Welcome to our online youth lesson for this week. To catch up on previous installments, click here.
We’ll kick off today’s session with Leanna Crawford’s song “Photoshop” …
Candy Mitchell was rushed to the hospital with strep throat, a condition that can be especially dangerous for our kidney situation. She and her sister, Beth Jordan, are at Evangelical hospital as they figure out treatment. Please pray for her and her dad, Pat Mitchell, and the extended family especially as they still work through grieving the loss of Janie.
Continued prayers are requested for Sally Sheets and the whole Sheets family as they digest the updates from doctors concerning treatment for her pancreatic tumor. She is facing an extensive round of radiation treatments, five days per week over a five-week period before surgeons will remove the tumor.
Betty and Roy Herman are both at Evangelical Hospital with different severe medical situations. Slowly, Betty is showing slight signs of improvement and Roy recently had a biopsy on a tumor near his lungs. Please lift up their daughter, Star, in prayers as well.
Please all other families impacted in some way or another by COVID in prayer, including the Jordans, Lenigs/Snooks, etc.
Lastly, please pray for our country on this Inauguration Day. As you pray for our leaders and what their next steps may be, consider what is shared in 2 Corinthians 7:14 (NKJV): “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Let’s pray for humbleness and a refocus on God.
Like a steady heartbeat, my cursor blinked in the open Facebook “create post” window for quite some time. Collecting my thoughts, wondering how to properly word a response that expressed what was on my heart, but also nervous about how those comments would be interpreted.
We all fall into that category ways too often. It is human nature to worry about the opinion of others, to try to project a certain image out there that may not truly line up with the heart of the person posting it. Too often, any of us can easily succumb to “imposter syndrome,” a condition where we feel like we need to impress someone or that we seek their approval because we value them more than ourselves. It includes the fear of being “found out” to be less than what we are portraying.
In other words, it is the fear that can keeps us over-compensating. Instead of letting other people be the center of attention, w feel the need to overcompensate, to show how intelligent we are because deep down we don’t feel intelligent enough. So people think we’re cocky, but we’re not cocky, we’re scared by the conflict between who they think we’re supposed to be and who we think we really are.
The concept of “instant popularity” on social media sites just adds to this condition, with each post an attempt to garner likes and shares because you feel validated by those instant reactions.
I can relate. When taking over the Riverkeeper position, I felt an immediate pressure to know everything — even though internally I felt I knew very little. I felt judged and attempted to overcompensate in each interaction via social media and online meetings because I assumed everyone expected me to have all the answers even though I felt like I knew nothing.
The reality for many of us comes somewhere in the middle … we never give ourselves enough credit, and in many cases, we are over-estimating the knowledge/viewpoint of those we share out to.
Jesus was careful not to fall into this trap. He knew Himself and His greater purpose and path and didn’t feel the need to show off in some vain attempt to make others happy — an attempt that could have veered Him off course.
Consider the story shared in John 7:1-9 (NKJV):
After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” For even His brothers did not believe in Him.
Then Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil. You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come.” When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.
Jesus’ brothers are trying to convince Him to go to Judea and show off, to garner popularity even if it meant doing something that was against His calling. Why did the brothers push for this? We get a glimpse of the reason in verse 5: “For even His brothers did not believe in Him.”
Yet, Jesus resists the urge to prove himself to his brothers and to the others at the feast. He doesn’t seek the instant popularity — or notoriety in the eyes of the Jews who sought to disprove who He really was.
Teenagers feel that pressure to prove themselves more, it seems, than anyone. Maybe it is to the kids we think are cool at school, or the girl or boy we have a crush on, or to a teacher who we look up to. But we find that if we live our lives to “perform” for others, rather than to glorify God, it can kill us from the inside. Our confidence, our sense of worth and, most importantly, our relationship with God. If we aren’t careful, we find ourselves stuck between being fake with our friends and fake with God. Neither end up well.
Below is a short video message from Steven Furtick on the topic, referencing the same Bible story above. Listen, and then pray about the potential impact his message has on your life.
Many times, those who feel the need to share more on social media … to post opinions and offer advice as if they have it all together are really, behind the screen, falling apart. They feel insecure and lost and not sure how to pick up the pieces, so they instead seek approval online. They want others to see them as important, as special.
Sometimes the pressure we feel to be special doesn’t come from God. It comes, instead from society that suggests we need to be so special, so important, so set apart. And yet, as Christians, we already are. We are special to Him. We are important to Him. We are set apart by and for Him.
So if you find yourself stuck in this trap, feeling lost and invalidated, draw closer to Him. Replace time spent on your phone or other device tied to social media and instead on His word, in prayer, at church/youth group and with godly friends who can lift you up to Him.
If you need help with this, please reach out to Michelle and myself, and we can prayerfully help you navigate this tough minefield. Email is zaktansky@gmail.com
We’ll wrap up with the newest song from Zach Williams:
