ON-STAR SERMON SERIES
MAKING MYSPACE A SAFE PLACE
PROV. 4:23 - ©DR. LARRY L. THOMPSON (2006)
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)
Introduction:
A decade ago we had a student pastor who told us, “If you wanted to get to really know a kid and what’s going on their life then go look in their bedroom.” Today I’d tell you to look at their MySpace page. MySpace.com is a portal into the world of today’s student and young adult. The On Star question I present to you today is simple, “Should we look into this portal... or simply swim away?”
I want you to think for a moment about the NAME we use for the Internet. We call the internet “The World Wide Web.” Today in our ON STAR series we are exploring MySpace, one of the fastest growing communities on the internet today, and we are going to use the moniker, “World Wide Web,” to allow God’s word to give us guidance and direction.
Join with me for a moment to break down the World Wide Web. First of all look at the name “WORLD-WIDE.” The name is given because of its sense of all-encompassing connectivity and that connectivity is available anywhere and everywhere. Sounds great, right?
But there is a problem because the second part of the word associated with those who use the internet is the word “WEB!” WEB has another; less-friendly meaning…web is most often used to describe a trap. Our problem today is that many internet users, adults, students and children, are enjoying the access to the WORLD but not taking the necessary time and precaution to avoid the WEB.
Today, my responsibility will be to take this moniker, World-wide Web and using God’s word give biblical direction that will both help us enjoy this tremendous tool of technology while at the same time avoiding the traps that have destroyed literally tens of thousands of lives and families.
I. MY “WORLD-WIDE” SPACE (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8)
“Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matt. 28:18-20
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
It is important for me to revisit and establish a basic but absolutely essential command of the Christian life. We are called to go into the “WORLD” for the purpose of making people aware of Jesus. We are called to impact our world as followers of Christ and not allow the world to impact and change our lives. How important is this WORLD-WIDE charge? Remember this as a Christian…
• We have the King’s CLAIM: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
• We have the King’s COMMAND: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
• We have the King’s COMMITMENT: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Think of this charge in the terms of applying the POP strategy to this mandate. We are to “GO” and we start on our own path, our own Jerusalem, where we live. We invest in people along the way and then invite them to join us in an activity that will provide the opportunity to introduce them to Jesus Christ, the privilege of allowing them to share their profession of faith through their obedience in baptism and the joy of instructing them in His word to produce a fully devoted follower of Christ. Jesus COMMANDED HIS DISCIPLES TO ‘GO’ INTO ALL THE WORLD…WE ARE TO GO WORLD-WIDE! With the technology of the internet we have the opportunity to “go into all the world” with His witness and never leave our house! TIME magazine reports, “MySpace is no longer just "a" place to hang out...it’s THE place to hang out.” WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY BUT ARE WE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THAT PRIVILEGE?
Here is the dilemma many of us face as Christians: We have the command to go into all the world but often we are found trying to build our walls to protect us from the world. Our goal as believers is to find that balance; the balance to impact the world with the Gospel of Christ without having our witness destroyed by being entangled in the world.
MySpace is a “WORLD-WIDE” Multimillion-Member Public Forum
Businessweek reports Myspace.com was founded in 2003 by Tom Anderson, whose primary motivation was to provide a means for independent musicians to gain fans and publicity. Since 2003, the MySpace community has…
• Reported just over 105 million accounts. The 100 millionth account was created on August 9, 2006.
• MySpace is attracting new registrations at the rate of 230,000 per day
• MySpace users spend an average of one hour and 40 minutes a day on the site
• MySpace is the 5th most popular site on the World-wide Web. It is only behind: 1. Yahoo 2. Google 3. EBay 4. Amazon
• 87% of all youth between the ages of 12 and 17 either know about MySpace or have accounts on MySpace (August 2005 survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project)
• 28% of 11-14 year olds have internet access in their own bedroom
• 19% of USA teens, 12-17, have created their own online journal or blog. This compares to only 7% of adult Internet users in America
• In July, 2005 Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation bought “MySpace.com” for the sum of... $580 million dollars!
