3 LESSONS FROM JOHN CRIST’S “IF BIBLE CHARACTERS HAD iPHONES” VIRAL COMEDY VIDEO
Intro:
A few days ago, I saw a skit on Godtube.com. In it, Christian comedian, John Crist, along with colleague Trey Kennedy, imagined they were receiving social media updates from Bible characters and conversed about these updates. While very funny, that exchange got me thinking about how we live our lives as Christians today. I congratulate Jon Crist for the skit because, in my opinion, it is an excellent portrayal of who we are today, and the picture isn’t very pretty from a biblical point of view.
Someone may say, “Oh loosen up, this is just entertainment!” (Bear with me. I know it’s all make-believe for laughs but we can learn from it. I write a bit of fiction myself and people pick valuable lessons from it.) The truth is that many of us engage in flippant talk like we saw in that viral video everyday and through it, we serve scorn, judgment and a whole lotta hurt to others. You see, whenever we try to catch up with the world, we lose something of who God intended us to be: lights shining in a dark world.
“14. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” – Matthew 5:14-16
To help us get on track to shine as lights, I’m sharing three lessons on Christian living I learnt from the skit. I have paraphrased the jokes the lessons arose from but their essence remains:
3 Lessons on Christian Living From The Comedy Video
1. Excessive use of smart phones and social media often results in shallowness, misalignment of values and a disconnect from God’s way of thinking:
[bctt tweet=”We shouldn’t allow our use of smart phones and social media to disconnect us from God.” username=”edithohaja1″]
Joke: “Jesus got the blue check mark. How? He only has like 12 followers.” For those unfamiliar with social media, the blue check mark indicates an account has been verified, that it is the authentic account of an important person or someone sharing information of public relevance.
There’s no specified number of followers for verification but we tend to rate people and organisations by their social media following. We struggle to boost and maintain our following ourselves. We pine over lack of likes, comments and shares. Is this really how God wants us to see ourselves or others?
“The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.” – Psalm 147:11
Going by this scripture, devotion to God should rank higher with us than popularity. Yet, a brother or sister may be sharing highly edifying content but because they don’t have lots of followers, we often disregard their posts and jump on the bandwagon where the crowds are. There is nothing wrong with following people with tons of followers but the content of their posts should matter more to us than the numbers they pull.
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(Related: What Is the Value Of A Person’s Life?)
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And in our own posting, our primary concern should be to say what God wants us to say and leave Him to bless those He wishes with it, be they many or few. That does not mean we shouldn’t promote our posts if we can, but that we shouldn’t make responses to those posts an idol.
For most of us, the impact of our lives extends beyond social media. By God’s grace, we touch lives daily in our homes, offices, churches and communities. And even on the Internet, we reach many more people than those who follow us or react to our posts. I think we need the help of the Holy Spirit when we use various Internet platforms, otherwise they will feed our vanity and fill our hearts with garbage.
The same problem noted above is observable in our churches. We have some mega churches that are not rooted in the Word but many Christians think the numbers reflect the presence and power of God. Some ministers even dilute the word of God to make it less offensive and draw in the crowds (2 Timothy 4:3-4). That, in itself, is offensive to God (Isaiah 5:20, 2 Peter 2:1).
2. We don’t show enough compassion to those who err:
Jokes: “The Prodigal Son took half his father’s money, went to another city and blew the whole thing.”
“Lot’s daughter had a baby. You know who the father is.”
We gossip about the plight or misdeeds of fellow believers and unbelievers. We make unkind comments that bring no comfort, encouragement or strength to the former and no desire to repent to the latter.
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(Related: Spread Some Gladness Today)
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Sometimes, we are quick to judge and assume the worst like the following joke shows:
“You’re following the woman at the well. Dude, check your heart.” Befriending those struggling in sin is assumed to be an endorsement of their actions but it isn’t always so. Jesus was also called a “friend of sinners”. That should make it a coveted title but those who wear it are attacked even more viciously than He was by the religious folks of His day, the world being a global village now (Matthew 11:16-19, 9:9-13).
