Wake Up, Look Up

hello everyone thanks for listening to

wake up lookup a podcast where we

connect events happening in real time to

the Gospel of Jesus Christ I'm Zach wck

and today's episode is asking the

question why don't men text and if

you're listening to this my guess is

you're either in relationship with a man

who doesn't text or you are that man I'm

pointing at myself here who isn't great

at texting this has become a little bit

of a social phenomena I read an article

about it this week that described it as

text debt most men are in crippling text

debt which means their phone is

currently full of text messages that

they haven't responded to that they

probably should have responded to and

now they don't know what to do about it

the article was also pointing out that

texting has become a major way that

modern people relate to each other but

men in particular don't seem to be very

good at it or very dedicated to it and

as a result are they're missing out on

that potential social connection of

course we know that research has shown

men are incredibly lonely we've talked

about that a lot here on wake up lookup

and texting is potentially a solution

except for men men guys fellas we are

awful at it some of that is because the

social science shows that texting kind

of goes against male bonding style uh

women painting with a broad brush here

obviously women tend to bond face to

face and in conversation they can get

together and talking is the whole point

me men T debond side by side we we don't

want to get together and admit we're

there to talk we want to go play golf go

hunting go fishing and if talking

happens while we're doing that that's

great texting of course is the opposite

it is simply conversation for

conversation sake add into that the fact

that men are taught from a very young

age not to share our feelings not to be

vulnerable and actually if the other men

around us share their feelings and or

are vulnerable we're taught really to

ridicule them to to mock them to to turn

it into a joke to help us all kind of

Turn the Page from an uncomfortable

conversation but guys we can do better I

I can do better and we need to that's

because I actually think this article is

on to something texting is a path

forward to actual biblical friendship

let me just start with this guys the

Bible stresses your need for friends

Proverbs 27 says that iron sharpens iron

we need men who make us sharper men who

can uh challenge us as husbands fathers

workers whatever role we play men who

know us men who are engaging our minds

and our hearts in conversation not only

do we need that but Galatians 6 says

that we're actually responsible to each

other for that I love the way Paul says

this bear one another's burdens and so

fulfill the law of Christ do you want to

keep the law do you want to be righteous

in God's eyes here's how you do it you

care for your friends you you come up

under their burdens with them which

means of course you're asking about

those burdens they're talking about

those burdens and far from ridiculing

them you're actually seeking to come up

underneath the weight and help them

carry it this means of course that we

must heed the biblical call to develop

empathy check out Romans 12 we got to

learn to care for each other to Rejoice

with each other to weep with each other

guys that was the Heart of Jesus Christ

and no no matter what you're definition

of masculinity is you will never be more

masculine than Jesus and Jesus was a

weeper Jesus was a talker Jesus enjoyed

these kinds of empathetic relationships

Hebrews 10 tells us we've got to not

forsake each other but to actually speak

in to each other's lives to do life

together okay theology lesson is over so

how do I apply all these things how do I

become iron that sharpens iron how do I

bear burdens how do I develop empathy

how do I heed the call to be a brother

in Christ well there are a lot of

answers to that but one of them probably

is

texting keep keep responding to your

friends let them know you're thinking

about them check in with how you can be

praying for them are they having a good

day or a bad day is there anything you

can do to help ask them when they tell

you tough day at work say how are you

feeling about that share with them what

the Lord is teaching you guys if we keep

each other un red we're not just being

bad texter and bad friends I think in

some ways we're being bad followers of

Jesus this is an opportunity for

spiritual growth in a very very

practical way so if you are a guy listen

to this again go apply it and if you're

not a guy but you love a guy send him

this and tell him that Jesus wants him

to do better and you could probably let

him know so do you hey thanks so much

for watching this episode of wake up

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