EPISODE 67: Q&A and Social Media Advice for Parents of Teens

Date: 3/17/2021

Questions

Is there a plan as to when we will discontinue offering online streaming services to encourage people to gather again?
1. No plan to discontinue the online streaming.
2. We were doing the stream pre-COVID and I don’t know that us stopping it will bring folks back. It may just lead them to watch another online church option.
3. But the hope is that folks see the importance of the gathered assembly and not allow the last year to create a new habit of online only church for them. Because the church is physical and needs to take place outside of the digital world.
4. Scott Manor / haircut

Hi, I’ve been reading Jonathan Leeman’s newish book “One Assembly” and was wondering if you had a biblical conviction regarding multi-site/multi-service institutions being considered one church or multiple churches. Jonathan seems to argue that the concept of assembly is critical to the biblical understanding of a local church and that just because separate assemblies are tied together by leadership and branding does not mean they are the same church from a biblical perspective. However, in a passing remark at the beginning of the last podcast (3/16 – 16:30) Pastor Josh seemed to be speaking in support of the multi-campus-Christian because of the well-rounded experiences that this type of Christian may have. Does Gateway see its multiple campuses biblically described as multiple churches with shared eldership or one church with discrete assemblies? Or maybe a third option? More practically, should a Gateway member gather with different campuses throughout the year to stay connected with the whole body since they’re all the same church, or should he/she stay committed to one campus?
1. I’ve learned a lot of Mark Dever, Jonathan Leeman, and the 9 Mark guys.
2. They’re big on not just one location, but even the idea of having only one service time. Though, Matt Chandler even lovingly in jest called them out for having an overflow in the basement of their church when it’s necessary.
3. This is an area where I’d disagree with them on their understanding of the Greek word ecclesia and their application of Scripture.
  1. In the NT, we see both small house church gatherings and larger gatherings of what had to be many of these house churches. Both are called ecclesias.
  2. NT letters were to be shared between the different churches in different cities (so there was some sort of authority that crossed local church boundaries).
4. Gateway’s model:
  1. One church in multiple locations. Not multiples churches in multiple locations.
  2. We have one board of elders that oversee our locations.
  3. As far as gathering with members of other campuses, this happens in Life Groups and during our combined communion services which we have 2-4 times per year.
  4. But we want people to be committed primarily to a campus, because this then gives them an opportunity to serve on a regular basis because if you hop between campuses it’s easy to be unavailable to serve.
5. The future
  1. Long before COVID, there was an upcoming shortage of pastors in the US.
  2. My doctorate project found that our denomination is going to lose about a third of its pastors due to retirement in the next decade. Not to mention pastors who quit. And there’s not a bunch of pastors in the bullpen waiting to get up to bat.
  3. COVID has only exacerbated things. Some studies are predicting a large percentage of pastors quitting in the next year to year and a half. Mainly due to how their congregation’s have handled the pandemic. Meaning, the nastiness that’s risen as Christians have been divisive, unloving towards one another, changing church because of a theology of masks, etc…Pastors are burning out and there’s the potential for a crisis due to a lack of available pastors to lead churches.
  4. Multisite is one solution to a lack of pastors. Not the only solution.
  5. This is why we’re raising up pastors, partnering with Knox, etc…because every church needs to see it as their responsibility to raise up the next generation of pastors. Gone are the days of putting out a job opening and getting a bunch of quality applicants. I’m also worried that there’s going to become a bit of a bidding war on pastors — whichever church can offer the best package will have a pastor and less resourced churches won’t have pastors (supply and demand).

Discussion on popular social media apps teens are using – Special guest Adam

Why are we talking about this?
1. Handheld technology/social media is the single greatest influencer of the youth in our culture. The average teenager spends 8+ hours a day on a screen (not including school)
2. There is very little filtering and oversight for the VAST majority of the usage of technology
  1. Think about how crazy you would think it would be if someone was letting their 13 year old have a huge party at their house when they were out of town. But think of that party going on 24 hours of every day with no adults, EVER, and every friend and kid they possibly know can interact with the party
  2. Technology has a direct impact on brain development and is traced as a leading cause of anxiety and depression among young people.
  3. Go back to the party analogy, now think about a party like that happening with YOUR teenager and all the predators in town know that the kids at the party have no adults there watching over them
What we are going to talk about–
1. The most popular apps that your teens use
2. How you can monitor/filter the app
3. Our youth pastor 4 beard rating system –2 or less beards = delete
Youtube—
1. By far the most popular app IN THE WORLD—more streaming video hours consumed daily than all the other video apps combined and then multiplied.
2. All kinds of stuff on there—
3. You can set parental controls fairly easily on it–There is also YOUTUBE kids which I recommend for younger kids
4. But be aware there is a ton of “safe” content that might not have information you are comfortable with your child seeing/hearing
5. Adam gives YT a 3 ½ beard recommendation
TikTok
1. Very popular short video creation and watching app
2. Very little filtering ability–you can choose who you follow—but popular and promoted videos will show up in your feed with little to no filtering—so Billy is only following friends that you know, but he keeps getting people dancing risquely to music with curse words videos in his feed—and he didn’t even choose to do so!
3. There is NO way as a parent to fully monitor this app
4. Adam gives 0 beards
IG
1. The world’s most used photo sharing site
2. What you follow shapes what you see—so if your child only follows their friends their feed will basically be “safe”
3. But be aware of how it IS used—”hot girls summer”—and how this DOES affect kids
4. Adam gives 3 beards—but only if you are monitoring. IT CAN BE ABUSED SO YOU HAVE TO WATCH IT–ESPECIALLY THE PRIVATE MESSAGE PORTION
Facebook
1. If you use this you are old–that’s what the teens told me 🙁
2. The vast majority of young people do not use this at all
3. You see what you want to see
4. Pay attention to messaging on FB
5. Adam gives 3 beards
Twitter
1. Young people do not use much at all
2. Be looking at WHO they follow and their private messages
3. Adam gives 3 beards
Calculator+
1. A secret app that looks like a calculator(and works) but if you put in a code it goes into secret files
2. Kids use this to hide inappropriate images and videos
3. LOOK FOR THIS ON THEIR PHONES
4. 0 beards
Dating apps
1. Dating apps barely do age verification–and can be full of inappropriate stuff—so look to see if your student has it
2. 0 beards for minors
3. 1-3 beards for adults depending on specific app
Snapchat
1. The granddaddy of private messaging. The premise is they are messages that go away (like in mission impossible) after a few seconds. But that can be circumvented
2. There is virtually no value to this OTHER than inappropriate things
3. Other apps without the baggage do many of the same things
4. 0 beards
WhatsApp
1. Messaging app more popular outside of the US
2. Kids use it as another way to send private messages
3. Not a necessary tool for a kid in the US, do not recommend 0 beards
Kik
1. Another messaging app
2. Another tool to send messages that maybe parents aren’t aware of
3. Not necessary—0 beards