[bctt tweet=”We shouldn’t allow our use of social media to harden our hearts toward one another.” username=”edithohaja1″]
I remember a few decades ago when everyone in church would weep when a member fell into sin and had to undergo punishment. I don’t know how many churches are like that today. But that was how Paul agonised over the fall of fellow believers in the early church.
“When someone is weak, then I feel weak too; when someone is led into sin, I am filled with distress.” – 2 Corinthians 11:29 (GNT)
When people err, we should correct them in love. And a very important way of showing that love is to uphold them in prayer individually and collectively. Spreading bad reports in the Body of Christ does not help anyone, it only glorifies the enemy. Our conversations should add grace to the hearers (Colossians 4:6), not help to harden their hearts by talking lightly or unkindly about others.
And since the reactions are based on updates coming from the persons concerned, it teaches me that we really must be careful how much of our lives we share on social media. What is the object of putting everything out there: the good, the bad and the ugly? I would rather advise circumspection unless the Lord has put it in our hearts to bare all in order to bless others.
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(Related: Child of God, Your Language on Social Media Matters)
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3. Pollution is rampant, even in our midst:
Joke: “Bathsheba shared her spring break pix and David is commenting all over.” We know how the story ends. ???
We follow fellow Christians and they post indecent pix of themselves and we admire them, the likes and compliments flow in. Evil seeds are sewn in the process: pride in the poster, envy and lust in the followers.
Modesty and moderation are still important for Christians today. As stated earlier, we need to get God’s approval before we post things and desist from following those who post stuff that can corrupt us.
“Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” – 1 Corinthians 15:33 (Communications here should be seen as in contemporary usage, not as in King James English.)
[bctt tweet=”We should use our smart phones and the Internet to glorify God and edify ourselves.” username=”edithohaja1″]
Conclusion:
I didn’t mean for this article to be preachy but I hope it’s been served and received with grace. Technology is very important and makes life easy. But our use of everything should be to the glory of God and our own edification (1 Corinthians 10:31, 23).
Thankfully, each of us has the indwelling Holy Spirit to help us navigate the world every day. With His aid, our smart phones and their apps will bring blessings and not evil into our lives in Jesus ‘ name.
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The scriptures used in this post are from the King James Version of the Holy Bible unless where otherwise stated.
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Are there other lessons you picked from the video?
What other aspects of contemporary Christian living are you concerned about?
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers
Good News Translation (GNT) Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society
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Amen. Nice one, Ma!
I pray dat the Holy Spirit comes into our lives to make us better people, to help us spread d word, save sinners and also change the attitudes we possess that don’t glorify the name of the Lord in our lives!!
God bless u, Ma! ????
Beautiful prayer, Somtochukwu! I say a big “Amen” to it in Jesus’ name.
I love John Crist and his talent for revealing truth through comedy!
The damaging power of social media is a huge problem.
We need to warn people about it.
I recently wrote a blog post on the subject. You might want to check it out.
Blessings
Lynn
Thanks a lot, Lynn. Will check out your blog. ❤️
That was an interesting and real analysis of the viral video. I saw it, too, and I noticed how shallow we are as a nation who is hooked on phones and social media. It’s actually a correct reflection of how we act in this culture.
True, Susan. May God help us not to be distracted from the things that matter by these gadgets. ❤️
WOW! Ma, you did a wonderful analysis of the video. I learnt so much. Everything we do should be to the glory of God. Nothing in excess, everything in moderation. Thank you Ma for sharing your thoughts on the video.
Praise God! I’m glad you were blessed by it. May your day be filled with joy and favour in Jesus’ name.
I like Jon Crist and thinks that he shines a light on shallow Christianity, but felt this one went over a bit into coarse joking (this can be my tendency too and I have to watch out for it (Eph 5:4).
