INTRODUCTION

We’re living in a culture of death:

Murder

• Homicides increased 22% to 19,000 in 2020.
• An average of 7,000 black Americans were murdered every year between 2010 and 2019.
• In 2020, 9,941 black Americans were murdered a 43% increase on the 10 year average.
• In the same year 7,043 white people were murdered.
• This year alone (2022) there have been over 140 mass shootings, and 5 mass murders.
• This past week a 61-year-old woman became the 100th murder victim in Baltimore in 2022.

Suicide

• Suicide claims the lives of over 47,500 people in the US every year (@2.5 x murder rate)
• In 2019, @ 3.5 million Americans planned a suicide with 1.4 million suicide attempts
• More than 1 in 4 girls seriously contemplated attempting suicide during the pandemic (2 x boys)
• 20% of High School students seriously considered attempting suicide, and 9.0% had attempted

Abortion

• According to WHO, there are an estimated 40-50 million abortions in the world every year. This is about 125,000 abortions per day.
• There are over 600,000 abortions a year in the USA, with 20% of all pregnancies ending in abortion.
• There have been 63 million abortions in the USA since 1973.

To all this God’s word says two words in Exodus 20:13: NO MURDER. Two words. That’s all there is in the original Hebrew. Was God saying, “This is so obvious, we won’t spend any more time on it”? Or was he saying, “Let’s make this as simple, short, and stark as possible, NO MURDER!”? How do we obey this command? How do we love life in a culture of death?

BACKGROUND

The first four commandments are about finding pleasure in loving God. Although commandments 5-10 pivot towards how to find pleasure in loving our neighbor, they are still rooted in love for God. In the fifth commandment we are honoring God when we honor the authorities he has set over us. In the sixth commandment, we are honoring God when we honor the life he has given to his image bearers.

How does this commandment produce pleasure?

1. THE LAW OF LIFE IS A PLEASURE

Although the law cannot save anyone, it can improve the lives of everyone. Our reformed catechisms summarize the biblical teaching in this commandment as follows:

Shorter Catechism 68. The sixth commandment requires all lawful endeavors to preserve our own life, and the life of others.

Shorter Catechism 69. The sixth commandment forbids the taking away of our own life, or the life of our neighbor,

unjustly, or whatsoever tends to do so.

The Larger Catechism (135&136) and the Heidelberg Catechism (105-107) expand on these answers by giving us the ‘by’ or the ‘how-to.’ For example, Larger Catechism 135 begins: “The duties required in the sixth commandment are, all careful studies, and lawful endeavors, to preserve the life of ourselves and others by…” The catechism answers show how we obey the positives and prohibitions of this commandment in seven key areas of life:

Our thought life

Positive: “by charitable thoughts”

Prohibition: “by resisting all thoughts and purposes…which tend to the unjust taking away the life of any.”

Our emotional life

Positive: “quietness of mind, cheerfulness of spirit”

Prohibition: “by subduing all passions…which tend to the unjust taking away the life of any…sinful anger, hatred, envy, desire of revenge; all excessive passions.”

Our everyday life

Prohibition: “by avoiding avoid all occasions, temptations, and practices, which tend to the unjust taking away the life of any.”

Our civilian life

Positive: “by just defense against violence…comforting and succoring the distressed, and protecting and defending the innocent. Therefore also the magistrate is armed with the sword, to prevent murder.”

Prohibition: “all taking away the life of ourselves, or of others, except in case of public justice (capital punishment), lawful war (just war), or necessary defense (self-defense).”

Our spiritual life

Positive: “by patient bearing of the hand of God.”

Prohibition: “distracting cares.”

Our leisure/recreational life

Positive: “by a sober use of meat, drink, physic, sleep, labor, and recreations”

Prohibition: “immoderate use of meat, drink, labor, and recreations”

Our social (media) life

Positive: “by love, compassion, meekness, gentleness, kindness; peaceable, mild and courteous speeches and behavior; forbearance, readiness to be reconciled, patient bearing and forgiving of injuries, requiting good for evil, and by laying aside all desire for revenge.”

Prohibition: “provoking words, oppression, quarreling, striking, wounding”

Our bodily/physical life

Positive: “that I hurt not myself, nor willfully expose myself to any danger.”

Prohibition: “the neglecting or withdrawing the lawful and necessary means of preservation of life.”

CHANGING OUR STORIES WITH GOD’S STORY

Life is precious. As the sovereign over all life, and the maker of all people in his image, God alone has the right to direct life and take life (1 Sam. 2:6). With only two words he sovereignly demands respect for his gift and his image. It’s only two words but it’s immensely long, deep, and broad in its demands. How many people have you killed? How many skeletons are in your cupboard? (Matt. 5:21-22; 1 John 3:15)

Life is a pleasure. God issues this command because he wants us to enjoy life. Who can deny that obedience to this command would massively increase the happiness of our society and ourselves (1 Peter 3:10-11). The source of so much misery in the world is traceable to disregard for this law. We can extend the pleasure of life to others by keeping the law ourselves and calling others to do the same, by being peace-makers and reconcilers, rather than war-mongers and dividers, by opposing oppressors and supporting the oppressed no matter their color, culture, status, abilities.

THE LAW IMPROVES OUR LIVES FOR A TIME BUT IT CANNOT SAVE OUR LIVES FOREVER

Is the law the last word on how to enjoy life? No, the Gospel is the last word and the best word.

2. THE GOSPEL OF LIFE IS THE GREATEST PLEASURE

However much the law improved and improves life on earth, through the Gospel, Jesus gives us even better earthly life and the best eternal life: The “Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel (2 Timothy 1:10). Jesus did this not only by modeling what it means to keep the law perfectly, but by dying to atone for our law-breaking and therefore securing a better earthly life and the best eternal life for us.

Jesus gives a better earthly life

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John. 10:10). “Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

The Gospel enhances and elevates every area of our lives: our thought life, our emotional life, our everyday life, our civilian life, our spiritual life, our leisure life, our social life, and our physical life.

Jesus gives the best eternal life

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).

However much better our earthly life becomes as a result of the law or the Gospel, our eternal life is infinitely better as a result of the Gospel. Christ’s death gives us life. His dying the worst death in this world means we’ll live the best life in the world to come.

CHANGING OUR STORIES WITH GOD’S STORY

Receive life in Christ. Don’t murder yourself. Get life for yourself through faith in Jesus, life for the here and now, and eternal life for the hereafter.

Give life through Christ. The best way you can keep this commandment is by sharing the Gospel message of life with others. If we know how to help the dead and dying, but withhold that help, we are murderers.

IT’S A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH BECAUSE HIS DEATH GIVES US LIFE

A NEW CHAPTER

Gospel: The law improves life, but the Gospel imparts life.

Jesus: Jesus loved life – his own and others – and yet gave up his life to save others from death (John 10:18). In doing this, he shows us the Father. God is life, loves life, gives life, and alone has the authority to take life.

The Devil: Remember that the Devil is a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). He is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8-10).

Church: The Church is a place of life not death, a place we find, sustain, and lengthen life.

Society: We are seeing Proverbs 8:36 fulfilled in our culture “All who hate me love death.” Also, as the unlawful taking of life rises (murder, abortion, euthanasia), the lawful taking of life (capital punishment) declines.

Monday: “A sober use of food, drink, medicine, sleep, labor, and recreations.”

Heaven: In contrast to hell which is eternal dying, heaven is life, life, life.

Prayer: Lord of life, help me to honor you by honoring those you have given as authorities.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Where else do you see evidence that we’re living in the culture of death?

