There is perhaps no greater harm that has been done to Christians by the American popular culture than the damage it has brought to the way we think. Let me be more specific: the influence of “pop” culture has almost completely destroyed our ability to think seriously. It seems the goal of our entertainment crazed society is to draw people away from reality into a hypnotic state of mind. Think of all the current “escapes” produced by our culture: Hollywood, sports, amusement parks, the Internet, shopping, video games, theatres, comedy, magazines, hobbies, comic books, novels… No doubt, you could easily add another five items to my list. Each one of them have this as a common denominator: they allow a person to become detached from reality.

Let’s just take one and consider it. This coming January thousands of Christians will gather around the tv to watch a football game between the two top college programs in the country. Over 100 thousand people will fill the stands to watch these two teams battle it out for the honor of being called “National Champs.” It will be an emotionally charged event for sure! Why just the sight of a team’s uniform colors or the sound of the school band playing the team’s theme song is enough to give some the chills! People viewing such a game will go through a myriad of emotions; I’ve seen people cry, yell, cheer, scream, dance, tremble, call names, jump up and down, throw items, and shout for joy. Some can’t sit still while they watch; I have a friend who will not sit down through most of the game when his team is playing.

Throughout the course of the game, people will talk during commercial breaks and half time reports about their team’s past legacy, the unfair officiating job, and winning strategies for the second half of the game. The game finally ends, and one team is given the BCS championship trophy. If your team wins, you are on cloud nine for at least two weeks. If your team loses, you feel like your best friend has just been hit by a Mack truck…or something like that. Then, people start talking about “next season,” and the excitement begins building all over again. There will no doubt be sports reviews in magazines and on tv. There will be special programs on last year’s best games. There will be scouting reports for the upcoming season. If you’re in luck, all these things will make a nice little bridge that will take you right into the next season of college football.

So what’s so bad about all of that? Well, let’s think about a few things. (“Think” being the key word.) As you watch the stands fill with thousands of fans, are you deeply impressed by a mass of humanity on their way to hell? Do you stop at half time to pray for the players and coaches who don’t know Christ? Do you consider that these players and fans are blinded by frivolities from seeing the reality of eternal consequences? Do you understand that the college students on the field for three hours may end up burning in hell for over a trillion years? Truth be known, their eternal destiny is not important in light of the game. Truth be known, it may never even cross our minds. Why not? Well, that’s not the reason we watch college football. We don’t watch football to gain a burden or pray for lost people. We are watching college football as a way to escape for three and a half hours.

This is why college football is so popular. Nothing that takes place on the field has any serious consequences. Most likely, a war will not be started depending on which team wins, though sometimes I wonder. You probably will not lose your house or job based on the outcome. There is nothing “life and death” about the game. One team will win and one team will lose, but what will that mean? Absolutely, positively, nothing! In reality, nothing will have been gained and nothing will have been lost. It is a great way to become engaged in something that has no real or eternal purpose. Therefore, it becomes a great way to become detached from reality. For a few hours you can forget that lost football players and fans go to hell. You can pretend that college football has a significant place in life. You can throw yourself emotionally into an event that has no eternal consequences.

We could take this same principle and apply it to all the other “escapes” mentioned above, but what is the point? The point is that we must take great care in the midst of the American popular culture to maintain a sober mind. You cannot allow yourself to become detached from reality by the allurements of this present evil world. Unfortunately, many believers move from one “reality-detached” activity to the next. The end of one sporting season gives way to the beginning of another. One good sale at a store only leads to another; so many malls, so little time. One great idea for weight loss and self beautification leads to another. On and on it goes, until years have been wasted because of a lack of being sober-minded.

I find it difficult anymore to get God’s people to be serious about prayer, fasting, soul-winning, diligent Bible study, holy living, and the maintaining of good works before men. They may enjoy an intellectually appealing conversation on the subject, but it’s difficult to get them to think seriously about their responsibility in these matters. Let me ask you: what are you involved in that is serious? I’m not just talking about meeting daily needs and trying to stay healthy. What are you engaged in right now that has eternal consequences? Do you think often on things that are serious? Does your life indicate you are investing in things that really matter? Or have you thrown yourself into an endless list of activities that tend to draw you away from reality? Things that allow you to escape from that which would be serious.

