Welcome to the Further Gospel Podcast. I'm Kasti Hinn and I am the host of this podcast and want to remind you that we are all about sound doctrine for everyday people. If you haven't already, be sure to subscribe and follow us on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts. We're also on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and more. And if this podcast has been a blessing to you, would you please rate it and leave a written review on Apple that helps us with search engine visibility so more people can be blessed like you have been. Today I have the great privilege of interviewing one of my dear brothers in the faith. I call him a friend. Dustin Benj, thank you for being here.
SPEAKER_01Costi, it's it's a privilege to be with you. Thank you for the kind invitation.
SPEAKER_00We're very grateful to have you. Our episode is called Tweeting for the Gospel, and everyone's gonna understand why we've named it that way. Uh by the time it's all said and done. Let me read Dustin's bio, and then uh I want to read some tweets that he's tweeted and get you all in the frame of mind for where we're going and then ask him some pretty deep questions that are gonna help us all. Uh, Dustin is the provost and professor at Union School of Theology in Bridgend, Wales. He has a PhD from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also serves as senior fellow of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies at Southern. And uh he is visiting professor at Munster Bible College in Cork, Ireland. In addition, he's the associate editor of Expositor Magazine, and uh he has served as a pastor in Kentucky and Alabama, so you'll hear his Southern draw and enjoy that. And he enjoys research and writing in the areas of biblical spirituality, church history, the Puritans, Jonathan Edwards, and American history. Uh, his books include The American Puritans, A Journey Towards Heaven, which is uh daily devotions from the sermons of Jonathan Edwards, Lifting Up Our Hearts, 150 Prayers from John Calvin, Sweetly Set on God, The Spirituality of David Brainerd, and Pulpit Aflame. He and his wife Molly live in Wales. And Dustin, um, how is it going over in Wales? How is life as the provost at Union and how are things going there at the school?
SPEAKER_01Well, uh, costy at the moment, I think all the listeners would um sympathize with this. It's difficult, um, just to say the least, in the current circumstances of which we found ourselves. Um, Europe and the United Kingdom um have had tremendous lockdowns since we arrived in July. Um, so every time that we experience a moment of freedom, my wife and I are on a train. We're traveling somewhere to see a castle or a palace or some historical site. Um, but at the moment, uh we've just enjoyed walks by the beach. We live just a couple moments away, um, a couple minute walk out our front door to the ocean, to the Atlantic. Uh, just beautiful. Um, I've gotten to learn how to drive, which has been quite challenging for an American, uh, driving in the uh in Europe on the opposite side of the road with the steering wheel on the opposite side. So the lockdown has proved to be quite beneficial in uh giving me time to do things that perhaps I would not have been able to do. Um, but things are great at Union. God has really blessed this semester, uh, even in the circumstances we had the largest enrollment in the history of the school, uh, which is just tremendous. We're so blessed by that. Um, sadly, we've not been able to welcome as many students on campus as we would like. We've only had a handful of students uh currently present, but I've gotten to know them and gotten to know our faculty, and it's been great to kind of forge uh some friendships and uh we're just loving it, but looking forward to having some freedom to get out and to uh explore.
SPEAKER_00Fantastic. Yeah, that uh is something I think we can all relate to with the lockdowns and what's happening over there. So if you're listening to this and you remember Dustin and Molly in your prayers, please pray for them, pray for Union. And I'm glad to hear about things going so well at Union. I know the school has a great history. I know that you are uh the right fit over there and a tremendous teacher, leader, and representative, I think, ambassador for Christ. So that is uh the main reason we have you on today for the tweeting for the gospel episode. Uh, you are simply the best. That's my opinion. And uh, you know already, as a friend of mine. I'm not just um you know giving you fluff or puffing you up. You are um the best tweeter that I follow. I follow you for that reason. If you started being silly about sports or um doing foolish stuff on there, your your rank would go down. The reason why I say you're the best is because you put the emphasis so often on the gospel and on Christ. That's why I enjoy you in my my feed, my news feed. Um, not even a question. Uh I'm often inspired, I'm humbled, uh, you help me, you're a blessing to the body of Christ. And like I said, the reason is you put the emphasis on Jesus, the gospel, and your exhortations are especially challenging and timely. And so um, funny side note, and then I want to read a couple of your tweets recently that I've greatly enjoyed. I actually learned how to Turabian footnote uh tweet because I had to quote you. I quoted you in the my next book that's coming out in 2021. So I'm not gonna tell you what page it's on. I didn't even tell you, you didn't even know that before. I haven't told you this. But um I quoted you and I said, you know, my friend Dustin puts it this way in a recent tweet, and then I had to Tarabian footnote you. Like it was a tweet now, typical. We're in the the modern age where you have to Tarabian uh a footnote. That is a tweet. Uh here's a few from you recently. Pastors, if lives are to be changed, preach the sermon to yourself first before preaching it to others. Another one. The cross is the heart of the gospel, not the manger. Start with the manger, go straight to the cross. Another one. Um the incarnation is not a subtraction. Jesus doesn't cease being God in becoming man. Jesus is truly God and truly man. Uh that's exactly how R.C. Sproull used to say it. Uh here is another one recently that you tweeted. A favorite of mine, Jesus warned of the Sadducees, Jesus rebuked the scribes, Jesus called out the Pharisees, Jesus reproved the priests, but Jesus still wept over Jerusalem. If we're to be like Jesus, all critique must flow out of compassion. Oh, Dustin, over and over and over again, you put the emphasis on the gospel and on Christ. Why did you start tweeting this way? And what inspired you to take such a unique approach that really shouldn't be that unique, but it is. Um, why did you start doing it this way?
SPEAKER_01Well, Coste, I'm I'm just humbled by everything you've said. I I would have to look up how to footnote a tweet myself. I I would have no idea how to footnote those. Um, so thank you for including me in the book and doing the extra work to give a proper footnote. Um to be honest, I'm I'm really not sure how to answer that question. Um I I signed up for Twitter uh several years ago. Uh I've been on Twitter for a number of years. Uh even three years ago, I only had around 800 or so followers. So when I became friends with Nate Pikkowitz and you and Owen Strand and Grant Castleberry, and we began to discussing some camaraderie and friendship among us, um, I had the lowest number of followers than anybody in our group of friends had. That's right. Um I didn't post much. I posted maybe once a week, every now and then. But at a particular Shepherd's conference, um, which you've attended, which I've attended uh about three years ago, I was sitting on my couch at home, unable to be physically present in Los Angeles for that shepherd's conference. Something just struck me. Hey, I want to use this as a platform to share the gospel, to share truth, to share hope, to be edifying, and to be encouraging. And so I determined right then and there, it was a march, I'll never forget it. I determined to grow the account simply by being consistent. So I didn't retweet much or engage a ton with others. So a lot of people will follow 10,000 people and then they'll get 10,000 followers back, and then they'll go back and unfollow everybody they followed. Um, but I was just consistent and wanted to post truth. I wanted to have a Twitter account like I wanted to follow. So that's what I determined to do. I wanted to read, I wanted to post on Twitter what I wanted to read on Twitter. And that was the goal from the from the very beginning, actually.
SPEAKER_00Amazing. Yeah, uh that is a great simple answer, and it resonates with I think all of us because it's a helpful reminder that uh the old adage, uh, necessity is the mother of invention, if you will. Uh the necessity to read faithful truth uh triggered you know your desire to just do it the way you would actually want to enjoy it and want to see it. Uh what passages in scripture should govern the way that we engage people online? So I know what I'm asking you to preach a little bit at us and to us and to ourselves. What biblically does the word of God say we should be thinking of, or how should we be talking or typing online?
SPEAKER_01Well, that's a good question because I I think people sometimes um scoot the Bible out of the way, as it were, before they tweet. Um, and they don't tweet through the lens of scripture, or they don't post on social media through through the framework of scripture and allow the scripture to be almost as a net which would catch a lot of junk that is posted from Christians on social media. So I'm striving, Costi, always, and I don't always succeed, I don't do this perfectly, but I'm striving to allow the scripture to be the net through which the tweets flow so that some will go through and some will not, as they match up to scripture. And so there's one particular verse in Ephesians that I wrote down quite some time ago, and I constantly try to keep in mind as a person who um posts on social media, and it's from Ephesians 4.29. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. That's Ephesians 4.29. And so that particular passage has been the passage that I strive to remind myself of before every single post, before every single tweet. Is this corrupting talk that is coming out of my mouth, out of my mouth? When I post something, it's the same as if I was in a pulpit speaking it. It's the same as if I was speaking to you audibly. It's in writing, it's from me personally. So is it something that is corrupting? Am I feeding my own ego? Am I feeding my own pride when I post? But am I posting or am I posting only such as is good for building up? Now, that building up may be the confrontation of some sin. That building up may be edifying, that building up may be admonishing to obedience, but is it building up as is fitting for the occasion, that it may be grace to those who read it and hear it? Wow. So my calling, Costi, is to is to shepherd people. Now, sometimes that means pointing out sin, sometimes that means edifying the truth, sometimes that means admonishing for good works. But though I want to encourage people, what I have to constantly remind myself is that I'm not their pastor. So the followers that I have on Twitter, regardless of how many few it is or how many great that it is, I'm not their pastor. And therefore, I'm not spiritually responsible for what they believe or how they perhaps articulate that belief in return. So social media for me should be a tremendous place where we encourage and we edify one another while also learning from one another. But it's it's become a place, sadly, where believers gather together to measure the depth and width of our own holiness or to put on display our own holiness in some way. Um, there's so much Phariseeism that I see on social media. And where we try to be right so that we can put everyone else in a wrong way. And so that's not at all what Paul is telling us in Ephesians 4. He's saying, do not even let even the slightest of corrupting talk come out of your mouth. Proverbs ring true in my mind that death and life are in the power of the tongue. It's in the power of the tweet, sometimes death and life, especially if God is blessed with a larger platform. So we should only be doing what is good for building up, what is only encouraging for for others. And that's I've strived to have that as the trajectory of my account.
SPEAKER_00Fantastic truth, humbling, convicting, all of the above. Um one question that comes to mind is is there a place for spirited discussion and engaging back and forth online? Because we see a lot of that and definitely give us wisdom regarding um, you know, the the banter, the arguing, the vain wrangling that goes on online. I know that much of what you've even already said dismantles that. But is there a place for for some, and even if this isn't your approach, for engaging in spirited discussion and and trying to learn from one another?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Um I I think perhaps we need to define what spirited discussion is. Um, I think we can have spirited discussion that is iron sharpening iron, and we can have spirited discussion that's just mean spirited. Um, spirited discussion doesn't mean that we're jerks. It doesn't mean that we're hateful. It doesn't mean that we're slanderers of one another. We can sharpen one another, right? Um, we can disagree with one another. We can even be a bit spirited in our discussion and passionate in at the end of the discussion. But in the end, after that discussion is done, it's almost costy. It reminds me of a little league team playing baseball, you know, regardless of who's won. At the end, the two teams come together and they shake hands. And there's a camaraderie, there's a friendship, and perhaps they both go out and have ice cream together. In other words, there's a fine line regarding the breaking of fellowship among Christians on social media. I sometimes wonder if this is the dialogue here between believers. How in the world are these two people actually going to make it into glory? Some people reveal that perhaps Christ isn't even present in their heart, or the gospel isn't even real in their mind and in their heart. And it becomes so obvious on social media that they are discrediting the very gospel for which they are trying to defend, for which they are trying to promote. So let me say this, just as kind of a resolve that I've had or a resolution that I've had, on social media, there are no hills to die on. The pulpit of the local church, not social media, is the battleground. Some people think that if they're not posting 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all of their comments, sharpening others, critiquing others, modifying others, rewording others on social media that they're not fulfilling their calling. And costly, my question is how in the world did the church 2,000 years prior to Twitter ever get along without social media? How did it ever grow without social media? We don't need social media. Social media are not hills to die on. I rarely comment on others' posts unless they're friends or people that I follow, though they may be an error. I just keep on scrolling. I don't see my job as one of trying to police everyone else's theology. I'm gonna leave that up to your own pastor. If I can police my own theology, then that's a full-time job. And that's what I need to be most concerned about.
SPEAKER_00What an incredible reminder. I think it indirectly and directly puts the high emphasis on pastoral ministry. And then it even shows a respect to the call of pastor and a reverence for, not in an unhealthy way, but for the office or the role that God has designated of a pastor in the life of the people he's been given charge to serve. So um, I'm I'm incredibly encouraged by what you just said. Okay, uh, another one, sort of on the heels of that. What are the dangers that can occur if we have an attitude that says, even to what you're saying right now, yeah, that's great that you're not gonna police anyone, Dustin? But you know, I'm gonna tell people when they're off and if they're wrong, and I'm gonna change their minds, you know, on online or elsewhere. That attitude, um, what are some of the dangers that can occur? Even if we say, you know, that's my personality, Dustin. I don't care what people think. You know, I'm gonna tell them off and tell them like it is. What are the uh potential pitfalls ahead for a person with that attitude?
