Readings for today: 2 Samuel 24, 1 Kings 1, Luke 22:24-38
More and more studies are being conducted on the impact of social media on our mental health. The results are scary. It is becoming clear that prolonged social media use presents like addiction with similar accompanying symptoms. (Neglect of personal life, mental preoccupation, escapism, etc.) When people attempt to stop using social media, they go through something akin to withdrawal. The more we use social media, the less happy we seem to be and the more socially isolated we become. The comparisons social media invites between our lives and those with whom we are connected is not good for our well-being. Furthermore, social media (which includes all the different apps with a social component to it) is specifically designed to trigger dopamine “highs” in the brain. Dopamine release is triggered by unpredictability, small bits of information that can be digested quickly, and most importantly, reward cues. (i.e. number of “likes” on FB, number of “followers” on Instagram, number of “retweets” on Twitter, streaks on Snapchat, etc.)
I think about the number of people I know who draw at least part of their self-worth off of the number of friends they have on Facebook. The number of times people hit the “heart” button on an Instagram pic. The number of retweets and likes a pithy phrase gets on Twitter or the amount of views on a YouTube video. Especially young people. Especially the young people in my own home. But it’s not just social media. I think of the number of pastors I know who draw their self-worth off the number of people who show up on a weekend for worship. I think of the drive there is in most churches for numerical growth. I know some pastors who seem to live or die based on whether they make OutReach Magazine’s Top 100 list every year. I think of the uncritical assumptions too many Christians make that larger churches must be doing something “right” and smaller churches must be doing something “wrong.” Or the reverse. I once belonged to a denomination where the salaries of all the pastors in each region were published and voted on each year. I remember one older man who came from a very small church standing up to rail against large church pastors whose salaries were more than his entire church’s budget. Never mind the differences in scale or complexities of the job. He just didn’t like big churches and made his opinions known.
Why are we so obsessed with numbers? It does seem to be an American phenomenon. I travel the world regularly. I’ve been to China, South Korea, Mexico, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, etc. I’ve interacted with pastors in all of those settings and in my experience, they just don’t seem as hung up as we are on numbers. I think of one young pastor in his early twenties who leads a house church of thousands in China or the village pastor in Ethiopia whose church numbers around 50 of the poorest people in the world. I think of the South Korean pastor whose church is largely made up of teenage refugees from North Korea or the Rwandan bishop whose primary flock is the aboriginal people of the forests near his home. Each of these pastors cares deeply about his people. None of them ignores the numbers. They pay attention to their flock. They evaluate how they are doing especially as it relates to reaching the lost in their communities. They are wise and discerning. But there isn’t the emotional attachment American Christians, and especially American pastors, seem to have with attendance, buildings, and budgets. It’s like we get a dopamine “high” every time the sanctuary’s full.
It’s why I find this story about David in 2 Samuel 24 so convicting. David wants to number his people. He wants to know the size of his army. He wants to measure his power. His influence. His accomplishments. He wants to feel secure. Safe. In control. The images I have in my head are of third-world despots throwing military parades to show off their strength. David is clearly feeling insecure and in that moment, Satan strikes. He comes along and tempts David according to 1 Chronicles 21 and God allows it to happen according to 2 Samuel 24. The results are tragic. “The word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall three years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.” (2 Samuel 24:11-14) God is going to teach David a lesson in humility. He is going to teach David where to find his true strength. He is going to teach David where true security lies.
70,000 die from the plague. This is horrific and we cannot understand why God would do such a thing. At the same time, we have to remember that such events take place at the mysterious intersection of God’s will and human freedom. David’s decision has consequences and because David is king, the consequences impact his people. The same is true even for today. The decisions our politicians make impact real people in real life and can cause real pain and suffering. David decides to number his fighting men and around the same time, a plague begins. It is brutal. Virulent. And it kills. Somewhere in David’s mind. In the prophet Gad’s mind. Probably in Joab’s mind and the minds of so many others, these events are related. The plague is perceived as God’s punishment on Israel for David’s sinful choices. And perhaps it is. We cannot dismiss the possibility out of hand for God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. He has clearly told His people over and over again that there are consequences...real, life-threatening consequences...for sin. God’s justice and righteousness will not be mocked.
So how do we respond? What does this mean for our lives? First and foremost, it leads us to confession. Repentance. It calls to mind all the times we too have placed our faith in numbers. Or our mental health and well-being in the number of likes we get from social media. I am not immune. Nor are you. So we confess our sin before God. Second, it leads us to the cross. To the place where the penalty for our sin was paid. To the place where God’s judgment was fully and completely and utterly satisfied by the death of our Lord. We am not condemned. We need not feel any shame. For God has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. Third, it inspires us to live for Him today. To live from that place of grace knowing God has torn down the dividing wall of hostility that exists between us and made peace with us by the blood of His Cross. We am forgiven so we can forgive others. Grace was extended to us so we can extend it to others. Love was shown to us so we can show love to others. We are secure in God’s hands.
Readings for tomorrow: 1 Kings 2-3, Luke 22:39-71