Being Serious in an Age of Distraction
Being Serious in an Age of Distraction We live in an age of distraction and trivia – and Christians are not immune from its ill effects on our spiritual health. […]
Being Serious in an Age of Distraction
We live in an age of distraction and trivia – and Christians are not immune from its ill effects on our spiritual health. Technological advancements and social media can be good, but our addiction to them saps us spiritually by reducing the amount of time we spend in Bible reading and prayer.
The typical Australian now spends between 2 to 6 hours online per day. Our spiraling addiction to social media, video games and online streaming has become so serious that John Piper has rightly commented “One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time.”
This is not a call for us to become Amish or Luddites. But, Christians are called to be alert and watchful; to be wise; and to not follow after the idolatry of the day. How many of us worship the Lord on Sunday but also frequent ‘high places’ as well? (1 Kings 22:43)
In today’s world either technology has become an idol or we ourselves have become the idol and technology is what gratifies us. The great danger confronting modern day Christians is that social media, video games and online streaming distract us from growing spiritually.
A. W. Tozer wrote once: “Whatever keeps me from my Bible is my enemy, however harmless it may appear to be”. One wonders what Tozer would say of us today with our multiple devices spread throughout the house?
A chief component of the Christian life and walk is Bible reading and prayer (Psalm 1; Colossians 4:12). Christians should naturally gravitate towards Bible reading and then meditating on what was read. We should chew the cud so to speak.
In the Old Testament the Jewish kings were required to write out by hand the first 5 books of the Bible (Deut. 17:18-19 And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them) – an admirable practice which pastors today should encourage their congregation to do themselves.
The Bible tells us that the word of God is like spiritual bread that nourishes the soul. “Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4). In Psalm 119:103 God’s word is sweeter than honey ‘How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!’.
God’s word also guards us and lights us on our path. Of course, if we are distracted and addicted to social media and video games we will slowly and imperceptibly become spiritually malnourished and so susceptible to disease or attack from our enemy Satan. This is what Satan in his war-room, has strategized all along – that addictions and distractions will sap our own and our churches’ spiritual strength.
No spiritual soldier will be able to defend himself long if his sword is not burning bright and well-polished. Satan relishes in the knowledge that distractions will cause our Bibles to become dusty and moth eaten; our devotion to prayer and good works mired.
My children will sometimes reason with me that there is nothing particularly sinful with a lot of social media or gaming and of course in many times that is correct. Having Tik Tok on your smart phone is not a sin. There is no mention in the Bible which thunders: “Thou shalt have no TikTok in thy home!”
But Christian parents need to gently and wisely point out to their children that playing an innocent game of cards or even Uno can lead to their spiritual demise. How so? In his Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis writes: “Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”
If we spend mindless endless hours on trivial distractions we fall into the satanic temptation of losing sight on what is most important – the spiritual health of our soul. And, we will end up either perishing eternally, or we will become so spiritually malnourished that while our soul may be saved, our usefulness in the Kingdom of God will be very limited.
How Satan uses technological addiction to keep the unsaved in chains.
Addiction to technology is, unsurprisingly, one of the key strategies Satan uses today to keep the unsaved chained in his own Satanic kingdom. I told my young son several years ago that most of his generation will fall headfirst into Hell with their eyes glued to their screens and their ears plugged to their Spotify. In today’s world the word of God is drowned out by their diversions. In Thomas Morris’ book ‘Making Sense of it All’ he writes of Blaise Pascal:
“How do people manage to ignore the deepest and most important questions of life and death? Why don’t people worry more about what this life, with all its problems is all about? To these questions Pascal has an intriguing answer. People manage to put on the blinders, to avert the gaze from these ultimate questions, and to avoid facing their utter helplessness by means of diversion”.
How does diversion stop the unsaved from hearing the Gospel message? Morris states: “Diversion and omnipresent noise and clutter of contemporary culture erect barriers to the serious and disciplined pursuit of truth. Although I do not believe it is included in any apology for the Christian worldview (it is scarcely mentioned anywhere at all), one of the key elements in considering Christian truth claims is not an argument at all, but a condition is which arguments may be understood and appreciated. That condition is silence”
Morris quotes from Kierkegaard, who writing before the advent of electrification and television lamented in his book ‘Provocations’: “In observing the present state of affairs and of life in general, from a Christian point of view one would have to say: It (i.e noise and distraction) is a disease. And if I were a physician and someone asked me, “What do you think should be done?” I would answer, “Create silence, bring about silence.” God’s word cannot be heard……” (Kierkegaard, in Provocations pg.372).
We live in an age where unsaved people are so diverted and so engrossed in mindless trivia and entertainment that the word of God is quite literally drowned out by the noise. What is the result? Ignorance and indifference to the Gospel message.
As Thomas Morris points out: “A teacher once asked a very bright but unmotivated student, “What’s the difference between ignorance and indifference?” The student replied, “I don’t know and I don’t care.” And that’s exactly right. An ignorant person does not know, an indifferent person does not care. The ignorant person has not learned. The indifferent person will not learn….”.
We could lament the delusions Australians are entrapped in and think to ourselves ‘Well, there is nothing we can do’. That is the wrong thought. We need to remind ourselves that if it was not for the grace of God in our own lives we would be similarly entrapped. The 18th century George Whitefield said after noticing a prisoner go to the gallows “There, but for the grace of God, go I”.
Presbyterians like all evangelical Christians, ought to be passionate to reach the unsaved. We know their ultimate final destination. We know their time is short. Are we moved to reach them despite the obstacles? How do we reach them in the short time that they and we have left on earth? Time is urgent – let us not become like the world itself and be distracted (Romans 12:1-2).
This is a spiritual battle. Satan would prefer us to become spiritual couch potatoes wasting precious time on our screens. We are engaged in spiritual warfare for the souls of the lost. Our weapons are not carnal but spiritual (2 Cor. 10:4), and so we need to be trained in using them. We will never be experts in the word or powerful prayer warriors if we always have our heads glued to our screens. Learn self-control and devote the time God has given to you in a manner that you will not be ashamed of at the final judgment.
– Troy Appleton