SPEAKER_01Well, of course, the preeminent danger, isn't it, that occurs is that we sin while trying to point out sin and others. Either we sin because we're slandering others, or we sin because pride swells our hearts and we want to flaunt our personality. So I don't care what you think your personality is. If you think your personality is to constantly berade other people, to tear down, to destroy their thoughts, to ridicule or to slander them, I can assure you your personality is one that needs a transformation of the gospel. Not caring what other people think is not an attitude that should be characteristic of other Christians. Now, we've called that boldness, we've tried to call that courage, we've tried to call that being the saviors of Western civilization in the current circumstances sometimes of which we find ourselves, but not caring what other people think, nowhere in scripture will you find that as a characteristic of Christianity. Now, in the face of truth, having no fear of man, yes, I'm all for that. I'm all for having no fear of man, but just flaunting our thoughts because we want to be right or we want others to come over to our way of seeing things. That's just not what Christians should be about. And of course, Jesus is our example here, isn't he? He presented truth and he left it there. Now, he he um drew out the sin and others, he addressed the sin and others, he approached the sin in others, he addressed their theological error, but he presented the truth mainly and he left it there. The problem with us is that we present truth and then we beat people over the head with it until we earn a block or we earn a mute, and then we destroy our character and we destroy our testimony.
SPEAKER_00All right. Yeah, you're pressing right in on uh on so many issues. Um, you're still gonna pastor at some point over there in Wales, are you? Because you make a good pastor, Dustin, coming at us.
SPEAKER_01Well, uh well, I mean, the the Lord called me to to preach. He he called me to do that, and so um I I look forward to having opportunities to do so over here.
SPEAKER_00All right. Well, yeah, that that's only just to affirm the way that you convey truth. Um, and you know this already, the the giftedness that God gives us. We're not all great at everything or even good at everything. We're just we're we're We're gifted to do what we're supposed to do, and then the Lord takes us off planet earth and we get to go into glory. Um that is that is helpful exhortation. And when you said there at the end, and you know, we keep going until we earn the block or the mute, uh that that can't be the goal, honestly, because we are on mission. Um in that spirit of thought, how would you encourage someone who wants to get off social media? They're sick and tired of all the noise and the debate and vain wrangling. They say, Listen, I I totally agree with what you're saying, Dustin. That is exactly why I'm getting off social media. How would you encourage that person, maybe not to dissuade them, but encourage them and then answer the question, you know, how can we redeem social media, or how can someone who's discouraged by it redeem it, if you will?
SPEAKER_01Well, I think if anyone kind of wants to get off of social media because of the issues that you see, um, sometimes I I think it's probably because you may spend too much time on social media. So I think that's a necessary question that perhaps we'll address later. Um, just what what what are we required to spend? Are we required to spend? Should we be scrolling through uh Twitter and Facebook and other platforms all the time? And so I would just investigate how much time you're spending on social media. Um and then I would also encourage that the mute and the block button have to become your best friends. And so beginning in 2020, with the various worldwide cultural circumstances of which we have found ourselves, mute has probably saved me from getting off message a number of times. Um, it has just tremendously freed up my mind and my heart from being constantly anxious of those who are attacking me, those who are critiquing everything that I'm saying, those who feel as if it's their job in which to correct my error theology, as they would say. And so I would just say if there are people that are um uh attacking you, or if there are people attacking others and you just don't like to see that banter, just simply mute that person. Don't feel like you have to follow them, unfollow them, block them if they're using language that uh discredits or they're using foul language that will get an automatic, normally a block from me. You need to follow those accounts that edify, not pull down. Follow accounts like Grace to You, follow accounts like Liganeer, follow accounts like Table Talk and other tremendous ministries, posting articles, posting quotes, posting edifying things that will build you up in the faith instead of constantly tearing you down. There are tremendous ministries that share articles and encouraging things that will encourage you and help you in your Christian walk. Life is too short. The Christian life and growth and sanctification in Christ is too serious for you to follow anything that is going to discourage and pull you down.
