Teen Tuesday: Modern Temptation

Written by Bro. Andrew Tewell

Have you ever heard your parents say something like "When I was I kid we had to walk to school uphill...  both ways!"  Maybe you've heard them reminisce about how different things were when they were a kid. Sometimes we can almost think our parents have no clue what we are going through, because things were so different when they were a teenager.  I'm going to make a few of those "when I was your age" statements, but please don't tune me out. 

When I was your age cell phones were a totally different ball game. I got my first phone when I was 14 years old. I was a bus captain at my church and needed a phone as I went out and made visits on the weekend.  I remember my first phone.  It was a little Nokia phone that didn't even have a camera!  All the phone did was place phone calls. Who would have thought that? I didn't send my 1st text message until I was a senior in high school.  When I sent that first text I had to pay dad 50 cents, because that's how much texts cost.  I thought I had arrived when I got a Motorola Razr.  This was the iPhone back in my day.  You weren't cool unless you had a Razr!

Needless to say things were different back in my day.  Only a few phones had cameras, no phones had full internet capability, and apps weren't even heard of.  As great as technology is, it is also one of the biggest hindrances to teens today.  Let's be honest, I don't exactly know what it's like to grow up with the temptation of posting something I'll later regret, or the temptation of texting a picture to my girlfriend, or accessing from my phone a website that I shouldn't be on.  

Here's the thing, in 1 Corinthians 10:13 the Bible says “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” Temptation has been around forever.  You're not the only one struggling with it.  Also, God has made a way for you to escape.  Technology may have changed.  It may be easier to access sin, but temptation to sin isn't new.  Yes, your pastor or youth pastor may not have been through exactly what you're going through, but they understand temptation.  I want to challenge you to evaluate how much time you spend on your phone.  Are you giving into temptation?  Can you handle the responsibility of a phone?  Has your phone enabled you to sin?  Do you spend more time with your phone than your Savior?

In the next post I'm going to give a specific challenge to make some big decisions regarding media and communication.  Don't miss it!