“Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, ‘What does this babbler wish to say?’ Others said, ‘He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities’—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, ‘May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.’ Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.”
Acts 17:16-21
When I read that the Athenians spent so much of their time on “what’s new?” my initial reaction was “Who would want to waste their life on that?” Trying to keep up with the next new thing would be like chasing a rabbit. Connections with the right people would have to be made and maintained, parties would need to be attended. News travelled by word of mouth and hand-written letter in the days of the early church; there was no Google where they could quickly download on the latest. Being in the know might have made them look like they were on the cutting edge of society. “Hey did you hear what Marcus did in the amphitheater last night? Let me tell you…”
The word neophilia came on the scene in the late 1800s. It means a “liking for the new.” A neophiliac is one who is addicted to the new, like the Athenians of Paul’s day.
Social media comes to mind.
Scroll, scroll, scroll.
We find a hit. “Ooohhhh, look at what they’re doing.”
We want more.
Scroll, scroll, scroll.
Bingo.
“They did what?!”
Scroll, scroll, scroll… scroll, scroll.
“Nice one. Wish I could have that.”
Scroll, scroll.
“That makes me mad! How could they say that!”
Scroll, scroll… scroll, scroll…
On it goes. An hour or three later you look up and realize it’s time to go to bed. You have that crummy, hazy feeling when your brain has had too much blue light.
Hitting the news websites is like feeding at the trough of trauma, fear, worry, criticism, and doom. Good news doesn’t sell. Terror and devastation are attention grabbers. Sometimes all it takes is several minutes in the news to feel like we need a soul-cleanse.
Whether in social media or the news, there is plenty of sex seeded throughout. It won’t be long before you’ll run into a picture or article that is meant to entice or provoke lust.
Many are addicted to the hunt for the new. Solomon, a man who had everything and more, tells us how that will end.
“All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.
What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been already
in the ages before us.”
Ecclesiastes 1:8-10
A life spent chasing the new wears us out. There is no satisfaction. This doesn’t mean we can’t watch the news or cruise social media within healthy limits, but that we should be aware of when we’ve stepped onto the merry go round and are spinning around and chasing the rabbit.
“Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”
Jeremiah 6:16
“Rest for your soul.” Ahhhh. At our core, isn’t that what where we’re hungry, if not starved for? How many truly experience peace, even in the church?
The Bible, an ancient book thousands of years old, provides the way to life. It can’t be scrolled though, it must be absorbed, slowly, in silence. The clickthrough mentality doesn’t work.
Although God’s word has the way to peace, rest, victory, power, cleansing, identity, purpose, life, and a host of other blessings, surprisingly, the response from many in Jeremiah’s day was “We don’t want it.” It’s the same today, with many, including Christians are saying “I’m too busy. I have Google, porn, my smartphone, social media account, my job, family. Sunday at church is enough.”
Then there is prayer, the most powerful force in the universe that God equips every believer with. I don’t think most believers or churches understand how powerful prayer is. If they did they wouldn’t hesitate to throw themselves into prayer every day; churches would run prayer meetings constantly.
And we wonder why there is no passion or fire in our lives or churches.
The “scroll, scroll” of social media mimics what those who are addicted to porn do when they’re looking for a lust hit. The brain reacts the same either way when it’s after a shot of dopamine. This is why its best that those who want to break free from porn addiction to take an extended break from social media. Some look for happiness in Amazon, which has been called the “new addiction,” as they search for the next new thing to buy that will make them happy. We’re chasing rabbits, hoping the next dopamine fix will get us to the promised land.
Solomon’s words that “All is vanity” come to mind.
Dabbling in God doesn’t work. Having a little bit of God on Sunday and a liberal dose of the world the rest of the week while chasing the rabbit doesn’t work. We either jump off the merry go round and live the way of the Rogue Christian, or chase rabbits. Choose one. The way of the Rogue Christian demands hours of prayer and silence every week, with time in God’s Ancient Book of Wisdom.
The American Bible Society found that 10% of Americans read the Bible every day. Most read it 3-4 times a year. There are many professing Christians who rarely touch the Bible, yet they’ll spend 5 hours+ every day on their phone, which is the national average. That’s a lot of rabbit chasing and many empty, worn-out people. Today, if a believer spends hours in prayer and silence they are seen as an oddity, which shows how shallow our spiritual lives have become. And why so many of our churches have no power.
The way of the Rogue Christian involves saying no to things everyone else, including many in the church, are saying yes to. Without a radical relationship with God where we hear His voice and know Him we become little more than Christian parrots.
Time for a heart check.
How are you doing, really?
Do you experience rest of soul and peace from time to time? Or are you spinning on the merry go round, chasing the rabbit, and worn out? What needs to change?