2. What surprised you about the catechism answers? What did you learn from them?

3. How many people have you killed (Matt. 5:21-22; 1 John 3:15)? What now (Matt. 5:23-26).

4. In which areas of life (e.g. thought, emotional, spiritual) do you need to confess sins?

5. Who will you invite to life this week?

6. How will this commandment increase pleasure in your life?

PDF OF SERMON NOTES

 INTRODUCTION

I’ve twice been involved in situations where Christians tolerated abuse and did not deal with it properly. Some arguments for their inaction or covering-up were:

• “But, he’s such a gifted person.”
• “It’s not such a big deal.”
• “He won’t do it again.”
• “Keep it quiet or it will harm the Lord’s cause.”
• “What will people say if this gets out?”
• “Who hasn’t sinned. Let him who has no sin cast the first stone…?”
• “We’re friends with the family.”
• “But I like him so much.”
• “He’s helped me spiritually and been a blessing to me.”
• “We don’t want to destroy a person’s ministry.”
• “We can’t be 100% sure about what happened.”
• “Maybe it was just a misunderstanding.”
• “Let’s leave it to the Lord.”

There are many more examples I could give, but these are samples of the excuses and the results were disastrous for the perpetrators, for the victims, and above all for the church.

Similar excuses were being made in Corinth about why they shouldn’t discipline a man in gross sexual sin. In his first letter, Paul condemned them for tolerating such sinful living in the church, and called them to repentance (1 Cor. 5:1-5). Although this made them sad, Paul was glad about their godly grief, and was now calling them to further godly grief concerning their tolerance of false teachers (2 Cor. 6:14-7:1). Using the previous example of their godly grief over sinful living, he calls them to godly grief over sinful teaching. What is good or godly grief?

BACKGROUND

Paul stirred up the Corinthians to courageously separate from the false teachers (2 Cor. 6:14-18). But he wanted this reforming zeal to come from repenting hearts.

Why should we want anything that makes us sad?

1. GOOD GRIEF PRODUCES REPENTANCE (8-10)

Repentance makes you sad

For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while (8).

Anyone who enjoys making other people sad is at least weird and probably evil. Paul made the Corinthians sad when he had previously written confronting them about their sin. As someone who loved them, he hated having to make them sad by showing them they were bad. He grieved over their grief. He felt their pain and for a short time wished he hadn’t wrote the letter. But Paul’s regret didn’t last because he saw that their brief grief resulted in lasting repentance. He did not want to hurt them, but hurting them briefly was better than giving false comfort briefly but real hurt eternally.

Repentance makes me glad

As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance... (9-10).

Paul’s regret turned to rejoicing when he heard that their grief turned to repentance, which he called ‘godly grief,’ that is grief toward God, grief that brought them to God, and grief that God approved of. Although they lost some days of happiness and comfort, but because their grief resulted in repentance, they gained more than they lost.

CHANGING OUR STORIES WITH GOD’S STORY

I do not enjoy making you sad. I’m called to convict you of sin and to make you feel guilt and condemnation. You don’t enjoy it, I don’t enjoy it. But I must do it if I’m to be faithful to God and save you from eternal sadness.

I do enjoy when your sadness turns you from sin to God. When your sadness turns you from sin to God, God’s glad, I’m glad, and you’ll be glad too.

SHORT SADNESS
LONG GLADNESS

If good grief produces repentance, what does repentance produce?

 2. GOOD GRIEF LEADS TO SALVATION (10)

Saving repentance

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret… (10).

Godly grief results in repentance which results in salvation. True repentance (not just remorse or regret) brings us to God pleading for mercy and forgiveness, pleading for the Holy Spirit to change us, and ultimately rejoicing in the salvation purchased by Christ. Although painful for a time, eventually it results in unmixed joy and zero regret. No one has ever regretted repenting.

J I Packer explained this kind of saving repentance as: “Discern the sin, desire forgiveness, decide to ask for help, deal with God, demonstrate change.” The Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it like this: Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, does, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience.

Killer Regret

…whereas worldly grief produces death (10).

Worldly grief is not from God or towards God. It’s simply remorse that ends in blaming self, others, or God and has no hope of mercy in it. It turns us against ourselves, others, and God. Biblical examples of this are Judas (Matt. 27:5), Simon Magus (Acts 8:24), and Esau (Heb. 12:16,17). It results in anger, bitterness, despair, and ultimately suicide.

