It is an interesting time that we live in. People are more connected than they have ever been yet more isolated than ever as well. We literally have thousands of “friends” in our pockets whom many of us interact with on a daily basis. Yet the depth of our relationships are exceedingly shallow. As I was thinking through this, I had a visual of social media as an ocean vast as the Pacific but an inch deep. It may look impressive from a distance, but no matter how far you wade in, you will not find depth of any kind.

I recently read a couple articles about the correlation between social media and isolation, one was by NPR and the other from Psychology Today. Both articles were pointing out the vicious cycle of isolation and anxiety, saying isolation produces anxiety and depression, then anxiety and depression cause people to isolate farther. This is a destructive circle we can get in, and contrary to what one might think, these articles showed that social media not only does not help, but fuels this cycle.

The article in Psychology Today said this:

“The relatively modern phenomenon of social media and its associated technology adds a new dimension to loneliness and anxiety by offering the young person a way of directly quantifying friendships, viewing the friendship networks of others for comparison, and providing immediate information about social events. You can compare your own popularity with that of your peers, and manage that adolescent ‘fear of missing out’ (FOMO) by continually monitoring what’s going on socially. So it’s easy to see how technology use can take the place of more traditional social interaction and provide a yardstick for one’s popularity – or more significantly, one’s feelings of loneliness and alienation.”

The NPR article references a study from the American Journal of Preventive Medicine that showed that people who visited social media outlets more frequently (58 or more times per week) had more than three times the odds of perceived social isolation than those who visited less than nine times per week. They hypothesize the cause as follows: “You might watch all these interactions where it seems like everyone else is connecting…That could lead to feeling excluded. The images of other people’s seemingly perfect vacations, homes and lives, even though those are not likely to represent reality, can make you feel like you’re missing out.”

So, we are living in the middle of this tech era, ruled and governed by social media outlets of various descriptions, who are all promising friendship and community, but are bearing the bad fruit of isolation, anxiety and depression.

However the reality is, social media is not ultimately at fault, and social media is not evil. The true problem is so much deeper, and it is not new; I would like to make the case that you can trace it all the way back to the beginning of humanity, and then I want to show that Jesus is the only solution!

So I have five points that I hope will provide some clarity on this subject of our need for and struggle with community.

1. Community is in God’s very nature.
2. We were created FOR community.
3. Sin broke (and breaks) community.
4. Jesus redeems us TO community.
5. The Church IS community.

1. Community is in God’s very nature.

The God of the Bible is a Triune God. He reveals Himself as such from the start. Genesis 1:26 says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…'” As The New City Catechism so eloquently states in questions two & three:

“Q: What is God? A: God is the creator and sustainer of everyone and everything. He is eternal, infinite, and unchangeable in his power and perfection, goodness and glory, wisdom, justice, and truth. Nothing happens except through him and by his will. Q: How many persons are there in God? A: There are three persons in the one true and living God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are the same in substance, equal in power and glory.”

The implications of God’s Triune nature are vast, one of the most significant of which is that it means God Himself not only is in community, but that He Himself IS community. God, in His very nature is a loving community from eternity past. And from that communal nature, He created us, His image bearers, as communal beings. Which brings us to our next point.

2. We were created FOR community.

God is a community of love, and He created us to live in loving community. In Genesis 2:18 we see a glimpse into the mind of God as He was creating humanity: “Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.'” This is why isolation is damaging, as the studies I referenced show, isolation produce anxiety and depression, because it is not good that man should be alone! Community is our created intent, so when we are not living in it, we do not thrive. The nature of the community God created us for is twofold. It is 1) Loving (as I mentioned) and 2) Shares purpose or mission.

God’s design for community is that we would live in loving harmony with Him and with one another. Serving and obeying God, while preferring and complementing (completing) one another. Additionally, God’s community has, from the start, always revolved around shared purpose or mission. In Genesis 1 we see that God called our first parents not just to be fruitful and multiply, but also to subdue the earth, have dominion over the creatures and tend to the garden. If our first parents would have walked in this, humanity would live in paradise and harmony! But you know the story. Genesis 3 comes along and everything starts to fall apart. Our first parents sinned against God and against one another. Hence point number three.