These numbers begin to explain the reason why MySpace is being viewed as both an excellent target to reach students and adults with the message of Christ and yet also a great concern that this site could adversely impact the lives of individuals who participate in this community.
Who, exactly, has a page on MySpace? I can tell you that several of our members have a MySpace page. In preparation for this message we researched several of the pages of our members. What does a MySpace member do with their personal page?
• MySpace requires users to be at least 14 years old. Although MySpace founder admits there’s no way they can check all registrations and that anyone can lie about such user information.
• MySpace user creates a profile that can include as much or as little as he/she desires.
• Users can post personal information: photos, a "life quote," the name of her school, the results of a personality quiz and a listing of favorite music, movies and TV shows.
• MySpace users can create a Web log (blog, in Internet-speak) and to communicate with each other either through e-mail or by instant messenger (IM).
• MySpace also has a very powerful search engine that allows members to search under almost any profile or category.
• Think of MySpace as the social hang-out that we had as kids. Explain the drive-in that kids used to go to on weekends and visit or just “cruise.” Generation @ also enjoys that social element of cruising but instead of the face to face social interaction it is done through IM, blogs, email and bulletin boards. MySpace members cruise through this massive network by creating links to someone else by listing them as “Friends.” USA Today reports, “The process of finding new friends — often complete strangers — is called "friending." And for many teens, it’s the glue that makes them stick with MySpace.” (USA Today – “Teens Hang Out at MySpace” – Janet Komblum)
• MySpace makes its revenue from web ads that appear each time a user logs on to the site
Understanding the magnitude of this cultural phenomenon requires us to also consider our biblical responsibility.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
• You are “called” to be His witnesses starting where you live and then working out into all the world
• You are “called” by Christ to a LIGHT in a darkened world
• You are “called” to make Jesus known to a world who has no knowledge of His salvation and grace.
• You are “called” to encourage other believers, not gossip or verbally attack one another.
• You are “called” not to do anything that hinder someone from coming to Christ or cause another brother or sister in Christ to stumble in their faith walk.
• You are “called” to flee from every form of sexual sin
• You are “called” to avoid hypocrisy and deceit
• You are “called” to make disciples
• You are “called” to be transformed to Christ by the renewing of mind and are “called” to avoid being conformed to power of this world.
Some parents have asked me the question of whether they should ban their students from using MySpace. First let me say this is a parental decision but my answer to you would be “no.” Let me explain, just because there may be a sexual predator found at a children’s playground in the park doesn’t mean that we close the park and never allow our children to return. It does mean that we as parents get involved in the lives of our children and help them put up the boundaries necessary that will help to protect them.
I would say this to EVERY Christian who is using the internet, not just the MySpace members, if your activity is not honoring to the Savior who gave His life for you then I am praying the Holy Spirit convict you this day of this sin and that He would open your eyes to lead you to not only repent but to make some immediate changes in your behavior.
Conclusion to: “My World-wide Space”
In this cultural networking phenomenon is there value in we who are Christians using this tool to further His kingdom? Absolutely. Is there social value to students? Yes. As a matter of record, a Christian psychologist wrote an article that appeared on the Focus on the Family web site entitled: “MySpace: Parents, Plug in or Pull the Plug” and stated: “While I’m never one to dictate anyone else’s parenting, I think it’s important that parents put a great deal of thought into how they respond to their kids’ use of MySpace. Pulling the plug may not only be unnecessary, it could be counter-productive. For one thing, when used properly, these social networking sites have genuinely positive attributes. To me they’re like kitchen knives. They can be a tool to help you cook and eat the food that nourishes, but if misused they can also harm people. It’s all a matter of how you use them.” Just as a mother would teach her children how to use the kitchen knives or a father how to use the lawn mower so must parent engage and provide instruction and not abdicate your responsibility.
