The topic of this week’s episode was taken from a sermon preached by Pastor Touré
Roberts titled “Mindfulness: Mindless Behavior”.
In this sermon, Pastor Touré makes the claim that we live in an age of information overload.
Oftentimes God wants to do something in our lives.
According to Isaiah 43:19, it is not
that God cannot do it, or we cannot handle it, but that shall we even know it?
God is concerned that we will miss what He’s doing because we are so distracted. Therefore, the number one strategy against our destinies and future is to distract us because if we are distracted, we will miss critical turns and decisions.
We live in a day and age where we can plug into this information overload vortex – and in that vortex, we are told what to think, what to eat, what success looks like, what it is not, and as a result, we have gradually lost our minds. Most people haven’t even had an original thought in so long, because their thoughts are just recycled thoughts of other people; ideas they’ve gathered from other sources – this is the reason why our society is now pursuing something called mindfulness.
There is a quote by the Buddha that says
Whatever an enemy might do to an enemy, or a foe to a foe, the ill-directed mind can do to you even worse.
There is a war on our minds, and as a result on our very identity. We live in what has been defined as the Information Age which began in the mid-20th century and is characterized by a rapid shift from a traditional industry established by the Industrial Revolution to an economy based upon information technology. This age is also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age, or even the Social Media Age, and we may now be entering the Meta Verse Age.
Now there are so many positive things about this age. For one, information can travel very quickly and is easily accessible to just about anyone. Information is powerful, and therefore, having access to it leads to a more informed society and a society of people that hopefully end up making more informed decisions. However, too much information then leads to paralysis in our minds and trains us over time to not think critically or creatively. This information overload vortex has made it possible that we can plug into it and quickly get answers to whatever questions we have. As a result, our thinking is done for us, exercising our own critical minds is done for us, and we are being stripped of the ability to process information for ourselves.
According to Pastor Roberts, the culture of mindlessness is what fights against the spiritual discipline of marination, or meditation. In Psalms 1:1, the Bible teaches us that the blessed man is the man who ‘meditates” on the word of God, day and night. Therefore, the discipline we need to become like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that yields its fruits in its season, is fought by the culture and spirit of mindlessness.
Understanding that there is war will equip up us with a different mentality when it comes to our attitude and the way we approach this age and all the information at our disposal. We will have the proper respect for the power of this age and the power and influence of social media. As a result, we recognize that we are dealing with something that has great power to affect our lives and who we are.
Pastor Touré describes how he approaches social media and the information overload vortex like a special ops or Navy Seals person – he is on a mission to achieve something specific, so whenever he picks up his phone, he understands the power it wields. It is not evil, but it is dangerous. So whenever he picks it up, he realizes he is on a mission. So when he goes on social media or logs on to his device, he is not going on to see what happens there, because he will get lost and go on an emotional roller coaster without therapy. However, he has a specific mission he needs to accomplish, and he approaches his phone as such, This way he can achieve and get the treasure he needs, whether it is to post something important or get some specific information, and then he’s out, so as not to be sucked into the vortex and into a state of mindlessness.
This strategy can help us have a healthier relationship with our phones and our devices. This strategy can help us to have the respect we ought to have for this information age. There is a lot of treasure and good information out there, but there is also a ton of junk and things that can easily cause us to descend into a state of mindlessness. It is important that we approach the information vortex with a specific goal, and we achieve that goal as quickly as we can. The Bible also tells us to meditate on God’s word day and night. Taking time to meditate and allow God’s word to marinate will guard our hearts and minds in perfect peace in Christ Jesus.
The Buddha also says about a well-directed mind
Whatever a mother, father, or other relative might do for you, the well-directed mind can do for you even better.
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