Turn Away Mine Eyes From Beholding Vanity
Social Algorithms, Worthless Things, & The Pilgrim's Progress
Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity. -Psalm 119:37
A common temptation for me is to trip into the algorithm-based attention-grabbing media that is thrown at us. I don't have social media apps on my phone, but that doesn’t mean much. When I look things up on YouTube, or follow a link on a news article to Twitter, I conveniently get all the negatives of social media without needing to download anything. These platforms make it easy to swallow their food; It is pre-chewed, like the Buy-N-Large Burger in a Cup from WALL-E. Short videos, algorithm-based. No account needed, no way to disable features. It bypasses my natural defenses for avoiding content I don't want to see. It becomes easier and easier to swipe your way into a mindless scroll though the Machine1.
If you have seen the 2020 documentary The Social Dilemma, you will remember that the battle is between the most automatic parts of your psychology and all the best computing power of Silicon Valley. It is your most base desires vs. a trillion dollar algorithm. As Christians, we know it is actually worse: it is the battle against the World (including the tech sector), the Flesh, and the Devil.
Scrolling Psychology, Or, Being Bad at Blackjack
With these infinite scroll platforms (all of them now implement this), you inevitably get to something that you know is immoral and don't want to see. By the time you register that you don't want to see it, you've already seen about half of the video. I noticed something interesting about that specific moment. That moment has been carefully engineered. As the user, what makes sense to do next? What is your next move? The easy thing to do is to scroll again, to "get away" from it. But now, while you think you “won,” by avoiding something you did not want to see, you just gave the algorithm another few moments of your attention and calcified your scrolling habit.
The right response should be, “Oh, let me close this. What am I doing?” But that is not the path of least resistance. The water flows downhill. There's no obvious close button. There's no clear ‘x’. Infinite scroll is designed in such a way that the easiest thing is to just scroll again. And again.
On the one hand, we are fully responsible for all this. We are responsible for our actions. We're responsible for what we put before our eyes. But on the other hand, I think it's helpful to recognize that the algorithms are stacked against our psychology. Algorithms are about optimizing. But these algorithms are not about optimizing “faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, and brotherly love2”. They are optimizing your attention, and form-pressing you into the perfect product to sell to advertisers. We are betting against the casino, with really bad odds. We are holding 17, but we keep saying “Hit me!”
All That Is in the World
It is helpful to notice that this is unique in history. This is the first time this capability is there for anyone. In the past, you needed to decide, plan, and execute to fill your mind with trash. Now, you can let the democratic consensus of billions of fallen hearts chose the trash for you. The heart of man, since the Fall, has been wicked. But the tools lying around for that wicked heart to grasp have been getting sharper and more abundant. The Machine encourages you to soak your mind with the loves of this world. To stir up the lusts of the flesh. When I say, “lusts of the flesh,” I am not even talking directly about things that would be considered pornographic (although plenty of those birds will offer to land in your hair if you don’t keep them away). Basically everything in this algorithmic content stream is being pornified, in the sense that it plays to base desires via deception. Porn is to Love what the Algorithm is to Real Life.
The apostle John says,
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
-1 John 2:15-17
The algorithms invite you to dunk your mind into the loves of this world. They invite you to throw yourself into “all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” Those lusts are what “is in the world” because of sin.
If we are not careful, our brain averages together all the TikToks, Shorts, Reels, and whatever else into something that your mind now believes is “Life.” Your mind comes to believe in a new Platonic form called, “Life”, that is informed, not from Reason, but from trendy audio over TikTok dances from pre-teen girls.
Vanitas Vanitatum
A word that comes to mind here is Vanity. Latin: Vanitas, worthlessness. So much of the algorithm-based slop that comes out the pipe can be categorized as “worthless.” Doom-scrolling should make an Solomon out of all of us.
“Vanity of vanities,” saith the Preacher. “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” -Ecclesiastes 1:2
Recently, Dr. Stephen Nichols gave a speech for Reformation Bible College’s Convocation Ceremony, and spoke on a part of John Bunyan’s great work, The Pilgrims' Progress.3 His talk focused on a scene where Christian and Faithful are walking through Vanity Fair. The road to the Celestial City passes through it. As they walk through the Fair, everyone in it is trying to sell them their goods. They're throwing them in their face saying, “Look here, Buy! Buy! Buy!” The merchants are so persistent that there comes a point where Christian needs to puts his fingers in his ears, look to heaven, and pray to God:
But that which did not a little amuse the merchandisers was, that these pilgrims set very light by all their wares; they cared not so much as to look upon them; and if they called upon them to buy, they would put their fingers in their ears, and cry, Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and look upwards, signifying that their trade and traffic was in heaven. -Pilgrim’s Progress, 222
Christian prays the words of Psalm 119:37: “Lord, turn my eyes from beholding vanity!” The ESV renders that verse: “turn my eyes from looking at worthless things!” What a powerful prayer to God for our digital day. I find this prayer helpful in walking in repentance through our own Vanity Fair. Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things. Lord Jesus, help me refuse to be a buyer of the wares of the Fair.