Dr. Anne Collier continues: “a lot of the behavior on sites like MySpace has been going on in teen hangouts for generations, but parents weren’t privy to it. Now it’s on display for everybody - peers, parents, and predators.… If we overreact, we’re potentially shutting down the one protection kids have: communication and cooperation with the people who love them. Shutting down a child’s communication outlet does not shut down their need to communicate; it simply forces them to re-channel it or drive it underground.”
So we seem to have a real dilemma for those of us who are Christians. How do we impact the world we live in with His message and yet at the same time not be destroyed or overpowered or placed into bondage by the sinful web of our enemy? This brings us to our second area of examination in today’s On Star Series…
II. MYSPACE “WEB” SPIDERS (1 Pet 5:8-9)
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (1 Pet 5:8-9)
a. EXPOSING the Spiders
We must remember that Satan spins a web that both DECEIVES and DEVOURS. The believer must be vigilant in this duty or his life and testimony for Christ will be devoured and destroyed. The believer must constantly watch for and resist the web of deceit that faces every believer.
While MySpace does have a few built-in safeguards, most of them do not appear “web proof” in the shadow of its sheer size. MySpace attempts to monitor the nearly 2 million photos uploaded by users every day! Over 300 employees, called, "flaggers," manually view images and delete any that violate the site’s no-nudity policy. But they know their limitations, as evidenced by this disclaimer in fine print: "Information provided by other myspace.com members (for instance, in their profile) may contain inaccurate, inappropriate or offensive material, products or services and myspace.com assumes no responsibility or liability for this material."
Looking back at our scripture there is ONE biblical activity you can do to protect yourself from the WEB-TRAPS but it is an absolutely essential action step on your part.
“Be self-controlled and alert.” The warning here carries the exhortation to RESPECT YOUR ENEMY. The book of Revelation calls Satan the “destroyer and the accuser.” Satan has one desire and that is disrupt, destroy and kill as many testimonies for Christ as possible and in the process also bring devastation to your home and personal life. So how can we apply this verse to help us avoid the WEB-TRAPS?
• As a Christian we must be submitted to Him in order to be under His control. We must daily yield to Him and allow Him to have leadership of our life. Every aspect of our life.
• We must be alert. The word means to be watchful and awake. It has the idea of being constantly aroused and on the lookout for the WEB-TRAPS in life.
• We must resist the Enemy. The biblical picture is that Satan is an attorney that is continually bringing every charge he can against you before the Lord in an effort to see if you will yield to his attacks and surrender. The picture is that as a believer we are stand and in the Name of the Lord resist and rebuke every attack. The goal of the attack is to stain your witness and break the heart of your Savior. It is a war. Here was Paul’s instruction:
“A final word: Be strong with the Lord’s mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil. 12 For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms. 13 Use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy in the time of evil, so that after the battle you will still be standing firm.” Eph 6:10-13 (NLT)
b. EXAMINING THE WEB-TRAPS WE FACE
THE WEB OF SELF-DECEIT: This web-trap lies to you by saying you can overcome the Web-traps in your own strength; you are strong enough to never yield to sin. Even King David, a man after God’s own heart, fell into a web-trap of lust when he deceived himself into believing that he could violate God’s word without facing any consequences. I think that it is very important we build accountability within our lives and especially with the use of the internet. This applies to husbands and wives as well as students and children. Listen to the word of God:
“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” 1 Cor. 10:12 (NIV)
“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Jer. 17:9
THE WEB OF SECRET DECEPTION: This is the web-trap that says “you can do something in secret that you know violates God’s will for your life and yet you continue to live a secret life as if your actions will never be exposed in public. Even the most mature believers are susceptible to secret sins. Don’t bed deceived and fall into this web-trap. If what you feel you MUST hide what you do or say on your MySpace account or any internet activity to your parents, spouse, pastor or Christian friends then you are already falling into the web of secret deception and you setting yourself up for a fall.
