minute, or more charitably 10 minutes. This weakens our ability to concentrate and focus on one thing for long periods of time, which is important for prayer, reading, etc.
• When on the phone or computer we create a disconnection between soul and body. Talk about example of being in class but somewhere else because you were on your phone, or in a video call but actually attending to something else. Never really present. Ideally we should be present as the Word was present in the flesh.

1. We are constantly bombarded with suggestions. Not just ads, but also media content which compete for our attention. They are often successful for our attention, and even may lead us to sin.

• The essence of spiritual warfare is to attend to God, while saying no to suggestions that pull you away from God. For the most part most of what is on your feed is doing the latter. Mention Screwtape Letters and how demons operate. This problem may be particularly acute for men and pornography. Even if you don’t start looking for sexual things, they often pop up, and you are led to seek it.

1. Social Media creates a constant connection that makes it almost impossible to find a quiet place where we can find ourselves and find God. Corporate prayer is important as well, but prayer alone with God is equally if not more important (Mark 1:35)

• We seek communion with God. Such communion is only possible when we fully give ourselves, mind, body, and soul. Can create a “double-mindedness” or a splitting within our soul. But the phone and media drags us to something lesser which is communion (or connection) with each other. Not to disparage fellowship, but this virtual connection is often a replacement of real relationships that happen in-person.

Conclusion

This is the story of Christians, of being called by Christ to commune with Him and the Holy Trinity, to participate in the life that He has prepared for us and the age to come, yet continually falling asleep.

36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” 39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” 40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” 43 And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”