Teens and Social Media, Gaming and the Metaverse, and The Painful and Fruitful Ministry of Charles Simeon – Points of Interest for August 22, 2022

5 New Stats You Should Know About Teens and Social Media

“It’s not hyperbolic to say that YouTube is the most influential—and, therefore, the most important—website in the world. It’s used by almost every single teen in the country, and as of Pew’s latest research of U.S. adults in 2021, it’s also used by 81 percent of all adults. YouTube is king of the social media world.”

“If you and I are going to help the teenagers in our lives have a more healthy relationship with social media, we need to be willing to evaluate our own. The Pew research clearly shows that social media is a teen issue, but it’s not only a teen and student ministry issue. We ought to check our own lives before we instruct the teens in our care.”

Gaming and the Metaverse – Mere Orthodoxy

“The purpose of gaming is to simulate meaning… Video games give us a way to feel important while meaning nothing… This explains why so many video games are preoccupied with giving you experiences that would have life-wrecking consequences were you to have them in the real world. I get to have the thrill of combat or speeding or killing without the consequences. This may seem obvious, but it is surprising how many people seem to have forgotten this.”

The Painful and Fruitful Ministry of Charles Simeon

“Simeon endured his many challenges by attending carefully to his own soul. He learned a dictum early in his life that ‘to soar heavenward’ one must ‘grow downwards in humility.’ So, Simeon spent long hours every day in God’s word and prayer. In fact, he went to bed early so that he could get up early and give unhurried time to his Lord in these ways.”