CHANGING OUR STORIES WITH GOD’S STORY

Is your grief over sin killing you or giving you life? Does it have equal parts of ‘true sense of sin’ and ‘apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ’? If so, it’s life-giving. If not, it’s killing you.

This is a sadness that grows gladness. It’s a sadness that generates gladness at the same time as the sadness and even more at the end of time. It’s a sadness that’s worth it.

REPENTANCE SAVES
REMORSE KILLS

How else can I know if I have saving repentance?

3. GOOD GRIEF RESULTS IN TRANSFORMATION (11-12)

The Fruits of Repentance

For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you…(11-12).

• Earnestness: Indifference about sin is replaced with seriousness and speed about sin.
• Eagerness to clear yourselves: They were constantly asking, “What can we do to prove we’ve changed?”
• Indignation: Against the offender and even themselves for getting this so wrong in the past.
• Fear: Fear of God’s judgment for their inaction.
• Longing: They really wanted to put things right.
• Zeal: A passion for justice that reflected God’s justice.
• Punishment: The offender was properly dealt with.
• At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter: They can no longer be accused of wrong.

Crisis repentance produces the tiny fruit of a few prayers until the danger is over. Manipulative repentance produces the impressive but rotten fruit of impressing people or getting their sympathy. Ritual repentance produces the common but contaminated fruit of slightly increased church attendance and other religious activities.

The Encouragement of Repentance

So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. Therefore we are comforted (12-13).

When Paul called them to repent of their ungodly toleration of sin in the church, his primary purpose was not to change things on a human level but before God. He wanted to give them an opportunity to prove their love for God, his truth, and his Apostles by dealing with the sin in the church. As they did so, Paul was no longer depressed but encouraged.

CHANGING OUR STORIES WITH GOD’S STORY

What are the fruits of repentance in your life? Would your fruits of repentance prove that the tree and roots of repentance exist? If so, be encouraged. If not, ask for the roots and tree, and the fruit will grow.

Multiplying of repentance fruit is as encouraging as numerical growth. We often look to numerical growth for comfort, but Paul and God look for fruit growth. Not so much about multiplying trees, but multiplying the fruits of repentance on them. Are you that kind of fruitful Christian?

A FEW FRUITFUL TREES ARE BETTER
THAN FORESTS OF FRUITLESS TREES

A NEW CHAPTER

• Gospel: Repentance is one of the two indispensable arms by which we receive the Gospel.
• Worship: Thank God for the gift of repentance (John 16:8; Acts 5:31).
• Prayer: Write out a prayer that reflects this sermon, or use this one: “Holy Lord God, give me good grief that will save and change me.”
• Church: Pray for individual repentance and church repentance to look like this happy sadness
• Monday: Cultivate good grief throughout the week. Look for and take opportunities to repent.
• Hell: There’s no repentance in hell. Worse, there’s no opportunity to repent in hell.
• Heaven: No more tears = no more tears of repentance. Sorrow and sighing will flee away.

 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. How has your view of repentance changed as a result of this sermon?

2. In what ways have you, like Paul, made others sad in order to make them and you glad?

3. How would you help someone distinguish between repentance and remorse?

4. Which of the fruits of repentance are in your life?

5. Whose repentance has been a comfort and joy to you recently?

6. How has this message encouraged you to be more fruitful?

PDF OF SERMON NOTES

If we want to increase our success in forming good habits and breaking bad ones, we need a specific plan about  the what and the where. As yesterday’s article explained, the key sentence to complete is:

I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION]. 

But if you want to move from the Bachelor’s to the Master’s level of habit change, you need to use what James Clear calls habit stacking. He explains,

“Rather than pairing your new habit with a particular time and location, you pair it with a current habit” (74).

The habit stacking formula is: After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT].

In other words, it’s using the existence and practice of a current habit to cue a new habit. Using yesterday’s examples, it might look something like this:

• After showering, I will read my Bible in my bedroom.
• After supper on Saturday evening, I will pray for my pastor.
• After getting home from church on Sunday, I will teach my children the Shorter Catechism for 30 minutes.
• After getting into bed, I will read for 30 minutes.