3. Sin broke (and breaks) community.

In Genesis 3, the account of the fall, we see a systematic deconstruction of our created intent: The Serpent arrived and called the command of God into question, and our first parents began to doubt, or disbelieve, God’s word, which led them to betray their mission. Rather than caring for creation, they abused it, using it for their own selfish gain (eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil).

Their disbelief and their rejection of their purpose caused the community they were created for to begin to break down. They rebelled against God, which broke communion with Him. Rather than walking with Him, they hid themselves from Him out of shame. Then rather than loving and preferring one another, they turned on one another! The man blaming the woman for their rebellion (shocking, I know).

From that point on, as we read through the grand narrative of scripture, and of history for that matter, we see this pattern over and over: Community broken by sin. Sin breaks community because, as I mentioned, in order for community to work, its foundation must be love.

But sin, at it’s core, is selfish, and selfishness is the antithesis of love. We could talk about this on a large scale, in reference to nations waring against nations, or political parties, or social and racial conflict. All of which are examples of community that is broken by sin.

But let’s bring it a bit closer to our personal lives. Returning to what I mentioned in the start of this article. In this age we live in, we are increasingly isolated because the spirit of our culture is individualism, independence and success, where the end of all is being successful, wealthy, powerful and glamorous. The narrative we are fed is watch out for “#1.” Do whatever it takes to succeed, love yourself, work yourself to the bone to advance your career because it’s a dog-eat-dog world. It is this godless philosophy that drives us away from true community. We are so “busy” with our own lives that we do not make time for real community. But we have this pseudo community that is social media, which gives us the illusion of friendship but with no real personal investment, no sacrifice and no love. And as I said in the start, we are beginning to see the fruit of this broken system.

This is the great tragedy of our existence, the struggle between our God-given need for community and our inherited sin nature that rules us apart from Christ. So what is the answer? JESUS.

4. Jesus redeems us TO community.

If the problem goes all the way back to creation, sin breaking communion with God and community with one another, then the solution needs to resolve the root of the problem, not just the symptoms. Queue Jesus.

Romans 5:12-16 shows us that Jesus came to this earth to undo the work of Adam, our first father. Jesus, as He walked on this earth, was the first man who ever fully and perfectly lived out our created intent. He had unbroken communion with the Father; He did not rebel against Him. He selflessly loved those around Him. He fulfilled the mission and purpose of God without wavering. And finally, Jesus gave Himself up freely to the cross to pay the penalty for our sin; He went to the grave and was raised by the power of God, victorious over sin and death once and for all. So now, as you and I place our faith in Him, we share His identity and are freed from the power of sin in our lives. Through the work of Jesus, God restored our communion with Him by breaking down the barrier of sin, freeing us from the prison of our destructive selfishness, so we can love Him. And consequently, He saved us TO a redeemed community as He adopted us into the family of God. See Romans 8:14-17.

In short, by the grace of Jesus we are set free to walk in our created intent. Though we will not do it perfectly, in Christ we are able to live in communion with God, community with one another, fulfilling the mission and purpose of God in our lives. This is what it means to be part of the Church.

5. Church IS community.

When we understand the Gospel in this light, it changes the way we see church. Church is not something we do on Sundays; it is certainly not a building. Church is the community of God’s people who commune with God together and share HIS mission.

We see this lived out in the snapshot of the early church in Acts 2:42-47. For them church was not a once or twice a week thing, it was day by day meeting in the temple and in one another’s homes. They were receiving teaching. They were fellowshipping. They broke bread. They prayed. They had all things in common, sacrificially giving to one another. They praised God and had favor with all the people, and God added to their number day by day those who were being saved. This type of community is hard; it takes sacrifice and time. It takes a shifting of priorities. But this is what it means to be a part of Christ’s church. This is the very thing Jesus commands us to do.