One chanced mockingly, beholding the carriage of the men, to say unto them, What will ye buy?
The merchants even offer to give them custom goods. “Well, if you won’t by this, what will you buy?” That's the algorithm trying to figure out what you want to see. That is the cry of the merchants of the Fair, who are willing to tailor their product to your wishes.
But they, looking gravely upon him, answered, "We buy the truth."
We buy the truth. Oh, God, may that be our response! We buy the truth. Dr. Nichols pointed out that Bunyan is referencing a verse from Proverbs 23: “Buy truth and do not sell it.” Buy and hold, hold, hold. This investment will not fail.
When David prayed that God would “turn his eyes from looking at worthless things”, he immediately preceded it with the petition: “Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness!4”. May our delight be in the law of God. That is the replacement for the worthless things of our day.
Sojourners, the Spirit, & Self Control
I write this post mostly for myself, but I know this is a very prevalent problem among my people. The problem of a world hostile to a life of obedience to Christ is a perennial one until all Christ’s enemies are put beneath his feet. My age group is cronically scrolling. Suprisingly, so is my parent’s generation. They actually got sucked into Facebook’s version of the short videos probably more than some of my generation.
If we want to completely avoid Vanity Fair, it means we'd have to go out of the world.
Do not associate with the sexually immoral…. not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world… -1 Corinthians 5:10
So in a sense, we have to walk through it. But there was a point where Christian in Pilgrim's Progress knew, "Hey, if I don't put my fingers in my ears right now and pray, I'm going to give in and buy something." We know that our flesh is not perfect yet. When the vendors start yelling, “Buy, buy, buy!”, when the click-bait thumbnails look so appealing, sometimes we have to stick our fingers in our ears, turn off the smartphone, and say, “Lord, turn my eyes from beholding vanity! Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things! Help me love what you love. Help me to hate, with a perfect hatred, what you hate.”
May God give us grace to stand firm. May we walk as sojourners and exiles, abstaining from the passions of the flesh that wage war against the soul5. We are not to live as the natives of Canaan, whom God has devoted to destruction, for “on account of these the wrath of God is coming6”. May we make our way through Vanity Fair, not as members of it, but as pilgrims passing through it, with our spirits unscathed. Even if they throw tomatoes at us for not buying. Even if we have our share of trial, temptation, repentance, and godly sorrow, which come to every man and woman that seeks to live a godly life in Christ7. Even if we get to the Celestial City missing a right eye or a right hand8.
There is a practical element to our fight with the Machine, but that fight must be founded on sound spirituality. Practically, we each must decide how we will use these tools and platforms. There are many different answers based on the different temptations we each have, but one thing is certain for the Christian: We cannot use these platforms along the well-worn paths of least resistance. The narrow path9 may interescet with these tools and platforms, but beware, there will be Woman Folly at that intersection, saying, “whoever is simple, turn aside here!10”
The problem is both physical and spiritual. Thankfully, so is the solution. The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us11. The Infinite took on finitute in the Incarnation. His work of redemption has begun, and He is faithful to complete it. While we were yet God’s enemies, Christ died for us12.
We have recieved the promised Holy Spirit: one of His fruits is self-control13. Let us covet that fruit, brothers, for our God is happy to give it.
A common theme here at Power & Glory is beholding the glory of the Lord14. That plays a role in almost all of my posts, like my series on beholding the sufferings of Christ or this post on Sunday morning worship. It is the theme of this post “The Face That Draws Away from Idols”, and this one on Lewis’ Till We Have Faces. I am convinced that “looking to Jesus” is ultimately where the victory comes.
As David looked from worthless things to the Law, may we turn from our worthless things to the One of Whom the Law bore witness.
In Christ,
God bless you
For this concept of the “Machine”, see
’s work at , at , and Ruth’s work at2 Peter 1:5-8
Why have you, as a reader, versed to some degree in the English language, not yet read The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come?
Psalm 119:36
1 Peter 2:11
Colossians 3:6
2 Timothy 3:12
Matthew 5:29: And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for. thee that one of thy members should perish, and. not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Matthew 7:13-14
Proverbs 9:16
1 John 1:14
Romans 5:8
Galatians 5:23
2 Corinthians 3:18
Great post, great reminder!! Our pastor gave an awesome sermon this week about proverbs, how it doesn’t say “don’t do this singular act of evil”, it says, “ Do not enter the *path* of the wicked, And do not *walk in the way of evil.* Avoid it, do not travel on it; Turn away from it and pass on.” And he talked about David, how it all started with a few small decisions, like staying home from battle, checking out the girl, asking her over, etc etc before culminating in a twisted murderous plot. Anyway, all of which is to say, don’t just keep scrolling! Get off that path, it leads nowhere good. I for one needed to hear that, thank you!
This is good teaching to all ages! None of us are immune. The power of darkness is trying to take us down. There is a Christian song on radio now that goes something like…Come, Jesus, come. We have waited for so long. Heal all the hurts and right all the wrongs. I am getting older and seeing this more clearly every day. So I need to stop scrolling!