THE MIND VIRUS
The term “mind virus” was first coined by atheist Richard Dawkins. In his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, he called ideas that spread like a gene through a population a meme and argued that religion is a “virus of the mind,” infecting people not through evidence but tradition and emotionalism. Since then, the phrase has been taken up in tech, politics, and culture to describe destructive ideologies that wreak havoc on society. Ironically, today it seems like it’s the reverse that’s true. The real mind virus–is not biblical truth but the belief that there is no ultimate truth. That idea is unraveling society and reason to the point that even militant atheist Richard Dawkins has defined himself a cultural Christian!
This is exactly what Paul warned in Romans 1. From the beginning, people trade truth for lies, reason for madness, and the Creator for creation. Later, He this same Paul also taught his protege, Timothy the same delusion would spread in the last days—and we’re watching it now. The mind virus is everywhere: celebrating shame, condemning good, and numbing people to the decay consuming them.
Thesis:
God’s evidence is everywhere, but we made a terrible trade. Now we’re plagued by a mind-virus and it’s spreading faster than ever today.
GOD’S EVIDENCE IS EVERYWHERE.
God has given us ample evidence of His reality and therefore ample opportunity for clear thinking. But we suppress the truth
Romans 1:18-20 [18] For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. [19] For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. [20] For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
The first time I ever drove through Arizona I was 20 coming back from Bible College in the winter and we were trying to take a route without too much snow. I’ll never forget being surprised by the small amount of snow I did see taking i-40.
This is flag staff. If you showed this picture to a child and asked how the color in the sky got painted like that and 9/10 times they’re going to intuitively say “God made that”. The unbiased human soul cannot resist the pull of the Creator from behind the creation.
Psalm 19:1–4
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
[2] Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
[3] There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
[4] Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
Here’s what we can see:
Incommunicable Attributes:
(J.I. Packer Knowing God)
Immutability (God never changes)
Infinity (God is boundless and unoriginated)
Omnipotence (all-powerful)
Omniscience (all-knowing)
Omnipresence (present everywhere)
Sovereignty (supreme ruler over all)
Transcendence (beyond creation)
Eternality (without beginning or end)
Immanence (present within creation)
Fine-tuning Argument Dials: Several basic physical constants needed to fall between very narrow limits. The fine-tuning of the universe is evidence of an Intelligent Designer who intentionally set the constants to allow for life.
You would never find a car and assume it was assembled accidentally over time over the course of billions of years. You know someone made it. Our planet and universe provides just the right conditions for life–even human life to flourish–human DNA has infinitely more complexity than any car. Yet the assumption is we’re the product of chance.
BUT WE MADE A TERRIBLE TRADE.
[21] For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. [22] Claiming to be wise, they became fools, [23] and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. [24] Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, [25] because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
they did not honor him honor means to praise, extol, magnify, celebrate
became futile in their thinking futile means foolish or empty. Thinking here means speculations, the thinking of a man deliberating with himself a thought, inward reasoning a deliberating, questioning about what is true.
hearts were darkened. Heart means inward being. Darkness is speaking of covering something with darkness, and can refer to heavenly bodies as deprived of light.
Mac n’ cheese or steak
When my children were very small, you might ask my kids what they would rather have, mac n’ cheese or steak, and every time you know what they’d choose? We’ve since changed that! Unfortunately that’s also altered my kid-blessing budget…
This is exactly the trade Adam and Eve made in the Garden of Eden. They had full, unaltered communion with God, but they decided to reach for the Creation and lost the Creator.
What do you wish you could go back in time and change?
NOW WE’RE PLAGUED BY A MIND VIRUS.
[26] For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; [27] and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. [28] And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
So here’s the progression:
We suppress the truth of God’s existence
↓
We dishonor God + exchange Creator for Creation
↓
Our reasoning becomes empty and foolish
↓
Our inner being becomes spiritually dark, clouded, and evil
↓
God gives us up to a debased mind and lusts
↓
Our lusts twist the created order itself
G.K. Chesterton entered to the Times of London Prompt “What’s wrong with the world today?” “Dear sirs, I am”
“The Myth of Progress”
Digital age natives believe we’re smarter than previous generations. But we’re not. We were born into a world that stacked innovative technologies, but for most of us, we’re inheriting advances achieved by intelligent people but we’re not personally more intelligent.
Instead of progress, we’re watching societal decay.
The Flynn Effect (20th Century)
For much of the 20th century, average IQ scores rose steadily—by about 3 to 5 points per decade across many industrialized countries
Reverse Flynn Effect (Late 20th Century Onward)
Since roughly the 1970s–1990s, this trend has stalled or reversed in many developed nations. Declines of 2.4 points per decade have been reported in Western countries
Since 1960:
Marriage rate: 75% → 50%
Out-of-wedlock births: 5% → 40%
Fatherless homes: 8% → 25%+ of kids
Fertility rate: 3.6 → 1.6 children per woman
Violent crime: 4× increase
Overdose deaths: 0 → 100,000+ annually
Teen suicide: 3×
Church attendance: 45% → 20%
Religious “nones”: 3% → 30%
What do I do?
Parents: This is coming to your home.
Common pattern: kids who feel like they don’t fit in are being drawn into LGTQ community.
Why: Identity – this is the core issue and a critical part of development at this age. That’s why this is such a huge battlefield for teens.
Help them think: This is a community that says people ARE your desires or behavior. But they’re not. You’re an image bearer of God made by God for the purposes of God. That’s how you should think about these friends who say “I am trans” or “I am gay”. But that’s not who you are. Identity is who you are, those are sexual desires they are experiencing or confusion they feel. Those things don’t define you. But in our society we are doing irreversible damage to the bodies of those who feel this way.
Hobbs vetoed a bill (Senate Bill 1586) that would have expanded civil liability for medical professionals providing gender transition procedures to minors (i.e. allowing lawsuits by those who detransition).
Do whatever it takes:
Remove kids from public school if need be.
Have lengthy conversations.
Be proactive.
Don’t allow unmitigated smart phone use to teens.
This isn’t just passively removing.
Disciple them twice as hard as the world.
Teach them the joy of Jesus
C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half‑hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
IT’S SPREADING FASTER THAN EVER TODAY.
It’s going hard to read the next passage I want you to open your Bible’s to. But Paul is describing the trajectory of humanity as a result of our terrible exchange.
2 Timothy 3:1–9 [1] But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. [2] For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, [3] heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, [4] treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, [5] having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. [6] For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions,
We saw prostitutes on a trip with kids, which is hard to explain to children. But this is where women are abused and used for sex (often) because they are enslaved to drugs or have come from abusive backgrounds and are cornered into a state of desperation.
[7] always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
We have more information at our finger tips than ever, but we have less wisdom and knowledge of God than ever.
[8] Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. [9] But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.
This is a public call out of two evil Old Testament men.
I want to warn you of church leaders who follow the progression of sinful society:
Clear Pattern for Decline of Churches:
1) Theologically conservative
2) Deny sovereignty
3) Dabble in Open Theism
4) Reject Penal Substitutionary Atonement
5) Annihilationism / redefine hell
6) Reject exclusivity, vague universalist leanings
7) Reject infallibility
8) Open apostasy
The better Exchange:
2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
What you should do:
Increase your doctrinal Diet (Dillon studying doctrinal statement before college)
Resist the pull of culture
Limit and filter screen time for kids A.I. and the anti-christ
Discuss the narratives of media
In take more “nutrition” than “sugar” (No Screen Zones for my family)
John Piper’s Flame Thrower Analogy