The algorithm does not care about you, and it does not care about your kids. It is optimized for one thing: engagement. It keeps us trapped in its platform, scrolling longer and longer. TikTok users now average nearly an hour per session. Instagram holds people for over thirty minutes. The platforms are winning, and the cost is something we can not afford to lose.
The algorithm is not there to help you develop as a well-formed, faith-filled human being. It is not there to challenge you, encourage you, hold you accountable, or help you grow in the ways of Jesus. It is there to hold you hostage in a prison that is so comfortable you never want to leave.
Digital Stockholm Syndrome
Stockholm syndrome is where a hostage falls in love with their captor. That is the goal of the algorithm: to create a digital Stockholm syndrome where you are trapped in a prison so comfortable that you never want to leave. And the more we scroll, the more we spend time with AI and AI-driven companions, the less time we spend with actual humans. Humans who will challenge us and encourage us and hold us accountable.
The algorithm is killing community.
Two Algorithms in Colossians 3
Paul wrote something in Colossians 3 that reads like he was looking at our phones 2,000 years in advance. What he describes is essentially two different algorithms: the world’s algorithm and a Kingdom algorithm. It is almost scary how specific and accurate his words are to what we encounter today in our lives, and sometimes on our screens.
The World’s Algorithm
Starting in Colossians 3:5, Paul writes, “Put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you.” That word “lurking” is so fitting. The algorithm does not announce itself. It is not upfront saying, “I am here to steal your soul. I am here to shape your identity.” But that is exactly what it is doing. The algorithm is lurking.
Paul goes on: “Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds” (Colossians 3:5-9).
Our feeds are filled with these kinds of things, driven by the algorithm. It knows personally and individually what you are most captivated by. And it does not have to be the obvious stuff. Maybe sexual impurity and lust are not your struggle. But what about greed? What about scrolling through beautiful homes and thinking, “I want that. My kitchen does not look like that.” It does not have to be explicit content. It can be an algorithm that feeds things into us that trap us into a mindset that is not from the Lord.
The Pull of Anger and Rage
Or consider anger and rage. So much of what fills our feeds right now, especially in the past weeks with the trauma our country has been dealing with, is just angry people. There is a lot of rage right now. I have had to block and filter content because I know it will impact my soul. Yes, things are happening in different places, but I have to guard against that anger being fed to me by an algorithm designed to keep me engaged. “And then what happened? And then, oh, look how they responded. Did you see this?” It is a constant drip of dopamine, not just from the good stuff, but from the really ugly stuff too.
And Paul even throws dirty language into that first list. The words and phrases that have become so normalized in our culture have real influence on us, more than we realize.
The Kingdom Algorithm
But Paul does not stop with the world’s algorithm. He goes on to paint a whole different picture, almost like a new algorithm. Remember, an algorithm is an organizing system, a digital organizing system that helps us move in a particular direction or come to certain conclusions about life and reality. God’s Kingdom algorithm is all about real life in Jesus.
Starting in Colossians 3:10, Paul writes, “Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him. Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourself” (Colossians 3:10, 12). There is something beautiful about that image of clothing yourself, like putting on a new jacket. You need something new. You need this new algorithm.
Paul says to clothe yourself “with tender-hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others”(Colossians 3:12-13).
Think about what a contrast that is, especially online. When we see other people’s faults, what is our first reaction? Flaming comments, tearing people apart, calling them idiots. But the Kingdom algorithm calls us to make allowance for each other’s faults, to forgive anyone who offends us, even when we feel justified in our outrage.
What Love Actually Does
This Kingdom algorithm is so different from the world’s because it is filled with mercy, humility, patience, forgiveness, love, and peace. And Paul builds to the pinnacle in Colossians 3:14-15: “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body, you are called to live in peace.”
Here is what is so important to see. The world’s algorithm, the one driven by sexual impurity, lust, greed, rage, anger, and harsh language, separates us and isolates us from each other. But the love of God binds us together in perfect harmony.
Harmony is a beautiful word here, because for harmony to work you actually need diverse sounds. You have the bass, you have the sopranos, you have all the people in between singing different parts. It is not like we are some weird, homogenized, mushy group. We are all unique and different, but together, love is what binds us together in perfect harmony.
What You Focus on Forms You
This is the real question underneath all of it. What you focus on forms you. The world’s algorithm is designed to capture your attention and shape your soul, one scroll at a time. The Kingdom algorithm, rooted in Colossians 3, calls you to put on a new nature, to clothe yourself with mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and above all, love.
One algorithm isolates. The other binds us together. One feeds anger, greed, and impurity. The other cultivates peace, harmony, and genuine community. The difference between isolation and community may come down to which algorithm you are letting shape your life.
Let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your heart. As members of one body, you are called to live in that peace. Fight the algorithm!
CLICK HERE to listen to an entire message: “Together In Christ: Fight The Algorithm” on YouTube.