SPEAKER_00Great truth. You said something that makes me want to ask another question, I'm gonna do it. Cussing, okay, online or swearing, depending on where you live in the world. Um, we refer to it in different ways. It's using profanity, foul language. If there are tweets that have foul language in them, if there are news videos with foul language in them, if there are even something that's maybe helpful, 90% helpful, uh, but there's cussing in it or profane language, uh this might be more of your well, you're the guest on the podcast, so give your opinion, give your thoughts, and and shepherd a little bit, at least that mindset. Should we be sharing those? What would your thoughts be on sharing those? Because I see that enough that it begs the question in my mind. Um, I've even wrestled through that sometimes in in seeing maybe certain things that are happening that are tragic or that are concerning. You want to bring attention to it so that people could even pray. Um would you recommend that Christians share those types of things? And and if not, why not?
SPEAKER_01Well, that that's a fantastic question. Um, and as of late, I've I've seen various conversations about this very topic uh take place and just Christians trying to think through what they should share and and should not share. Um, the same type of framework, Costi, that that I allow my own thinking before I tweet to flow through is the same type of framework that I want to take through my retweets. So am I retweeting something that is um involving corrupting talk coming out of someone else's mouth? Is it good for building up? Now, there are certain circumstances where there may be some sort of clip or some sort of video, and there's there's um a swear word or a cuss word, and we want to bring attention to the reality of what may be going on. Say that there's uh an abortion clinic or something, and there are Christians there, and they're trying to share the gospel, and we want to bring some sort of attention to that. I would simply say and give the advice, um, as I have seen uh today on some tweets, just let your hearers, let your followers know that there are there is foul language in that particular tweet. Give a little warning, give a little footnote, give a little heads up that they're going to hear things that may not be appropriate for um younger ears or even their own ears. Um, but I think it has to simply be a matter of conscience. I'm not going to give a blanket statement and say that you should not share anything of that nature, because there are certain circumstances where I think that would be allowable. But I would simply give that caveat and that footnote that someone is going to hear language that may be inappropriate. But for me, sharing language that is inappropriate or using a word in a tweet to have some sort of awe factor or some sort of sort of gotcha factor, I've never used any of that language on my platform. And the Lord has been very gracious to grow that platform to in quite in a in a quite substantial way. I think some people just need to examine their own hearts. They only use words like that because it grabs an attention or it grabs a shock factor. I think in the culture in which we lived, everybody just wants to shock. But at the moment, I think if you just share the simple gospel message, you're going to shock whether you believe it or not. So just share the truth. What why would you even need words like that? Um, Jesus did not use words like that. Now, some will argue differently. I don't see Paul using words of that nature. But in the culture in which we live, I don't want to use anything that is going to cause a brother or sister to stumble. And that is what we need to be so conscious about on Twitter and a social media platform that's so large and so wide, you're having access, you're having people access your tweets in Africa and other cultures to where if you say a word like that, that's indicative that you are not a Christian. It's indicative that you do not know the gospel if you share a word like that. And so, why would we want to cause a stumbling block to be put out there that an unbeliever or a or a child in the faith is going to stumble over, simply be edifying, be be good for what is building up, what fits for the occasion, be gracious in what you say. And I can assure you the shock factor is going to come in you simply sharing the truth.
SPEAKER_00Thank you for that. Very helpful and very clear answer. A practical question for you. How do you prepare tweets? So, the way I'm viewing this question through the context or the lens is somebody's sitting here listening or they're driving, they're listening, they go, you know, I like this episode. I'm gonna tweet more like Dustin. Um, I'm even sitting here thinking, uh, the more I can tweet like Dustin, the more edifying I can be. It's not about growing followers and all that, but just how can you edify people? I want to do that. Dustin, how do you prepare tweets, though? Do you look for quotes? Do you pull up, you know, logos and look for um, you know, commentaries or or certain quotes? Do you Google quotes by the Puritans, quotes by the reformers? I mean, get real practical here. And then on that note, do you well, I'm gonna hybrid into another question. I'm gonna wait on that one and ask you next, but how do you prepare tweets?