Well, I don’t know him very well. Some comedians try to correct social ills through their jokes, kinda highlighting and sometimes exaggerating something bad that exists to confront us with the need to change it. For many though, it’s all just for laughs but I’m glad I learnt somethings from the humour. Thanks for dropping by, Jennie, and have a happy weekend.
You’re right. You didn’t sound so preachy, it made pure sense. Christians should use social media sanely, not as others. I have reached a resolve not to post or like just anything on social media. Popularity is good, but worthless through compromise. Christians should not compromise to be seen as savvy.
Thanks a lot, Henry! I like your choice of words. You are lifted in Jesus’ name.
How I wish I saw the video, it would have helped in giving me a better understanding of The post.
In all, I think you’ve said it all MA. Wrong use of phones and social media is gradually taking away our morality and modesty.
People go into enmity with their friends simply because they fail to like or comment on their posts on social media. Then I wonder what exactly it is that they gain from the numerous likes and comments they are hunting.
Many have been deceived and led astray through fake likes and comments. Someone will post a half nude picture online or even a picture that doesn’t look good at all, then you’ll see some People making such comments as “baby, you look sharp” even when they are fully aware that the picture is nothing to write home about. But instead of advising the poster or telling him or her to remove the picture, they’ll choose to blend and make the poster happy by the deceitful comments.
I pray we All begin to understand that the social media is like a two edged sword which can either make or mar us depending on how we choose to use it.
The video is in the post, Blessing. You can watch it when you have access to WiFi. Have a blessed day in Jesus’ name.
True talk ma, some people are cursing themselves by what they use the social media for… liking, commenting and sharing things that are immoral. I pray that the Spirit of God will enter us to help us bless our lives with them than vice versa.
Amen. Have a great weekend, Levi!
This is so good. And a good laugh to boot!
Yeah, it was really funny! Thanks for visiting, Sheri! You are richly blessed in Jesus’ name.
I learned a lot. We should not put so much pressure on ourselves to be popular on social media and also not let these gadgets(technology) draw us farther apart from God.
We can also use the social media platform to promote God’s word and let His Spirit lead us.
Correct. Have a happy weekend!
I was blessed by those words, infact social media is destroying lifes now.
I will always use my social media to make great impact.
This post actually pierced my heart…
I just pray that God gives me that grace to avoid drifting in His presence because of social media. Thank you so much ma for sharing this. God bless you.?✨✌
Technology has been of great benefit but the use of it has been for people glorifying themselves, though I did not watch the comedy. I learnt a lot. This page is not preachy at all. I pray the Holy Spirit leads us to do the right thing.
The video is attached. Watch it. You’ll really enjoy it.
Many people serve their phones rather than God. As a result of social media, many are misled using the media to do all forms of evil. Some kill others through commenting on other people’s post and some derive joy in chatting indecent chat rather than praying and reading the bible. This is unfitting tonus as Christians. We should put God first in our lives.
Nice one
We should do everything moderately
Technology has its good sides for example it helps communications to travel faster and you can talk to someone about something important with just a call instead of going all the way to the person’s home but it has so much vices too.. people spend more time on their phones than they do with God and people which is very bad
Our first and main priority in this life should be our relationship with our creator not how many followers or friends we can get from social media
we ought to be christian in everything we do both in social media . modesty and moderation in our daily activity.scrutinize everything before uploading it weighing it in the eyes of your faith to avoid attracting God’s anger upon yourself.
Amen oh. Every young person with a smart phone needs this prayer. Smart phones as good oh but they are can be very draining. They can drain your time, energy as people even engage in fights online. Indeed one has to get a big restrain on his or herself.