The secret is to use something you do anyway to cue the desired behavior. Here are some examples from Clear’s book:

• Exercise. When I see a set of stairs, I will take them instead of using the elevator.
• Social skills. When I walk into a party, I will introduce myself to someone I don’t know yet.
• Finances. When I want to buy something over $100, I will wait twenty-four hours before purchasing.
• Healthy eating. When I serve myself a meal, I will always put veggies on my plate first.
• Minimalism. When I buy a new item, I will give something away. (“One in, one out.”)
• Mood. When the phone rings, I will take one deep breath and smile before answering.
• Forgetfulness. When I leave a public place, I will check the table and chairs to make sure I don’t leave anything behind. (77)

Get the idea? The key is to identify your current habits and then choose the right habit upon which to stack another habit.

Once the new behavior is established, it can be used to cue another habit, and so the momentum and the stack grows. Think of how many blessed stacks and chains of spiritual habits could be formed with this method.

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

Three groups of people were given the following instructions:

Group One: Track how often you exercise.

Group Two: Track workouts and read articles on the benefits of exercise.

Group Three: Track workouts, read articles on the benefits of exercise, and formulate a plan for when and where you will exercise the following week.

Which of the three groups got fitter? Here are the results as reported in James Clear’s Atomic Habits:

• Group One: 35-38% exercised at least once per week.
• Group Two: 35-38% exercised at least once per week
• Group Three: 91% exercised once per week.

The third group had more than twice the success of the other two groups. A plan for implementation is clearly essential for habit change.

The third group were helped towards implementation by completing the following sentence:

“During the next week, I will partake in at least 20 minutes of vigorous exercise on [DAY] at [TIME] in [PLACE].”

The implementation plan includes two key details: the when and the what, when and where to act. The general format is:

I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION]. 

Clear comments: “The punch line is clear: people who make a specific plan for when and where they will perform a new habit are more likely to follow through” (70-71).

So, if you want to change habits you need more than: “I’m going to read my Bible more often,” or “I’m going to keep in touch with friends this year,” or “I’m going to pray for my pastor,” or I’m going to love my wife better,” or “I’m going to get my children to learn the Shorter Catechism,” or “I’m going to read more.”

If that’s all you’ve got, you’ve got a 35% chance of success. Want to almost guarantee it?

• I will read my Bible at 6.30am every morning in my bedroom.
• I will meet with a friend for breakfast every Friday morning at 7am.
• I will pray for my pastor every Saturday evening at 9pm.
• I will dedicate every Friday evening entirely to my wife.
• I will teach my children the Shorter Catechism every Sunday at 12 noon for 30 minutes.
• I will read a book every evening from 9.30pm to 10 pm.

Obviously the Christian will want to add (D.V.) to each of these plans, but James 4:15 is no warrant for failing to plan. As Clear says, “Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity. It is not always obvious when and where to take action.”

Another benefit of such clear implementation plans is that we can more easily say no to whatever might hinder our progress. Clear again: “We often say yes to little requests because we are not clear enough about what we need to be doing instead” (72).

With the Lord’s blessing and help, I would hope we can get the success figure up to 100%.

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

Blogs

28 Non-Numerical Signs Of A Healthy Church
“Numbers are not the only way to determine church health. In many situations, they’re not even the best way.”

A Historian’s 5 Tips on Writing
“At his Twitter account, @KevinMKruse, Professor Kruse did a series of tweets on writing advice. With his permission, they are reprinted here in a more permanent format.”

A Revival Of The Public Reading of Scripture
I’ve noticed Scripture readings are getting shorter and shorter.

Study says screen time may increase teen depression, thoughts of suicide
Along similar lines, here’s the New York Times’ on How Evil Is Tech? which highlights three main critiques of big tech. The first is that it is destroying the young.  And another: The number of teens who are depressed is soaring. In that article, Jean Twenge says that the problem is “not necessarily the screen time but the time that’s lost to smartphones that could be spent on more meaningful activities, like face-to-face interaction.”