SPEAKER_01Okay, well, it's it's simply things I'm reading, um, things I'm studying, things I'm thinking about. Um you perhaps would be shocked by the fact that I I never time tweets. So um all my tweets are live. Um, I would say maybe 1% of my tweets are actually timed or scheduled. And that's simply if I'm gonna be on an airplane for for nine hours, I will schedule a couple posts uh while I'm in the in the air or flying or uh incapacitated at the moment. But it it's things I'm thinking about at that moment. If I tweet something about the incarnation, it's because I've been thinking about the incarnation that day. It's it's fresh in my mind. Now, I have certain parameters that I try to stay in when I'm thinking about what to post. Um first question I ask, is it true? So I don't want to post anything that's not true. I don't want to post anything that is a question mark. So there are certain subjects that I'm gonna stay away from, not because it's controversial, but because it just simply may not be true, or it may be a secondary issue that that that I'm wanting to promote that's just simply not true. Is it edifying? Is it doctrinally sound? Is it exalting Christ? Those are questions that I have constantly about my tweets. And so it's within those parameters that I basically strive to stay out of social media mud. Now, I don't do it perfectly. Um, sometimes I'll see a tweet and that will cause me to be very reactionary and tweet something. Others have different strategies that I'm thankful for. But really, that's worked for me. I don't want to get worked up about it or depressed when people say hurtful things to me. I want to be faithful in this medium, uh, the same way I strive to be faithful in the pulpit when I'm preaching. Uh, if I want to post a quote, I'll just Google George Whitfield or Jonathan Edwards or a quote by somebody, or it will be in something that I'm reading that a quote will stand out. Um, it will be in something that I'm writing that that I want to post. So I don't post that much, Costi. People think that I post, you know, like 25 times a day. I may post twice a day. I may post maybe three times a day at most. But again, it's things that just hit me. It's devotion that I'm having, it's things that I'm thinking about, contemplating. They're all live tweets, so it's not some robot tweeting for me. Um, but that's kind of the framework that I try to work through as I prepare what I'm gonna post.
SPEAKER_00That's really helpful as well. I think of feeding and leading, you know, in the church and in our homes and marriages, we are constantly feeding and leading from overflow. In other words, I'm I'm filling the tank with the things of God his word, prayer, reflection, thoughts, devotion, worshiping through song. I'm I'm I'm meditating on God's word. I'm enthralled with Jesus. And as I do that, as a Christian, all of us do that, the overflow of our life is should what spills out is what's inside. And so I see that through your example uh on social media, and what you're explaining makes perfect sense. And what is helpful and even convicting with what you described is you didn't just give us a formula like, yeah, go into this app, go to this site, go to this software, and then do this and do I mean you basically said, Yeah, when you really love Jesus and when you're spending time in his word and you're reading faithful resources, this is what comes out. That's really convict because I don't do it perfectly, no one does, but I think a lot of people get the sense that um your tweets and the social media behavior is a byproduct of loving the Lord. It's not manufactured. Um, on that note, what are some time management principles that you could give, or maybe tips for time management for people who regularly use social media?
SPEAKER_01Well, this kind of backs up into the comments that you just made that I I I would like to say tweeting or social media is not a calling. So um Jesus did not give people to be evangelists, pastor teachers, and tweeters. Uh, you you don't find that in scripture. Um social media is the privilege that Christians have to be able to have a much larger and wider voice than ordinarily we would be able to have. Tweeting is not a calling, uh, but it does need to be a discipline. Um, so tweeting is not a calling, social media is not a calling, but it does need to be a discipline, and that comes into the time management. Every single Sunday when I get up, um, I'm not sure exactly what time, it's the same time every Sunday, about 9 a.m. or thereabout, I get a flash on my screen. My iPhone reminds me how much time that I have spent that previous week on various apps and platforms. And in that moment, Costi, never, never has that appeared on my phone that I'm not immediately convicted. Convicted that I've spent more time on my screen than I have on my knees in prayer, convicted that I've spent more time on my screen than I have spent in his word, convicted that that is running and ruling my life. So, my goal every single week is to lower that. Now, I don't always achieve that, but I love when it says you have looked at your screen less percentage than you did all previous weeks. I think we just need to be very disciplined. We we need to discipline our bodies. Before you know it, you can have spent an hour of wasting time scrolling, following rabbit trails, and so on. I posted just about a week ago that five minutes in prayer is worth more than an hour spent in social media. I could say five minutes in prayer is worth more than a lifetime spent on social media. You need to set a time for yourself if you're bad about doing that. You need to set a timer, and you can do this on phones now. Set a timer on your phone for how long you are gonna be allowed to be on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, parlor, whatever other social media platforms that you find yourself on. So it needs to be a discipline. We need to be very structured. Sometimes I post and I immediately get off because I know that I'm gonna be sucked into some sort of discussion or I'm gonna be sucked in to some sort of platform. You can bring up very practically, bring up something like buffer. It's a scheduling platform, but what it allows you to do is it allows you to post without seeing the feed of anyone else's social media. So you're not scrolling through, you're not looking at things, you're not seeing what other people are saying, you have no idea. You simply post your thought and let it go out into the world and just let it be. Sometimes I've noticed myself that I get caught up in uh notifications or comments on a post or whatever the case would be. And again, it just comes back to a structured discipline that you need to have to set certain guidelines and parameters for yourself. Never, ever, ever, Costi, listeners, everybody who's listening, never spend more time on social media than you do in the word and prayer every single day. Because if you do, your priorities are very mixed up. The priorities of your own discipline, your own godliness, your own sanctification, never do it. But see that platform as a media through which, as you've already said, the overflow of our time in the word comes. Spread the gospel, share the gospel, share good thoughts, use it as a redeeming platform for Christ.