These three lessons are truly worth following because of the world around us today. Some people have their whole lives centered around the social media, caring about nothing except the number of likes and followers they have. This is indeed a shallow way to live one’s life. If what you post doesn’t add anything of value to someone’s life or impact the person positively then is it really worth posting? Is it worth obsessing over?. I also wonder why Christians find it so difficult to forgive their fellow Christians. Gossiping and backbiting are the normal things we now engage in. It is no wonder that after seeing these kinds of behaviors, unbelievers would be hardpressed to accept conversion. Who would want to become that kind of person ? ?. Anyway, you’ve done readers a great service by sharing this post aunty. Thank you
What a beautiful analysis and insight Ma! The 21st century men and women are all social media addict spreading hate, and negative vibe online. It takes a disciplined and enlightened fellow to use the social media in a proper way. If our Bible characters are iPhone users, then there will be no hope for eternal life, as the world will be filled with insane believers with no role models to use as yardstick for holiness
Every young person out there using a smart phone should have a change of attitude .
This days we dwell more on social media making it our home than we do with the word of God.
I pray God help us to use this technology to the glory of his name amen.
Some people have turned social media as their off room where they tell us about their Life without knowing it’s side effects. People should be careful with things they post on social media to avoid future problems
In this era, everyone is all about anything trending. Social media is now a place for getting the latest of everything and most people have become addicts. They spend more time on their phones than with even people around them. This pushes us farther away from God because sometimes we forget that he is the king of all and deserves some of our time. We should learn to command our time and not spend it on trival things.
Interesting! I never thought of it this way, thank you ma for the lessons, they are factual and accurate, I love your creative imagination with words. Like what you did with David commenting all over, lol.
We shouldn’t spend our time on irrelevant things and should nurture compassion.
I didn’t make that up. It was one of the jokes in the video, which you can watch because it’s attached. You are highly blessed in Jesus’ name.
While the modern idea of communication requires us to constantly be online, I think it’s wise as children of God to sometimes take a break from the internet/online community so as not to lose sight of what is important – communication with our Maker.
Restraint over things especially what draws us far from our source, the social media is a big means of that. Many use it for propaganda and spread false rumour about believers some about God. It not only about the spiritual life but eats up our time and energy for other reasonable activities. Many are victims of this.
Social media can be very toxic when excessively used. Excessive use of social media can cause depression and can make you compare your life to others. I personally believe that social media should be used for the right purposes and used minimally to reduce these effects.
Nice one ma. We should use social media for better purposes
Wow! I love this. The jokes actually made it much more interesting. In all the lesson to learn is this: apply wisdom in all comments on social media as well as minding what we send out to the public in the name of pictures.
The points you dished out ma are all important and should be practice especially in this digital age that smart phones are taking over our daily life. We should explore the internet but not excess and ma I wish you will help and point out what using something excess implies because I know most people don’t know what excess entails.
Obsession is a word to be used for the recent years use of the internet but a proper guide will go along way to help our generation because this same energy will be charged towards enlightenment and promote the word of God.
We are in the world but we’re not of the world. Whatever God has handed over to us as steward would be asked after on the day of reckoning. Let’s utilize everything we can lay our hands on mostly (social media) towards the Great Commission. Also, when our brother has gone astray we don’t need to criticize but in love draw them close and in prayer heal their wounds.
This video actually made me laugh out my ribs, but on a second thought, i think there wont be the spread of the written account of the bible. phones has put distractions in our minds, and i wonder what state we will be in if phones actually came out that time.
Modesty and moderation is important in our daily activities as Christians. Social media has become a major distraction to many.
Christians do not have time to pray anymore because of the distraction called phone.
The video is funny and inspiring at the same time.
Thank you very much ma
The height of craze about Social media obsession and phone use seem to have been embraced with the recent trend of social media contests and online voting. It is now a common thing to see people soliciting for likes and comments to win a particular online contest in various social media platforms. This has negative implication on academic performance of students who devote time on social media as well as their spiritual life.
This lessons are truthful and heartbreaking. Heartbreaking because it marks the lifestyle trend people are going towards, the shallow thinking capacity of people, the essence of brotherhood has been forgotten.
I pray our generation adapt to making good use of the social media platforms.