” A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

One point seven million tweets in 85 countries, 90% within the first 48 hours. More than 12 million Facebook posts, comments and reactions exploding online in less than 24 hours. TIME magazine’s “2017 Person(s) of the Year.” Who is everyone is talking about? The answer: those breaking the silence with their personal accounts of sexual harassment, assault and abuse.

#MeToo

The #MeToo sprung up in response to unprecedented accusations of sexual assault from Hollywood against one of their own. It quickly went beyond viral across every form of social and mainstream media.The fact that the internet is heaving under the weight of the tsunami of #MeToo (and now the YouTube video testimonies by Olympic gymnasts abused by their team doctor) should not come as a surprise. One in six women in America has been raped and every 98 seconds an American is sexually assaulted. Every eight minutes that victim is a child.

Look around wherever you are reading this right now. If there are six women around you, at least one is likely to have been raped. Maybe it’s you. Or your co-worker, your friend’s daughter, your boss and on and on. It’s definitely LOTS of women you know, whether you realize it or not, whether you think about it or not. If it hasn’t touched you personally, it’s hard to get your head around it. It’s a hard issue.

And not everyone who has the unfortunate credentials to allow them to post #MeToo will, nor should they. It is a very personal choice. So add to the overwhelming statistics the fact that many won’t or are not ready to add their name to the list, and it further underscores the enormity of this issue.

A Hard Subject via a Hard Media

But even if we acknowledge the sheer numbers, it’s hard to face the ugly reality that is sexual assault, especially as relayed via social media.

We strip down in the doctor’s office to see wounds and scars at their point of impact. Sadly, people are also stripped naked for pornography. One to heal, the other to exploit. Unfortunately, the Internet is an unpredictable and often slap-in-the-face mishmash of both of these scenarios and so has, understandably, left many overwhelmed and keeping their distance from the issue of sexual assault, and therefore, the Me Too testimonials.

But as believers we declare that, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” So at least some of the idea – if not the campaign itself – behind the Me Too movement is something that we, as people of the light, people of the truth, understand and support. Walking in the light and helping others to do the same is at the center of what we are all about. “We are not of those that shrink back…” the writer of Hebrews reminds us, and although the context was different, the truth remains. Christians are those that are called to be bold on the side of truth and justice. This campaign also reminds me of the Bible’s admonition to “mourn with those that mourn.” Because what can you do but mourn when you read one after another of heart-wrenching stories of abuse? Or have you read them? Should you read them? Were you even aware of this campaign or of the overwhelming statistics?

We can’t be aware of every issue in the world. But one in six? Every 98 seconds? And every eight minutes, a child? Even if you’re not on social media at all, you probably watch the news, talk and interact with people, and if all else fails, you’re here reading this, and so now you know.

Sexual Assault is a Huge Problem.

Social media is the “Town Square” of our age. It is where people are standing on soapboxes discussing issues of the day. Some are shouting nonsense while others are declaring the Good News. And many, many more are crying out in pain.

Sometimes their cries “fit” neatly within my paradigm, but more often than not, I have to confess that even their very “cries” offend my sensibilities and are difficult to process. When horrendous things happen, people often react in horrendous ways. Yet I want to try to listen. Because this is where people are talking. Jesus and His disciples were always where people were talking. They were listening. They were asking questions. They were sharing truth. Why? For one reason. Dissent is not the enemy of truth, but rather silence. When people stop talking, stop listening, stop asking questions, the flame of truth is shuttered, and the light cannot shine into the darkness.

“Does Anyone See That I’m Hurting Here?”

A while back I experimented on my Facebook page. I asked my friends and family that do not consider themselves “Christian” or that no longer are involved in regular church attendance, to answer a few questions. I asked my Christian friends to NOT respond. I wanted to know, “Do you feel like the Church cares about the things that you care about and the hurts you have?”

