I listen to a lot of sermons, and some people tell me they couldn’t listen to that much preaching. The truth is, you are being preached to all the time. No matter what you listen to or what you watch, you are being preached to. The airwaves are full of voices pushing their ideas and influencing the way you think. Everybody’s preaching, so it comes down to what kind of preaching is flooding your mind.
What is the character of those you are allowing to preach into your life? We have to evaluate who’s preaching to us on the websites we visit, movies we watch, music we listen to, and news we consume. This includes the social media “influencers” you might follow. As a side note, you will find the only influencers worth listening to in God’s word. Jesus alone has the words of life (John 6:67-68).
Don’t think the media you consume will not affect you. What we consume shapes every one of us. That’s why Paul was adamant in cautioning us to take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). As a follower of Jesus, it’s incumbent on us to not let the distractions and temptations of the evil one penetrate the defenses of our minds. Echo chambers that reinforce the beliefs we already hold draw us like powerful magnets. Listening to those of like mind gives us the satisfaction and affirmation we all desire. But are we consuming truth?
The opinions of man are so inferior to the truth of God that to compare the two is beyond laughable. Why do we spend so much time reading and listening to the thoughts of the fallible instead of meditating on God’s Word (Psalm 1:1-2)? Everybody’s preaching, but not everyone says something worth listening to. Few call their messages sermons but make no mistake, everybody’s preaching. Everyone is pushing their agenda, outlook, and worldview. We must be diligent and discerning to filter out the noise (Proverbs 4:23).
It’s not uncommon to find yourself humming a song you don’t even know. Music is powerful and has a way of seeping into your mind unawares. Along with most music comes words you may or not agree with, or that may be in stark contrast to the word of God. When we aren’t guarding our minds, we allow these intrusions that are much harder to evict than to stop from ever entering (Philippians 4:8). We can say the same thing about the movies and videos we watch. Let’s be honest: almost nothing coming out of Hollywood is going to align with Christian values. So why do we continue filling our minds with it?
Everybody’s preaching. Every content creator, influencer, screenwriter, or music producer is preaching their gospel to you. But we know there is only one true gospel (Galatians 1:6-7). There’s only one gospel worth believing. Most of what we allow into our minds only erodes the truth and beauty of that gospel. You don’t have to listen to non-stop sermons to grow in your spiritual life. Nothing short of God’s Word guarantees you will grow in the likeness of Jesus (2 Timothy 3:16-17). What you must recognize, however, is everybody’s preaching and everybody’s influencing the way you will conduct your life. Keep your eyes on Jesus and be mindful of what you are allowing to shape your thoughts and the way you live (Hebrews 12:1-2).