SPEAKER_00Come on. I if if you're not convicted and then at the same time encouraged and fired up from this episode, check your pulse. I mean, that is good truth, great truth, biblical truth. And I do think what you've offered us, Dustin, in this episode is a bit of both. We're gonna all be in that tension. The conviction is heavy, it's heavy in my own mind and my own heart as I hear you speak, but also I'm so encouraged. I'm fired up as I think about the ways to use social media to proclaim the gospel, to get in the screen of people, which the even this generation, Gen Z will be the first or is now the first, five-screen generation. They're raised on screens, they're always on screens. We have to get in there still. It's a mission field to get in there. Um but the way we do that needs to be through one message, one medium alone, if you will, through the gospel, the power of the gospel. And you have brought that to bear on our minds today. Uh, where can people follow you and find out more about your work and be blessed by you?
SPEAKER_01Well, um, on Twitter, uh just my first and last name, Dustin Binge, D-U-S-T-I-N-B-E-N-G-E. Um on Instagram, you'll need to put a W as an initial between Dustin Binge. Um I'm I'm not great at Instagram. Sometimes I forget to post things of that nature, but but I'm starting to kind of post more, and so you can visually see whales in the United Kingdom and where my wife and I live. And that's a tremendous blessing for me to be able to share that with people who dream about visiting here. Um, Union School of Theology, uh, just encourage you to get on there. Uh, we have a new website launching later this week. It's just tremendous. Uh, it's gonna feature various things. Uh, Ust.ac.uk uh is that social media, or excuse me, is that website for the school. Um, you can Google my name and and various articles will come up or whatever. I I try not to have a tremendous online presence. I don't want to be everywhere, but I want to be a few places really well. Um, and I can only manage a couple things really well. And so um you're gonna find me on a couple platforms, but most of it I I basically stay away from.
SPEAKER_00Wonderful. Well, um, I'll understand if you turn down an invite for a guest post on the For the Gospel blog at some point about tweeting the the way you've described. Um, but I will ask you this maybe each year we have you back on the podcast to talk about this subject just like you have, because in the crazy world we live in, I think it's gonna be easier and easier to forget our mission on social media. So we're gonna invite you back, okay?
SPEAKER_01Well, thank you very much for having me on today. I would be thrilled at the invitation to write or um to be on the podcast at any point. Costi, it's been a tremendous blessing. 2020 has changed the way we tweet. I mean, it it it just has. I mean, coronavirus and the the presidential election and and various other upheavals in our culture has just changed the whole media of social um or the whole social media platform. And it it's just amazing to see how it all transforms. And I can get into, you know, Twitter silencing Christians, and and I've seen that in my own platform this year, and I don't even post about politics and various other things. And so um it's just so necessary that we keep our vision focused, that we keep our mission in front of us, and that we do not waver off of that. The gospel is still saving, Christ is still building his church, Christ is still reigning and returning. And so we need to be about our father's business regardless of what everyone else is doing.
SPEAKER_00Amen and amen. We'll keep up the great work, keep tweeting for the gospel.
SPEAKER_01Thank you, brother. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00Well, thank you all for being with us today on the For the Gospel podcast. Be sure to subscribe, rate, review for blog articles and more about our ministry. Go to www.forthegospel.org or g. We are back every Monday with another episode. Until then, keep living for the gospel.