“He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, ’The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.” Ez. 8:12
THE WEB OF SINFUL DIALOGUE: This web-trap deceives us into believing we can write or say things that are not honoring to the Lord and not be impacted by our actions. We are commanded in God’s word to watch carefully the words that we use. Our sinful language, spoken or written can be the web the enemy will use to totally rob you of your testimony. You must ask yourself this question: “Is what I am writing in my profile or the words that I am speaking through my blog honoring the Lord or am I ruining my testimony before others?” The Bible reminds us that we are not to lie, gossip or hinder another with our language and what you write on your blog, emails, IM’s or profile page is an extension of your heart. One of the major concerns among school officials today is something that is now referred to as “cyber-bullying” where there are vicious attacks on fellow students that travel quickly throughout the network of friends in the MySpace Community.
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Eph. 4:29
THE WEB OF SEXUAL DISTRACTION:
“Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” 1 Cor. 6:18-20
Perhaps the greatest fear and the most obvious web-trap is the lure of immoral activity. I am not just referring to the web of easy distraction by sexually provocative ads. We all know the God’s word continually warns us to flee this trip. “I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me.” Psalms 101:3 (NIV)
I am equally as concerned with the physical protection of our families. When our children are small one of the first cautions we teach them is “Don’t talk to strangers; don’t go anywhere with a stranger; don’t take anything from a stranger!” As parents we teach this truth to try to help place a protective guard around our kids to protect them from predators.
Sadly, I fear we have not stressed this truth enough with “generation @.” Many students see the internet community as an opportunity for playful banter and have opened to door to potential danger through carelessness.
MySpace.com makes a commitment to never provide a user’s last name, address or phone number. Also, each user can set up their own profile before outsiders can view their page; any outsider must be explicitly invited to become an online "friend" (a word you’ll see over and over again on myspace.com). Tragically, many "residents" of the MySpace community volunteer far too much information about themselves. They’ll list their hometown, school name and church name. They might post several photos of themselves, many of which are provocative, thus providing a smart predator plenty of clues. And predators have become a serious issue on MySpace. Far too many children, students, young men and women find themselves caught in a web of destruction, an unwanted situation, the sexual distraction of an on-line predator moves in for the kill to satisfy his perverse lust.
This year a 14-year-old New Jersey girl was murdered by a man in his 20s whom she met on MySpace. A federal grand jury in Connecticut has indicted two men whom prosecutors allege used myspace.com to set up sexual encounters with girls who were 11 & 14 years old. Connecticut police detective, Bill McKenna, who has been investigating MySpace sexual assaults on seven 12- to 16-year-olds, adds, "It’s a predator’s dream come true, this Web site."
MySpace.com is obviously a huge phenomenon among students today with over 100 million profiles and growing by tens of thousands every day. Many of the personal page profiles are very innocent as kids share about their life, their family and their hobbies. Many students and young adults use MySpace to share their faith with others and to join in an online community with other Christians. However, many MySpace profiles contain things that adults should never see and certainly parents would never want their children to see; vulgarity, profanity, sexually provocative messages and photos, vicious verbal attacks and dark and violent messages from very disturbed students and adults.
If innocent students share personal information on MySpace, such as their address, the school they attend, their church, or places they hang out, they place themselves at great risk to sexually deviant predators. We must never lose sight of the fact that we live in a fallen world of which Satan is the prince of the power of the air and is doing everything he can to destroy the lives of God’s people. Tragically, once again, we have a case of amazing technology that our enemy has used for evil purposes.
So what do we need to know about the balance of both protecting ourselves from that which would hurt us or hinder our witness and the opportunity to use this vehicle to further the Gospel?
Conclusion: Begin by taking a walk through the MySpace community.
Being this is the ON-Star series and we are seeking biblical guidance to difficult questions, I asked myself this question: Is there any scripture that would give us insight as to what should be our response to MySpace and our use of the World-wide web? Examine Acts 17:16-17 and I believe we can receive our much needed instruction. “While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.” Acts 17:16-17
STEP ONE: INVESTIGATION (v.16)
PAUL TOOK TIME TO OBSERVE WHAT WAS GOING ON IN ATHENS
Go to MySpace.com and use their search bar and type in “Fort Lauderdale.” Then browse through the profiles. You will be shocked at what you see and read. I believe it is much like what Paul witnessed centuries ago. Pagan is the first word that comes to mind. You need to see it for yourself - most of our adults have no idea what is going on with students in this community. You will find there is a strong peer pressure to list partying and drinking as one of the favorite activities.
