Have you heard? We’re in a war. It’s us versus them and we’re not even sure what we’re up in arms for. But, nonetheless, it feels good to be upset. At least it seems to. Why else would we kindle our anger at one another?
Allow me to briefly give you the required caveat. Many people have good reason to be upset. There are injustices all around us. I’ve written about them in one of my fee eBooks (you can get that here). But instead of fighting the actual issues that face our world in the 21st Century, we have settled for fighting with one another. In America alone, we’ve made it all about a couple leaders in a country of 318.9 million people. Who are you for? That’s hardly the question. It’s about who you are against. All the while, most of us have no idea what a solution looks like. In the time we have taken in propping up a person, we have failed at propping up any real-world solutions that would actually do something.
Our present culture is, for lack of a better term, insane. We’ve gazed upon the smoke and mirrors of fear and we are fully engaged. Fear has taken over and we are fully expecting the result to be different than before. But when we stop and think, we all know that fear cripples solutions and it cripples our ability to listen to one another.
If you would like to disengage from the smoke and mirrors of fear and stay sane in our insane culture, let me encourage you to take 5 actions.
How to Stay Sane in our Insane Culture
Action 1: Ground Yourself
You and I don’t have all the answers. Not even close. We are fragile and easily manipulated. We often let our emotions lead our lives. We often let our fear have the final say throughout our day.
But this doesn’t have to continue to be the case. We can flip the script by implementing a simple habit.
Get in the word of God. Every day.
When we allow ourselves to be grounded in the word of God, we’ll be able to approach the issues of our day with the gravitas needed to actually make a difference.
When we are grounded in the word of God, we are opening the door of our mind to the transforming power of God.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. – Romans 12:2
Action 2: Take Facebook Off Your Phone
For many of us, Facebook is the app or the site we visit the most on the internet. But we all know the amount of time we spend on it isn’t healthy. I could reference a number of articles that talk about the specifics but let’s suffice it to say, it ain’t good.
I’ve had many bouts with fighting the urge of having my phone on my hip at all times. During down times at home or in line at the store, I’ll find myself staring at my phone for literally NO APPARENT REASON.
But I now know that I am playing with fire. And so are you if you relate. The brain chemical called dopamine can be attributed to why we are so quick to open our phones to check Facebook and any other app we frequent. Dopamine is the same brain chemical that is released when a drug user gets high.
Addictive drugs flood the brain with dopamine and condition us to expect artificially high levels of the neurotransmitter. Over time, the user’s brain requires more dopamine than it can naturally produce, and it becomes dependent on the drug, which never actually satisfies the need it has created. – David Hirschman via BigThink.com
My solution? I’ve taken Facebook off my phone. The app is no longer active and that red notification circle is no longer in sight. I encourage you to do the same thing. Here’s how.
If you’re ready to get rid of that urge to make your voice heard at every opportunity of disagreement, taking Facebook off your phone is a great step.[shareable]Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation. – Saint Augustine[/shareable]
Action 3: Spend More In-Person Time With People
This is just conjecture, but I’m quite convinced that we are losing our ability to have conversations with each other. Not comments on a status or text messages, but good old-fashioned conversations when we’re in the same room.
We’ve been taught well how to spend our day in reactive mode because of the news and social media. What we’re losing is our desire and ability to simply talk with one another about light things or even heavy things. We’re forgetting what it’s like to sit still and listen to another person’s point of view. We’re used to being able to read or skim their thoughts and make our conclusions with the snap of a finger.
Even more, we’ve gotten used to labeling people as one thing or another and this has perpetuated the us versus them narrative that we’ve been fed.
We need each other. We need to spend more time together. When we do, I think we’ll see that it’s not as much of an us versus them situation as we’ve been told.
Action 4: Read More Books
Complexity. This is a word we bulk at. We want things to be simple. We want things to be black and white. One thing or another. But life is far more complex and the issues of our time are far more complex.
We are a fast-moving, quick-judging, and busy people. We have things to get done, notifications to check, and shows to watch. Right?!
For me, reading books helps me to stay sane because my eyes are opened to the fact that some things (most things) need more explanation than 140 characters on Twitter or even a long Facebook status. Or, for that matter, a 1,000+ word blog post like this.
But what should you read? That’s up to you. But if you want some recommendations…
Shameless plug coming… I wrote a book that just released called Crucified to Life: What Abundant Life in Christ Really Looks Like. You can learn more about it here.
Beyond that, grab a book in each one of these genres: Biography (Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxis has been great – read my full review), Spiritual Growth (see the above shameless plug), Relationships (Mingling of Souls by Matt Chandler is great for marriage), Parenting if applicable (Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters by Meg Meeker, M.D. is what I’m challenging myself with), and Fiction (I’m currently reading Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis). This brief list of genres is surely incomplete, but it’s at least a start.
Action 5: Think Critically
Many of us spend our days consuming information that will simply reinforce our position on topics. This is a problem. In a time where we are inundated with more information than we know what to do with, we are forced to filter what we take in. The problem comes in when we only consider information that fails to make us think deeper and different about the issues of our time.
What I hope I gained from my years in school is the ability to think about issues in a way that I allow myself to consider a different opinion or different angle without requiring myself to accept that opinion or angle. Why? Because this is the process of learning. We don’t know everything there is to know about anything. We need to listen first. Learn second. Evaluate third. If we don’t think critically, two things will happen: (1) we will reinforce our starting point to our own demise and (2) we will be tossed back and forth by every new idea from the people we do listen to.
Critical thinking is thinking about your thinking while you’re thinking in order to make your thinking better. – Richard W. Paul
[shareable]Christians, this is how we engage culture: listen first, learn second, evaluate third. [/shareable]
Stay Sane, My Friends
What are you doing to stay sane in our insane culture? Let me know in the comments below.
Grow Your Faith and Grow Your Impact
I’d love to go on this journey with you and help you grow your faith and your impact. So let’s be email friends. I’d love to send you a copy of my two free eBooks: Bible Hacks: Understanding the New Testament and Do Something: Cultural Crises and the Gospel. And I’d love to give you my free daily devotional: Journey to Knowing God. You’ll get all this (and updates with new content) when you subscribe to the blog.