Download the ‘Westminster Shorter Catechism’ by Sinclair Ferguson
You said you would listen to him reading the telephone directory. Here’s something even better.

Why You Should Live in the Psalms
Scott Slayton: “The Psalms provide a welcome antidote to our craving for shallowness. The Psalms, which seem so easy to understand on the surface, invite us to deep study and contemplation. They show the blessing of cultivating a deep and abiding trust in the Lord and beckon us to leave behind our life of distraction so we can know and love God more deeply.”

Autism Speaks: Q&A
Super-helpful Q&A with two autistic young adults.

Kindle Books

Some great deals on Kindle devices today.

Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World by Josh McDowell $3.99.

Impossible People: Christian Courage and the Struggle for the Soul of Civilization by Os Guinness $4.99.

Renaissance: The Power of the Gospel However Dark the Times by Os Guinness $3.99.

Why Christ Came: 31 Meditations on the Incarnation by Joel R. Beeke  and‎ William Boekestein $2.99.

Beginning at Moses: A Guide to Finding Christ in the Old Testament by Michael P. V. Barrett $0.99

Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids
Reset: Living a Grace-Paced Life in a Burnout Culture (for men)
Refresh: Embracing a Grace-Paced Life in a World of Overwhelming Demands (for women)

Yesterday we met a pastor who claimed that he needed more than the Bible for Biblical preaching. Today I’m going to confront him and call him to repentance for undermining the sufficiency and authority of Scripture. My part of the conversation is in bold.

Good morning Pastor N. T. Grayshon. After talking yesterday, I came away deeply concerned about your view of Scripture and wanted to make sure that I heard you rightly. Did you say that sources of knowledge from outside of the Bible were necessary for understanding, preaching, and applying the Bible?”

Yes, but I can understand how you might misunderstand me. So let me give you an example. I always think it’s better to deal in concrete practical terms rather than in theoretical abstract arguments where different words (like “sufficiency”) often mean different things to different people.

Let’s take digital technology for example. I preached a sermon about this a few weeks ago. The sermon arose out of numerous conversations with parents and Sunday school teachers who were increasingly worried about the impact of smartphones on their children. It wasn’t that the kids were viewing porn, violent games, or anything like that. Most of it was just seemingly harmless stuff like Snapchat, Instagram, social media, etc. They couldn’t put their finger on it or prove it but they all felt that smartphone use was damaging the kids’ ability to concentrate, to relate, to manage their emotions, and even to read their Bibles and pray. So, they asked me to preach a sermon on it!

I wasn’t sure where to turn, apart from “Honor your father and your mother” (Ex. 20:12) and insisting that the kids simply obey their parents and teachers when they said that they should put their devices away. However, I could just imagine the unproductive conversations that would ensue in many homes.

“Stop using your phone!”

“Why?”

“’Cos I said so and God said you are to obey me!”

That doesn’t prepare children for life outside the home. I’ve found it’s much better to help people implement Scriptural imperatives by supporting them with reasons and motives. That’s the way God usually works in the Scriptures.

I then noticed that there was a motive clause: “….that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord God is giving you.” I thought, “If I can prove that obeying their parents on this would extend their lives then that would surely be much more persuasive.”

But there’s nothing about that in Scripture.

I know, that’s why I turned to Amazon! I bought:

• Glow Kids: How Screen Addiction Is Hijacking Our Kids-and How to Break the Trance
• Reset Your Child’s Brain: A Four-Week Plan to End Meltdowns, Raise Grades, and Boost Social Skills by Reversing the Effects of Electronic Screen-Time,
• iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy–and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood–and What That Means for the Rest of Us

I was absolutely stunned at the research demonstrating the physical, chemical, emotional, and relational, damage that excessive use of digital technology is doing to our kids. Some of the books had scientifically tested various remedies and were able to recommend ways to explain this to kids, implement changes, manage “withdrawal symptoms,” and gauge the best limits for different kids.