Overwhelmingly, the answer was, “No.” People went on to say, both publicly and privately, that the last place they would go when hurting would be to the Church. Whatever their reasons, however they came to this perspective, whether its according to “facts” or not – this breaks my heart. People are hurting, and they think we don’t care.

Not long ago I was with a group of women, all veterans of full-time Christian service, who gathered to look at this issue of abuse from a Biblical perspective. Almost all had endured some form of sexual harassment, abuse or assault. In the story of the Good Samaritan, we saw that we are all both the wounded man on the side of the road, and those that either pass by or the one who stops.

When the Samaritan stops, he doesn’t ask the man whether he was really wise in choosing the time of day he was out on the road. He doesn’t take notice of whether or not the clothes the man was wearing might make him more of a target to thieves (showing his wealth, etc.). He didn’t even ask whether he had been drinking or in bad company or anything that might have also made him more vulnerable to attack. Seeing that he had been there awhile (we know he was there long enough for others to pass by), the Samaritan also didn’t ask why the man hadn’t immediately cried louder so that someone might have stopped earlier. Nor did he, God forbid, suggest that maybe the man was lying, had faked the whole scenario because he somehow had a plan to discredit others, or get something for himself. (And even if that was the case, wouldn’t that man sort of be the most hurting of all, but in a completely different way?)

No, he simply saw the man wounded and hurting, unable to help himself, and had compassion.

Step by step the Samaritan was obedient to do what he could. Not everything. Not all at once. First and foremost, he simply saw the man in need. He noticed. Then he stopped. He gave immediate care from the resources he had. Then he sacrificed of his own time and money to get others to care for the man when what he had wasn’t enough. Finally, he made a commitment to be seriously involved in the process of the man’s complete healing. But before all that, he did the most important thing – he had compassion. This is where it all starts. This is where our Good Samaritan, Jesus, found us – broken and hurting on our way – and had compassion.

“For God so loved the world …”
But God didn’t stop there….
“For God so loved the world that He gave…His only Son.”
Compassion leads to action.

The Samaritan wasn’t out looking for wounded travelers to help. Maybe it wasn’t his ministry. He was just on his journey and came across the wounded man. The Samaritan didn’t know the whole story. He didn’t have all the details. But he saw and heard someone hurting. Like when you scroll through your Facebook feed, check your twitter account, hear someone on the news, just look around at those on your path through life – people are hurting. (Facebook reports that 45% of their users have a “friend” that posted with the MeToo hashtag declaring that they too had endured sexual harassment or abuse.) So…#MeToo…and then what?

Maybe You Don’t Know What to Do.

That’s ok. You don’t have to. Just stop. You see someone by the side of the your road, so stop. Be the Good Samaritan. Samaritans were despised. Dare I say that in social and mainstream media the Church is often seen in less than a positive light? What if, like this Samaritan, the one that stops by the side of the hurting was the very one that was least expected to? The one that many despised.

You see someone by the side of your road, so stop. Notice their hurt. Ask the Great Physician what you might do, what resources you have, what sacrifices and commitments He would call you to make. Verbalize your compassion. Saying – “I’m so sorry this happened to you” or, “I’m sorry you’re hurting,” doesn’t make any endorsements nor judgement calls. Compassion merely shows the heart of Jesus.

Compassion is such a rare commodity on social media. Can we, the children of God, lead in this? I believe we can. And many are doing that and much, much more.

“’Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?’ The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had compassion on him.’ Jesus told him, ‘Go and do likewise’” (Luke 10:36-37).

I was amazed to read the headlines today, “Twitter Engineers to ‘Ban a Way of Talking’ Through ‘Shadow Banning,’” “Algorithms to Censor Opposing Political Opinions.”

According to a Twitter engineer, “Twitter is ‘shadow banning’ to stealthily target political views.”

Shadow banning is really a way of “sanitizing” thought by eliminating ideas that are not in line with their current ideologies.

