Self direction, rather than...

The access to unlimited amounts of information, allows people the ease of living a more self-directed life.

There are many benefits to this.

For example:

Gone are the days when moms have to run to the doctor, for an appointment to find out what's wrong with their child. Nowadays, moms can "google" the issue until they come up with an answer they believe is the right solution for their child. This is called self-direction rather than doctor-direction.

Gone are the days when dads have to spend their entire weekend visiting car dealerships to purchase a new or used car. Nowadays, dads can go online to sites like Carmax or Carvana, to save time and money when purchasing a vehicle. This is called self-direction, rather than dealer-direction.

Gone are the days when families wake up on a Sunday morning, decide to get in their car, and visit a new church to see if they like it. Nowadays, people can listen online to a variety of different pastors and their sermons for months, and sometimes even years, before they ever visit a local church.

Before the days of the internet, a family would have to show up at the church-house for multiple Sunday's in order to get a "feel" for what a church believed and how it functioned. Nowadays, with the self-directed options of online sermons, families don't have to visit in person as much. There is good and bad in this.

The good is, it's easier to figure out what a church believes by listening to a multitude of sermons online, before visiting. The internet is a great platform and a user-friendly tool to search for truth. However, the concern is, discerning self-direction, from Holy Spirit direction.

After all, choosing a local-church is NOT like choosing a car or doctor for your family. The local-church is vital for all Christian families, and this decision must be made through the Holy Spirit's direction, not self-direction.

The danger we must be aware of is taking self-direction, and mistakenly calling it, the Holy Spirit's direction.

John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.