After I’d done this research I changed my text to something much more direct: “You shall not kill” (Ex. 20:13), and was able to argue that excessive technology use was forbidden because the sixth commandment “requires all lawful endeavors to preserve our own life and the life of others” (Shorter Catechism 68).

Later in the sermon I also referred to texts about the duty of stewarding our bodies for God’s glory (1 Cor. 6:15-20) and the command to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1-2), which, at the very least, requires us to care for the health of our brains.

So, the Bible was the foundational authority for my sermon. The Bible was absolutely necessary. The Bible was sufficient to provide these basic principles. In this way, as someone once said, the Scriptures are authoritative, sufficient, necessary, and not surpassed or equalled for biblical preaching.

But science was also essential to proving that, above certain levels, digital technology use is damaging to our kids’ physical, mental, emotional, and relational health, and therefore a sin. It was also essential to guiding parents and kids about how to discover optimum time-limits of digital engagement, and what strategies work in managing technology for our good and God’s glory—although none of these books mentioned God, sadly.

Obviously, the Bible did not have exhaustive information about this subject. It had necessary and authoritative truth. But so did science. Science provided me not just with helpful facts but with necessary facts. I not only included a lot of these facts in my sermon, I encouraged my congregation to thank and worship God for enabling scientists to discover this vital information and for sharing it with us so that we can advance our obedience to this command, progress in sanctification in the parenting realm, and also help our kids move forward in their spiritual lives.

But, by saying that the Bible does not have exhaustive information on the subject of digital technology use, are you not undermining the authority of the Bible?

Only if the Bible claimed to have exhaustive information on it and then failed to deliver. But the Bible does not claim to be an exhaustive source on the way digital technology undermines obedience and sanctification. It does claim to be comprehensive though, in the sense that it has something vital to say about every area of life.,

Are you not abandoning the protestant doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture?

No, not at all. The Reformation doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture was directed against the Roman Catholic claim of additional special revelation (see here), not against the existence of helpful and even necessary truth that God has made available outside of the Bible.

So are you saying that if we didn’t have science, we couldn’t help people in this area of sanctification?

No, I’m saying that if we didn’t have science, we couldn’t help people as much as when we do. In fact, I’d agree with John Calvin who said that truth from non-biblical sources was not just helpful, and not just necessary, but to neglect it is a sin.

The human mind, however much fallen and perverted from its original integrity, is still adorned and invested with admirable gifts from its Creator. . . . We will be careful . . . not to reject or condemn truth wherever it appears. . . .If we regard the Spirit of God as the sole foundation of truth, we shall neither reject the truth itself, nor despise it wherever it shall appear, unless we wish to dishonor the Spirit of God. Shall we say that the philosophers were blind in their fine observation and artful description of nature? . . . No, we cannot read the writings of the ancients on these subjects without great admiration. But if the Lord has willed that we be helped in physics, dialectic, mathematics, and other like disciplines, by the work and ministry of the ungodly, let us use this assistance. For if we neglect God’s gift freely offered in these arts, we ought to suffer just punishment for our sloths (Calvin, Institutes 2.2 15-16)

Sounds like it’s me that needs to repent! Anyway, how did your congregation respond to the sermon?

Well, from what I’ve heard in the weeks after preaching it, there have been some wonderful conversations between parents and their kids. Kids were able to see the scriptural authority for preserving their lives, for stewarding their brains for God’s glory, and for renewing their minds. But they also said that the introduction of the science nailed the Scriptures into their minds in life-changing ways. Many kids have asked their parents to get them these digital technology books so that they can learn how to protect themselves from themselves. But the best part of this has been that the kids have seen how comprehensive the Bible is, how relevant and authoritative the Bible is to every part of their lives, and are studying their Bibles more than they ever did before.

I’m actually dealing with a lot of counseling problems in this area of digital technology in my own congregation. Sounds like we need more than the Bible for biblical counseling too. Is that too dangerous to say?

Why don’t you come back tomorrow and we can discuss that?