Technology & "Digital Liturgies," Part 5: Outrage & Virtue Signaling

This lesson presents a sobering critique of the digital age's influence on Christian thought, warning against the pervasive culture of online outrage, performative virtue signaling, and the erosion of truth driven by social approval and algorithmic manipulation. It identifies key theological dangers such as the distortion of truth through emotional bias, the rise of political correctness as a form of pragmatic self-preservation, and the idolatry of popular consensus over biblical fidelity. Drawing on Scripture and thinkers like C.S. Lewis, the message calls for a disciplined, Christ-centered wisdom that resists impulsive reactions, prioritizes careful and truthful thinking, and grounds belief in the enduring authority of Scripture and the historic church. True Christian discernment, the sermon insists, is not found in the fleeting opinions of the online crowd but in the embodied, communal life of the local and universal church, where beliefs are tested, refined, and sustained through faithful tradition and face-to-face fellowship.