Auto-Correcting God
Scripture: Genesis 3:1-6; Genesis 5:1-3; Proverbs 14:12
Introduction:
Although it was “my” goal to continue with my present series “Be Encouraged” I felt led to hold it until I return in a few weeks. This morning I want to share a brief warning with you and I want to do so in such a manner that hopefully you will think about this message every time you get ready to send a text message from your smart phone. The idea for this message was birthed by my brother Barry after we both purchased new smart phones. This morning I will use the accepted term “smart phone” as I compare them to “stupid phones” in how they carry out one of their functions. I do not wish to offend anyone with my use of the word “stupid” but I am only trying to make a point.
When I was growing up there were no “cellular” phones. The first mobile phones were those that had to be carried in a case similar to that of a military radio. They were huge! Well as technology advanced, mobile phone became smaller and smaller. I purchased my first mobile phone in 1997 when I was a hospital representative traveling from Little Rock, AR to Tulsa, OK every other week. My phone was small compared to some, but it had a large battery that attached to the back. The battery would get hotter and hotter the longer I talked on the phone. That phone today would be called a stupid phone – or a caveman phone, not having higher intelligence. All it could do was make phone call and at that time it depended on where I was located as to how much those calls would cost. In 1996, text messaging was introduced to the U.S. but its growth was very slow – why – because most phones were stupid phones!
As life would have it, with the growth of any new technology, we must have a convenient way of using it. As text messaging began to grow, cellular companies found a new way to increase their revenue while meeting the constant changing demands of the consumer. The consumers wanted to be able to use all of the current and developing technology and demanded that their phones be able to do just that. So with that demand came the “smart” phone. The smart phone can not only make phone calls, but it can send text messages; take pictures; play videos; and, dare I say it, search the ever expanding internet. This little device is capable of doing what the biggest computer in 1970 could not do.
I currently own a smart phone and my employer have provided me with a stupid phone. I actually prefer texting on my stupid phone because it is “stupid!” My stupid phone does exactly what I want it to do and it does not try to tell me it knows better, hence the two text messages I sent some of you last night (I will talk more about that at the close of this message). One of the most irritating things about my smart phone is that it thinks it is smarter than me – hence the function on the phone called “auto-correction.” My stupid phone does not have this function so it allows me to say exactly what I want to say. It interprets it correctly and does not try to tell me what I mean. However, on my smart phone, if I make the mistake of not catching its correction, then whoever I am sending the message to receive a message and must try to figure out what I was trying to say. Then I am forced to send a second message to correct the first one. I hate the auto-correction function even though it is meant to save me time and speed up my texting. I know I can turn it off, but if I did that you would not be receiving this message about auto-correcting God.
This morning I want you to think about the development of the smart phones and how those phones interact with us versus the stupid phones. And as you’re thinking along those lines, think about how the early followers of God interacted with Him versus how we do? And if you make it this far, go ahead and think about how the early Christians interacted with God versus how we interact with Him today. There are actually similarities between how we have developed as humans and how we interact with God. For the remainder of this message I want you to think of “us” as being in the role of God and the smart phone as being in our role.
I. In The Beginning
When God made Adam and Eve, He made them male and female. He told them the rule the earth and to populate it. God chose to make Adam a help meet, or a partner, someone who would be like him and help him fulfill what God had told him to do. When Adam woke up after the surgery he proclaimed that the woman before him would be called woman because she had come from his body. After God placed them in the Garden of Eden, He told them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for if they did they would surely die. When Adam and Eve were created they were naked in the garden and were not ashamed. They were not ashamed because they were innocent, or for this message, like the stupid phones. By the time we get to the third chapter of Genesis, Satan had decided to turn God’s stupid phones people into smart phone people complete with the auto-correct function. Look at Genesis 3:1-6. “And the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God had said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’ The serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”
So let’s start at the beginning. When God created Satan, He created Satan to be His chief angel. Satan was in charge. While Satan served God and did as God commanded, Satan was like the stupid phone. In this situation, stupid is good. To quote Forrest Gump, “Stupid is as stupid does!” Satan did what God told Him to do because he was not God. He was not the creator; he was the one created. At some point though, Satan decided that maybe God was not the best one to be “God.” Can you see him behind closed doors questioning the decisions that God was making? Maybe he was mad because the Trinity never asked for his input. Who knows what went through his mind. But at some point, Satan decided that he did not like being a stupid phone – he wanted to a smart phone. Not only did he become a smart phone, he became one with all of the latest bells and whistles. He became so smart that he began to correct his creator. Are you starting to make the connection? So God had to remove the smart phone (Satan) from heaven. Now lets looks later in time. God creates man – man the stupid phone. Man who did what God wanted him to do. Man who obeyed. Then enters smart phone Satan who did not like stupid phone man, he wanted man to be smart like him; smart enough to question God; smart enough to auto-correct God. If you read the story carefully, Satan did not lie entirely to Eve. What he told Eve was the truth from the stand point of her gaining knowledge if she ate of the tree and she did not die immediately, but she did die eventually. But look at how he convinced her? He basically told her that God was wrong – auto-correction. He was correcting something that God had told her. He was helping her to become like God and be smart. Do you see this? Well we know the rest of the story. Both Eve and Adam ate of the tree and transitioned from being stupid phones to smart phones – from doing exactly what God told them to do to doing what “they” thought was best. Every time my smart phone corrects me it is telling me that I am wrong and it knows what I should be saying. Now I want to read one additional verse because it is important that you see this. Adam and Eve were made in the image of God, but their kids were not because Adam and Eve’s image had changed – their nature had changed. Genesis 5:1-3 records the following: “This is the book of the generation of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created. When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.” When God created Adam He created him in His image. When Adam began having children, they were made in Adam’s image so therefore his kids were born as smart phone, not stupid phones. His kids were born with the immediate desire to auto-correct God. Let me share with you quickly some examples of people auto-correcting God and then I will close.
