The infinite scroll … exploring the motivations and\nindividual differences in binge-watching behavior on porn tube sites<\/a>”, Social\nSciences & Humanities Open, Vol. 11, 2025].\n 1. Excitement Seeking<\/p>\n
2. Diversion<\/p>\n
3. Fantasy<\/p>\n
4. Arousal (broaden this to pleasure seeking)<\/p>\n
5. Habitual Pastime <\/p>\n
III. The moral problem of scrolling<\/p>\n
A. There is a lack of purpose <\/p>\n 1. Just because you can do something, it doesn’t mean it is helpful – I\nCorinthians 10:23\n
2. We should be seeking the betterment of others – Romans 15:2<\/p>\n a. Yet, the producers of scrolling media are not aiming for building\nup its viewers\n 3. Pursuing worthless things lacks sense – Proverbs 12:11 (also Proverbs\n28:19)\n
B. It is letting others decide what you are watching<\/p>\n
1. The focus is on worldly things – Colossians 3:2-6<\/p>\n
2. Don’t love the world – I John 2:15-16<\/p>\n
3. The world is in the dark – Ephesians 4:17-18<\/p>\n
4. Like Israel, people walk backward – Jeremiah 7:24<\/p>\n
C. It is sedentary and passive<\/p>\n
1. We are to prepare our minds for action – I Peter 1:13-15<\/p>\n
2. A lazy person is destructive – Proverbs 18:9<\/p>\n
3. His desires kill him – Proverbs 21:25-26<\/p>\n
4. Laziness leads to misconduct – II Thessalonians 3:11-13<\/p>\n
D. Thrill seeking leads to rash behavior<\/p>\n
1. The fool doesn’t consider where things lead – Proverbs 14:15<\/p>\n
2. The person is so focused on the thrill, he makes mistakes – Proverbs 19:2<\/p>\n
E. Chasing pleasure<\/p>\n
1. Leads to poverty – Proverbs 21:17<\/p>\n
2. Lovers of pleasure is a sign of perilous times – II Timothy 3:1-5<\/p>\n 3. When you give yourself over to worldly pleasures, you are dead – I\nTimothy 5:6\n
4. Their god is their appetite – Philippians 3:18-19<\/p>\n
5. Slaves of their own desires – Romans 16:18<\/p>\n
F. Focusing on the latest bad news<\/p>\n 1. Proverbs 18:8 – Like tasty morsels, but once swallowed, they become a\npart of you (also Proverbs 26:22)\n
a. What we consume changes our views<\/p>\n b. It is why the warning that it can separate even close friends –\nProverbs 16:28\n
2. Those who follow wisdom are not in dread of evil – Proverbs 1:33<\/p>\n
3. The righteous are not afraid of bad news – Psalms 112:7<\/p>\n
IV. Breaking the Habit<\/p>\n
A. Limit your access<\/p>\n 1. We have our phones with us all the time. I’m bored, pull out the phone. I\nwonder what other people are doing, pull out the phone, …\n
2. We have to practice self-discipline – I Corinthians 9:26-27<\/p>\n
a. Not wasting energy in useless actions<\/p>\n
b. Keeping yourself under control<\/p>\n 3. When you need to interact with others, the phone remains put away, such\nas at dinner.\n 4. When you should be sleeping, put the phone elsewhere – not at your\nbedside.\n a. In fact, don’t use your phone for the first 30 to 60 minutes in the\nday.\n
b. The world won’t end.<\/p>\n c. Yet, the times of greatest temptation is just before we fall asleep\nand just after we wake up.\n
B. Limit your time<\/p>\n 1. So many people tell me that they start to scroll and then the next thing they\nknow, they been up half the night\n
2. We need to make the most of our time – Ephesians 5:15-16<\/p>\n 3. If you must, put a timer on. Only allow yourself certain times of the day to\nscan social media.\n 4. Don’t take your phone with you to the restroom. If you need a distraction,\ntake a book.\n
C. Turn off notifications for social media<\/p>\n
1. Take control of your time. <\/p>\n 2. One thing that can pull people from God are the cares of this world –\nMatthew 13:22\n a. It isn’t wrong to be aware of what is going on, but to allow\nconstant interruption to pull your attention away from what needs\nto be done can lead to problems.\n
b. The worries of life can be a trap – Luke 21:34<\/p>\n (1) Dissipation – excessive indulgence in pleasure (pretending\nproblems are not there)\n
(2) Drunkenness – typically to avoid problems<\/p>\n
(3) Worries of life – immersing yourself into the problems<\/p>\n
D. Put more purpose in your use<\/p>\n
1. Ask your self if what you are doing will help or improve you<\/p>\n
2. Is it going to help you help others? = Ephesians 2:10<\/p>\n
3. Do you need this to make a decision?<\/p>\n
E. Practice patience<\/p>\n
1. The world won’t end if I don’t look at my phone until later.<\/p>\nV. Computers, phones, and even social media can serve useful purposes, but don’t let the\ntools dominate such that your focus is on the tool instead of the task to be accomplished.\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: II Timothy 3:1-7 I. Maya sits down. She just needs a quick break before getting back to work. A. She pulls up her social media on her phone, and her thumb naturally begins the familiar, rhythmic motion of scrolling the content upward. B. Soon, she has looked through 20 vacation…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[353,386,1470,1361,609],"class_list":["post-94409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-influence","tag-laziness","tag-productive","tag-social-media","tag-worldliness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38461,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/elishas-she-bears\/","url_meta":{"origin":94409,"position":0},"title":"Elisha’s She Bears","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Download Audio by Ralph Walker Did the prophet really unleash two bears to kill a host of little boys? For making fun of his baldness? How sensitive can a prophet be? Preaching the Bloody Bible","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14127,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-date-someone-who-might-have-been-married-before\/","url_meta":{"origin":94409,"position":1},"title":"Should I date someone who might have been married before?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 25, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I'm a Christian and in my late twenties. There is this young woman at my workplace whom I am really interested in. I don't know her too well, but I do know that she is very sweet and that she claims to be a Christian. 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Here's where my problem begins.\u00a0 One of the encouraging texts comes repetitively from the same person.\u00a0 That person is the mother\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33392,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/youre-not-the-woman\/","url_meta":{"origin":94409,"position":4},"title":"You’re Not the Woman!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Calvin Schlabach I was chided on social media by an old friend for my opposition to abortion. \"You are not the woman!\" she declared. I thought I would share the response with you. I cited no Scripture because she demonstrated no concern for the Bible. Of course, I am\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55380,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/shouldnt-a-public-sin-be-publicly-confessed\/","url_meta":{"origin":94409,"position":5},"title":"Shouldn’t a public sin be publicly confessed?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, brother in Christ! I am writing to you as this has been bothering me for months, and I'm still wondering how I would approach this problem. We have a sister in the Church, my close friend, who suddenly got married. 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