It seems anymore that we are no good for serious things; we wear down very quickly when engaged in them. Sadly, we are gifted at trivial things; we can spend endless hours doing things that just don’t matter and not seem to weary of it a bit. What we desperately need, and especially in our current generation, is to be sober-minded. That is the next point in Paul’s diamond virtues of D.I.S.C.I.P.L.I.N.E.  A disciplined man is a man of sobriety.

S.OBRIETY

“But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

I Corinthians 9:27

A disciplined man lives moment by moment close to reality. He cannot allow himself to lose perspective. He has carefully weighed the stakes, he has often considered the cost, and he has deeply understood the consequences of failing. The reward is too great to lose for mere frivolities that war against the soul. This is the spirit that dominates Paul’s attitude in this verse.

In the previous verses Paul makes it clear that he’s not playing games. “Don’t you know,” Paul pleads, “That this is a real race with real consequences!” In essence, he’s giving them a wake-up call to the seriousness of how we choose to live our lives. He attempts to get them to see how grave a matter it is to live in such a careless way as to be disqualified from any eternal rewards.

TWO SOBERING THOUGHTS

Paul address two thoughts that kept him sober-minded. First, Paul was sober-minded about winning the lost. Throughout this chapter, Paul explains how carefully he behaved himself in each situation and with each kind of group so that he could by all means save as many as possible. In other words, this was not a flippant thing that Paul did without deep forethought. The thought of lost people dying without Christ; the thought of eternal damnation; the thought of Christ not receiving His due glory from the salvation of sinners; these things moved Paul to be very serious about how he handled himself.

How about you? Have your thoughts and actions been sobered by the reality of your co-workers going to hell for eternity? How has it changed the way that you have behaved yourself in front of them? Shamefully, many Christians will stand to give an account for a lost person’s soul because of their lack of testimony. Have you stopped to think seriously about how your words, involvement in sinful jokes, and discussions about indecent movies might be used by Satan to damn your friends to hell? If not, you’d better sober up! Think how detached from reality you must be if you consider being “in” with your worldly friends more important than their eternal soul. Think seriously about this!

Has the thought of eternal punishment moved you as it did Paul? Personally, I can’t see how any true Christian can go through life without being a witness to those headed for the flames of hell. Any Christian who fails to attend church “soul-winning” functions, and refuses to boldly warn friends and loved ones about hell MUST be detached from reality! An atheist once told William Booth, “I do not believe in your God; I do not believe in your Bible; I do not believe in your hell. But if I did, I’d crawl throughout London upon my knees across broken glass to warn them!” Is winning the lost a serious thought to you?

Secondly, Paul was sober-minded about losing the reward. He spoke of self-imposed limitations for the cause of receiving a full reward. He spoke of serving Christ willingly so that he would not lose his reward. He spoke of the Christian life as a race to be won for the crown of eternal rewards. He spoke of the danger he feared most: that he might serve the Lord throughout his life and then be disqualified from receiving a reward by his own careless actions.

I can’t help but think of King David’s general, Joab, when I consider this. He was a valiant man of war who accomplished much on the battlefield and even showed moments of wisdom and discernment, but was careless about the way he handled personal issues. He defied David’s wishes in the killing of three men; one being David’s own son Absalom. He also followed Adonijah after David had chosen Solomon to be his successor. One of the saddest chapters on Joab’s life is II Samuel 23 where David’s mighty men are listed. Though Joab’s name is mentioned three times, he is not listed as one of the mighty men. Two of his brothers and his armor bearer are mentioned, but Joab is not! Why not? Because of a lack of serious-mindedness, he was disqualified.

DO NOT SLEEP AS OTHERS

“Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.”

I Thessalonians 5:6-8

This passage begins by describing the condition of lost people being detached from reality. They think there is “peace and safety” when in fact, sudden destruction is around the corner. The Bible goes on to describe these people as being in darkness; their eyes were blind to true reality. They were sleeping in the night; they were living in a dream. They were drunken; their minds were drunk with their own self-deception. In essence they were detached from the reality of eternal consequences.

In contrast, we are commanded not to be asleep as they are. We are to be the children of light, truth, reality. We are commanded to be ever watching and sober-minded about the things of eternity. Because we are aware of reality, our actions evidence a keen readiness; faith, love, and hope are the virtues that dominate our daily activities. What in your life keeps you connected to the reality of eternal consequences? A few suggestions as we close:

• Never become detached from reality; keep your feet on the ground.
• Retain the vision to see future consequences.
• Give time for careful consideration and deep understanding.
• Think like God thinks; God is sober-minded.
• Let your actions be guided by sober-mindedness.