• Ishmael: In Genesis chapter sixteen Ishmael was Abraham’s first born because Sarai auto-corrected God. God told Abraham that he would have a son with Sarai and Sarai decided that it would be best if she gave Abraham her servant Hagar so she could bear Abraham a child on Sarai’s behalf. The two nations have been fighting ever since as many Arabs claim Ishmael as their forefather.
• Twelve Spies: Numbers chapter thirteen records the story of God telling Moses to send twelve spies into the land of Canaan to see the land which He was going to give them. When the twelve returned they said that the land was everything that God had promised them. But ten of the men auto-corrected God because they were smart phones. They told Moses in verses twenty-eight and twenty-nine that they could not go in because the people were too strong. Joshua and Caleb were the only two who said they should go up immediately and possess the land – you see they were still stupid phone and believed they should do exactly what God had told them to do. You know the rest of the story – the people believed the ten spies which led to them being in the wilderness going from place to place for forty years until all those smart phone people died off.
• King Saul: Remember King Saul? He started out as a stupid phone and became a smart phone. He auto-corrected God in several situations and most notably in how he dealt with the Amalekite. It cost him his kingdom and his life. Read his final smart phone act in First Samuel chapter fifteen.
• King David: Kind David in Second Samuel chapter eleven started out as a stupid phone, believing and doing what God wanted him to do. He got himself into a situation after seeing one of God’s creations and deciding he had to have her even though she was married. He auto-corrected God in taking her and the things he did to cover his sin making him temporarily a smart phone. However, he came to his senses, repented before God, and gained back his stupid phone status. You see, just because we have moments of being a smart phone, if we truly decide that God is in control and we must obey, we can convert back to being stupid!
• Judas: Judas started off as a stupid phone and became a smart phone by auto-correcting Jesus in his attempt to force Jesus to establish His kingdom by betraying Him.
• Paul: Paul started off as a smart phone auto-correcting anyone believing in Jesus and thus auto-correcting God. When he came face to face with Jesus on Damascus road, he lost his smartness and became stupid. He remained a stupid phone for the rest of his life.
II. Today
Today we have a lot of smart phone Christians who will argue with you about what God’s word “should have meant.” In these situations they are not arguing with you as they may think, they are arguing with God and their real problem is with Him. Let me give you just a few examples and then I will close.
• Same Sex Marriage: God said that marriage was between a man and a woman. When Noah took the animals on the boat, God told him to take two after its kind – male and female. Why? Because a male and female can continue to reproduce. Of course today we are smart phones as we continue auto-correcting God by saying marriage should be between anyone who desires to be in a committed relationship.
• Hell: There is a smart phone “Christian” movement where people are being taught that hell does not exist and that what the bible says about hell is wrong. I guess this is another auto-correction for God.
• Sin: There is still another group of smart phone Christians who are saying that no one needs to repent from sin because we live under grace and the requirements in the bible are no longer applicable for today. Well, that’s fine if you’re a smart phone and auto-correcting God, but I choose to be stupid.
• Jesus Christ not the only way: Then there are the smart phone people who say that Jesus Christ is not the only way and that what He did on the cross does not matter today. I love being a stupid phone.
• Freewill: Last one for today, freewill. There are those who believe because God gave us a freewill that we have the right to auto-correct God because there are times when I should be able to do what ever I want. There are some smart phone people who really believe that they are smarter than God or that they do not need Him because they have everything under control. Is that you?
Conclusion
Are you living your life as a smart phone or as a stupid phone as it relates to your interactions with God? If you are not sure, let me help you out. If you believe anything that goes against what God says because in “your understanding” it just doesn’t make sense, you’re a smart phone. If you know that God has told you to do something and you’re still “praying” about it, you’re a smart phone. If you know to do right and you’re telling God that you want to do wrong because what He says is just too hard, you’re a smart phone. If you choose to read every book about religion and trusts what man says versus what God says, you’re a smart phone. If you believe that God has missed the boat in some of the things He has said, you’re a smart phone.
Proverbs 14:12 says “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. This same verse in the Amplified version of the bible says “There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but at the end of it is the way of death.
Our ways may seem right to us, but in the end, our ways lead to death. We may think we know what is best, but in reality we do not. I have been a smart phone before and believe me when I tell you that it was not fun. Some of the decisions I made while being a smart phone carried an impact that I could not foresee and lasted for years. I am proud to be a stupid phone!
One more point I want to make before I close. Last night I sent most of you a message from my stupid phone and the exact same message from my smart phone. If you read the two messages you would find that the second message you received for the most part had words that made sense, even though the message did not. My smart phone inserted words that it “thought” I meant to spell which really was not the case! The message that I meant to send was the first one you received which you probably was still confused by. My point here is this, even though the phone auto-corrected what I typed, it still got it wrong! How many times do we auto correct God and get it wrong? Can we say 100% of the time? God knows what He wants and He does not make mistakes – we do! “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”
What about you – are you smart or stupid this morning? If you’re a smart phone today I sincerely hope and pray that you will choose right here, right now to become STUPID!
May God forever bless and keep you (and me) in our stupidity!