Impact lives
The lessons listed here are very correct and relatable. Another lesson I learnt from this post is that we have let unnecessary and irrelevant things like no of likes and followers and reposts etc define us and intrude in how we define other and let pettiness cloud our thinking
i think it would have been funny , just imagine Jesus Christ pining his disciples when he want to talk to them using voice note. This post actually hit a point , we dont feel compassionate enough for others nowadays.
the first lesson is actually so practically in societies we live in, which states “Excessive use of smart phones and social media often results in shallowness, misalignment of values and a disconnect from God’s way of thinking:” this above statement is so happening and something needs to be done about it.
It’s good to use the social Media but it should be used in the right manner and we must praise he who made it possible for us to use this technology “GOD” we must always remember him in our posts we must learn to glorify him … Thank you Aunty . Praise God
Social media can be quite intoxicating and still educative so I learnt to seive the information I want and use them.
I have also learned from this post to correct people with love sometimes is not always easy but as christians we can do it.
This post is an eye opener. What do we do with our social media space? No one is perfect therefore, we shouldn’t treat offenders with contempt rather correct them with love because, you might err one day. God bless you
This lessons are superb. I so much love the part where you quoted 2 Corinthians 11: 29: “When someone is weak, then I feel weak too; when someone is led into sin, I am filled with distress.” It is disheartening that some so-called believers of this time see anybody who is engaging in one imorality or the other as the devil. Instead of correcting, they will be making such statements as, “There is no connection between light and darkness”. Now my question is: how then can the darkness experience light if light fails to make any contact with it? Please let’s realise that Jesus came for those who are sick, and not the healthy ones. Thanks.
In my opinion I think the advent of social media has done more damage in the world not only in the religious sector. It has blinded believers from what they are to exactly what they are not. These days people just fake their actions in churches
As Christians we shouldn’t judge one another but in social media that’s what is the order of the day. Someone is laughing at someone, someone is judging one another. We should learn to see each other as the father sees us
Good things are always good but that doesn’t mean that they dont have their bad sides. It just depends on the way we manage it. Same with the social media. We wouldn’t lie that it hasn’t helped us positively in one way or the other just that the bad side has more influence on most people.
Ma, you expectional! you did a wonderful analysis of the video. I learnt so much. Everything we do should be to the glory of God.
About pollution being rampant, social media has really seen to that. Most people dress crazy because of what they see on social media. On the other hand, believers should not condemn unbelievers but preach salvation to them in a punchy way.
This days, people are so quick to judge because for all they care, it is not happening to them, its none of their business neither will they understand. we don’t show compassion any more. mistakes are part of life and when made are supposed to be corrected with all the love, prayers and support possible, we don’t have to swim in the same ocean that drown a person to know what it feels like to be in that same situation, but develop a heart of understanding and compassion towards those that err.
Interesting and educational Ma’am, a beautiful break down of John Crist’s video. It takes the grace of God to be this insightful. God bless you Ma’am.
Much knowledge from your analysis. Social media is a much bad influence on our present generation than good. I pray that God helps us to find our right path back. Thanks much
very insightful analysis of the comedy skit….indeed mobile phones are really distracting many in this generation from the things of God.. may God help us all. nice piece ma’am
Waw, the video is insightful to the happenings of our modern days lives even though it took allegory form, and I appreciate the lessons proffer as well
Indeed, the use of technology is not a bad idea but excessive use of it for wrongful acts is the problem. People use social media for various reasons but at the end, are you proud of the content you post? Do they condemn or exonerate the word of God. Most times, there are atheists who condemn God’s work on social media but within the confines of their homes, they are staunch believers but they deceive people online. Indeed, “we should use our smartphones and the internet to glorify God and edify ourselves” so if you are following a celebrity or Facebook celebrity regardless of the wrong posts they make, you need to cut off strings.
A good friend of mine once told me to be careful with what I watch on social media because they influence our lives. We need to be guided.
There’s no more love in the church. We go about gossiping and spreading bad news about ourselves. This is wrong, Jesus taught to love our neighbour as ourselves. Also, we should be careful of what we access and what we post on social media.