As described by a Twitter engineer, “One strategy is to shadow ban, so you have ultimate control. The idea of a shadow ban is that you ban someone, but they don’t know they’ve been banned; because they keep posting, and no one sees their content. So they just think that no one is engaging with their content, when in reality, no one is seeing it.”

It is nothing but another attempt at natural selection – survival of the fittest ideas!

As believers in Jesus Christ today, the world system is aggressively seeking to shadow ban – sanitize – our voice, and ultimately, our lives. We need to be acutely aware of the spiritual basis of a “shadow ban” – which is a weapon from the enemy attempting to build a stronghold against our testimony. To silence our witness for Jesus Christ, the enemy needs to threaten us so that “no one sees our content.”

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

The weapons of our warfare are not carnal or based on computer algorithms.

Our weapons against shadow banning is to recognize the power of social media, acknowledge that the various forms of social media are designed and monitored by a fallen world system. Knowing this, we are to use these media sources with the full understanding that our content may be banned. Our weapons are mighty however – because only God can pull down the strongholds of these forms of social media. As the human race has once again attained a power beyond its ability to control, we must remember Nimrod who sought to build a tower up to heaven and make a name for himself (Genesis 11:4). Interesting how we will face the same consequences that the world encountered – by God bringing a confusion of the language!

“Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth” (Genesis 11:4). The consequences of these actions are so similar today, “Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech” (Genesis 11:7).

God dealt with Nimrod’s attempt at a shadow ban by destroying their algorithm used for communication. The pride of man continues to seek to control over mankind just as Nimrod did. It is also interesting that Nimrod is referred to as a “hunter of souls,” and a type of the antichrist.

How then are we to battle the Silicon tech giants, the agents of Nimrod, who are the seemingly gatekeepers of ideas, and ultimately, thought?

How do we combat our thoughts being silenced or sanitized?

As the passage quoted above continues, we are to bring our thoughts into captivity – not only within the algorithm of the computer technicians, but to the obedience of Christ. Instead of our thoughts being sanitized by them, we are encouraged to have them brought into God’s control. How do we do this? Isn’t social media the only way we can effectively communicate?

As believers we must realize that prayer is the most effective form of communication in the universe.

To have constant access to the Creator of the universe, we have the ability to converse with Him in any form of language – words, tongues or groanings! He knows our thoughts. In Psalm 139:2 it says that God “knows our thoughts afar off,” and He has provided us with the ultimate communication algorithm that transcends all of the tech giants’ ingenuity. We have no need to sit at a computer 24/7 and live and breathe algorithm development. We are encouraged with:

“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26).

Even though our thoughts may be shadow banned by the world, we have a voice that transcends even our language – a groaning, cry, sigh – that cannot be uttered. An eternal voice of communication that is heard in heaven. Our God is greater than any imaginable algorithm, and He will use all of our thoughts for His glory if we come to Him first and let Him sanitize them – with salt and light. Our voices are needed in this world, and God uses social media – we just have to realize that our God desires to hear from us first, have our thoughts captivated or sanitized by Him – then present them to the world. Let’s seek Him first and His righteousness (Mathew 6:33), then look at the social media sites that are begging for your attention!

On Labor Day, my wife Karen and I hosted a BBQ in our condo complex, and some of our neighbors joined the fun. One couple has been married 59 years. They met in Memphis and were high school sweethearts. His sister used to hang out with Elvis, as his career began to skyrocket. The wife talked about what it was like watching Elvis become famous. I asked, “What was Memphis like growing up?” And she talked about small schools, white clapboard churches, warm nights on patio swings and the like. Then I gently asked, “What was it like to live in the South in those days?” She paused and replied, “We were so unreasonable! Black people in the back of a bus, separate schools, drinking fountains, dining … We were so unreasonable!”

To be a reasonable person means to be fair, sensible, just and having sound judgment.

Are you reasonable?

The Christian faith, unlike any other worldview, philosophy or religion is reasoned and reasonable. Thus, a Biblical worldview can withstand critical analysis. Therefore, God invites us to think, “Come now, let us reason together says the Lord” (Isaiah 1:18). And we are called to love God with all of our mind (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Matthew 22:37-39). Thus, followers of Christ should be reasonable since Jesus is reasonable.