What Paul witnessed in this observation disturbed him: “he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.” My fear is that we have become so secularized that we have lost the ability to be greatly distressed by ungodly activity.
One fact we must remember: Our purpose in life? It’s not about us…it’s about Him. We have so many goals and plans for our lives, but we must ask God to restore in all of our lives the spiritual passion to make a difference in this culture?
STEP TWO: INSPIRATION (v.17)
PAUL WAS MOVED TO ACTION.
“So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.”
Paul was inspired NOT gather a little group of Christians to discuss how terrible the society had become or how all are pagans and a reproach to God. He was inspired to go and share with the pagans the only real message of hope in this world. I hear or read many sermons or articles telling Christians how terrible the society has become and the godlessness of the pagans. I often fear we are creating a Christian community who, when they consume enough of this rhetoric, is more than ready to pray like the Pharisee, "I thank you God, I’m not like those heathen. I pray to you and give money to you and worship you alone God." Then the believer goes home for the week and makes certain they do everything possible to stay away from pagans. GOD DOES NOT WANT US TO JUDGE THE LOST; HE WANTS US TO LOVE THE LOST. Maybe a better idea for our local churches would be to use that time to train, encourage, and inspire the believers of the 21st century to do the work of the ministry throughout the week as they encounter those who need His love.
STEP THREE: INTERACTION (v.17)
PAUL WENT TO THE PEOPLE…THE PEOPLE ON HIS PATH
“So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.”
We must go where the people are. Today’s "marketplace" and "Mars Hill Meeting places" must include places like myspace.com. I am directing today for parents to work with their students in not only setting the proper controls on internet accounts to protect our families but to also work together in asking the Lord how their personal profile page could help bring honor to Christ and to influence friends by unashamedly sharing your personal witness as a Christian. Paul took the message of Christ to the PEOPLE ON HIS PATH…He went to the place where he knew he could find the most people!
STEP FOUR: INSIGHTFUL (v.22-23) NLT
PAUL USED PRACTICAL WISDOM WHILE PROCLAIMING THE WORD
“So Paul, standing before the Council, addressed them as follows: "Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious, 23 for as I was walking along I saw your many altars. And one of them had this inscription on it—`To an Unknown God.’ You have been worshiping him without knowing who he is, and now I wish to tell you about him.” Acts 17:22-23 (NLT)
Paul had enough insight into his cultural that at Mars Hill he began where the people were and then took them to the truth they needed. Paul’s message was never watered down or compromised. However, he did find ways to connect with his audience. He found ways to relate with them and their unique culture.
This is the reason we are offering a 9/11 memorial service in honor of the 5th anniversary of the terrorist’s attacks in America. We KNOW this will be the focus of our society; we know it will bring back confusing memories of many; we know that many will continue to seek for answers and we want to use the practical wisdom of this cultural event to proclaim the pure truth of God’s word. It is ONLY His truth that can make a difference in this world. We must think through the difference between clear Biblical absolutes and what consider our personal preferences. Effective ministry takes place when we, with God’s help, shed our cultural biases and personal preferences and share the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ in the context of the culture in which we live.
Paul started his conversation by finding something he could affirm and compliment them on and then he followed the compliment by discussing something which captured their fascination. (v.22)
Pew Internet & American Life Project released the following survey: 68% of students in America say religion is important to them and 92% say they want a better connection with God.
Wow this sounds like Athens - ripe for revival... what better place to start than MySpace and our internet connections? By the way…would you like to know the results of Paul’s encounter at Mars Hill? “When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." 33 At that, Paul left the Council. 34 A few men became followers of Paul and believed…” Acts 17:32-34
