Who Has Your Ear?
The reign of Frozen has ended in my household. It has been replaced by PJ Masks and the Trolls. The refreshing part is I now have a new soundtrack to listen to full of vaguely familiar songs. While listening to that soundtrack the other day, I caught something interesting. In the song Rock You Like a Hurricane from Trolls: World Tour, there’s a line in which Barb asks: What is wrong with another sin?
I had to pause when I first noticed it. Normally this music is just background fodder but that day, I just happened to be paying attention. This isn’t a post demonizing the ways of the world or saying we need to throw everything out (although that song has some connotations that just aren’t suitable for kids). This revelation led me to a different question. As I try to disciple my kids, who’s discipling me?
Do you know who or what is discipling you? The example of Jesus tells us that we should all be disciplers and someone should be discipling us. But if we are honest, how many of us can truly say we are being discipled right now?
What Informs Your Life
Something or someone is discipling us. Something is holding the place of primary influence in our lives. When I’m not paying attention, I default to comedy podcasts, fitness and nutrition podcasts, and basketball talk. These seem harmless enough but every person speaking has a worldview. A worldview that subtly seeps into my psyche and begins to shape the way I view and see the world. And what lives in our hearts will inevitably flow out of our mouths.
The seemingly benign basketball talk that somehow wades into the realm of politics and calls all Conservatives evil, isn't the way I should be thinking about people. In the same vein, there’s the not so quietly Libertarian fitness guy who thinks millennials and Gen Z are just a bunch of Liberal, whiny babies. Again, not a way I should be thinking about people. Whether you agree or disagree, taking in too much of any worldview is undoubtedly going to have an affect on us.
The important lesson to learn here is that the Bible’s numerous warnings to protect our hearts and minds (Prov. 4:23, Rom. 12:2, 1 Pet. 5:8) are there for a reason.
We have to be mindful of the dominant voices in our lives. So again, I ask, who’s discipling you? There’s that old cliche: You’re like the five people you spend the most time with. It goes even deeper than that. The voices that ring loudest in your head and heart inform who you are, what you believe, and how you move in this world.
In an ideal world pastors and church leaders would be the disciplers, making disciples who go out and make more disciples (who’s pastoring the pastor is another important question we can touch on some day). We know the workload pastors face and much has been written about church structures and where time goes but at the end of the day, pastors only account for a small fraction of who’s discipling you. Your primary influencers are going to be much more varied, a lot more subtle, and less informal than you’d think.
Examine your influences. What are you reading? Who are you listening to? What are you watching? Who are your friends? The Instagrammers and Youtubers you follow. These are going to be a much bigger influence on your life and will shape you in countless ways before your pastor will.
Be mindful this week. Take note of what you’re taking in. Guard your heart, for from it flows the springs of life.