…Whenever we try catching up with the world, we lose something of who God intended us to be: Lights shining in a dark world. Very thoughtful I must say, I might have not thought it in this way. All I wanted was to be abreast with the going-ons in my present world. What I have learnt though is to be able to strike a balance and prioritize my every day activities. I should use my smart phone and the internet to Glorify God and edify myself.
Technology or no technology too much of everything is bad, I know there is a place in the holy book that says over doing of something can mean you are replacing it as your maker although I don’t really know the place in the holy book that says that when you pay too much attention to something that means you are indirectly worshipping the truth the thing . So what i’m saying is that you can use it in a way that you will win souls for God instead of the negative way.
Everyone especially Christians tend to take some things too far. The internet should be used with wisdom and moderation and also things we post should be things that will not push another into temptation. We should live exemplary lives as Christians even on social media. Nice post aunty
I learnt a very good lesson from the post. the issue of social media is affecting everybody it is now seen as the only source of information where we get both factual news and false news. our smart phones is something most of us are addicted to and there is saying that “too much of everything is bad” we should try so hard not to be addicted to anything rather we should devote our time on things that will strengthen our relationship with God….
“Excessive use of smart phones and social media often results in shallowness, misalignment of values and a disconnect from God’s way of thinking.” This is totally true. I would want to share an experience of someone who was once so close to God, but due to her uncontrollable time spent on social media, turned out not to be close to God anymore. You could see her rantings, her disbelief in the existence of God, her faithlessness in the Christendom through her posts. It hurt me to find out about this. A moved was made, but she lashed out on me. Since then, I too, know the content I follow online and stick to chatting and reading valuable posts. It is that important.
We shouldn’t spend so much time on social media trying to create popularity for our self, trying to do so, we move away from the shadows of modesty and become corrupt with what we see on social media. Also we should use these social media as a place to share God’s good work. Thanks ma.
I love the part that is written “We should use our smart phones to glorify God and edify ourselves”. This quote is really important in life. The smart phone should be used moderately because there is time for everything. Also, everyone should be conscious of what they post on the internet to avoid unnecessary problems or harm.
Social media is a gift to mankind but if not properly used can damage mankind…
Let us enjoy social media but careful of not allowing it ruin or have greater prominence over more meaningful things in our lives..
Every young person out there using a smart phone should have a change of attitude. I pray God help us to use this technology to the glory of his name Amen
Thank you for your words and the video. The social media is taking away the good value in the youths who do no use it properly.We should learn and preach the word of God with the use of social media instead of wasting our time online.
John crist is so wonderful, he uses comedy to draw attention to God and teaches us how this generation is always glued to the social media. I pray that God helps us.
A very nice piece ma’am. People now make a joke out of everything possible, too bad! The media has really gained weight on pulling people to the wrong use of it. No cautiousness on the side of people and sometimes even believers. We end up praising evil deeds whereas we should debunk them. I only hope that things get better in our world.
It’s is so unfortunate that the media celebrates evil. People now follow trends even if it is not pleasing in the lord’s sight.they tend to pull a greater amount of people in evil posts unlike the ones people will gain positively. I only hope that we will be guided always.
Funny but very useful. This is an issue of the negative effects of social media in our society. This is a wake up call to those who have allowed social media to take over them negatively, change your attitude!
We believers no longer take our bibles to church our phones have become one, instead of praying for someone that fell in sin we go around gossiping about it to the whole world, I pray that the Holy Spirit will really speak to our hearts and make us to actually be like Christ.
When a purpose of something is not discovered, its abuse is inevitable.. Most people nowadays substitute the word of God with the social media. Joshua 1:8 said something striking “Joshua 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” We must call back the habit of studying the words of God daily. Am not condemning the essence of the social media but let moderate it and make use in a proper way.
I try to curtail contents I subscribe to on social media. My walk of faith is very delicate, I’d prefer to build it more, not tear it down. One must be careful and use social sites for positive benefits