The term “reasoned” is related but distinct. We see this term regularly applied to Paul’s ministry. For example, Paul reasoned with Jews in the synagogue at Thessalonica (Acts 17:2). The Greek term translated “reasoned” is dialegomai. It is not too difficult to see the connection to our English word “dialogue.” Dialogue seems like a benign friendly conversation. Nevertheless, dialegomai, as it related to Paul, wasn’t simple dialogue. The term in Paul’s context related to the practice of listening to another’s worldview and then refuting that view point-by-point to persuade them of the correctness of your view. This style of reasoning can be very effective in contrasting the gospel and Christian worldview with other beliefs. On the other hand, this style of dialogue may not be reasonable when discussing countless issues that are important to God.

People are passionate about many issues. And they may discover that others have a polar opposite perspective. Unfortunately, there are too many people who claim to be followers of Christ who are unreasonable as they enter into these conversations. It misrepresents Christ when we are rude, proud, dismissive, condescending, unloving, unfair and unjust. We should be able to dialogue and share perspectives with gentleness, respect, humility and compassion. Jesus displays compassions without compromise and so should those who claim to be His followers.

We need spaces to share and exchange our views regarding: racism, sexual harassment, gender discrimination, sexual sin – hetero and homo, gender identification, LGBT discrimination, the triumphs and tragedies of government, the idea that Jesus didn’t come to save America (nationalism) but Americans, and Nigerians, and Koreans – both North and South. We need safe places to talk about politics whether you’re liberal, conservative, apolitical, communist, socialist or undecided. We need to have places to discuss what can we do to help the homeless, the widows, the orphans, the fosters and the refugees. We need safe places to talk about how the local church tends to treat as lepers those who have had an abortion or have been divorced. We need to be encouraged that it is okay to talk about gluttony, over-indulging in alcohol or drugs. We need to experience the hope that problems that appear polarizing and likely to stir passions can be discussed in a reasonable way by people seeking to be reasonable.

I dream of God’s people gathering together and sharing their values, perspectives, and seeking to learn from one another, and listen to one another. I imagine people discovering how to be more reasonable as they learn God’s Word and heart on each of those issues and more. The Church, God’s people not the building, should be the most likely to create that space. But it requires reasonable people. And alas, they seem to be on the endangered species list. We need people willing to listen with a desire to hear and understand and empathize, not simply to listen to plan a rebuttal. We must learn how to respond in the Spirit and not react in the flesh.

What I often see on social media is ranting and so unreasonable.

Yes, a rant on social media will stir your constituents to like your content, but it is generally unlikely to exchange ideas, change values or change culture in a God-honoring way. Typically, it is not loving nor reasonable. Generally, social media is not the ideal platform for a healthy reasonable exchange. Similarly, a Sunday morning worship gathering is less than ideal. It is a passive learning environment, characterized by a primary speaker(s) and many passive listeners who are actively rehearsing their rebuttal silently in their heads as they tune in or out, while the speaker seeks to share his or her take on these complicated matters. The speaker may earnestly try to be reasonable, as in fair, sensible, just and having sound judgment. Even if the speaker studied the Scriptures, and the issue was researched and approached from varied perspectives, it is unlikely to be truly reasonable. The speaker cannot remove their own bias and prejudice, and competing views are not heard or considered. I’m not suggesting that we do away with sound Biblical teaching, because it is necessary. I am stating that I believe that it is inadequate for a reasonable dialogue and exchange of ideas and values.

If you are a reasonable person, who is interested in discussing these and other similar issues, with other reasonable people who may have very different views from you, I have an idea I’d like to share …

I’d love to see small groups meet in neighborhoods in coffee houses, homes, apartments, condos, parks, Mars Hill, etc. I’d love for people to share with one another what they believe, and what they think that God says about the issue and why. These gatherings would not be the debate club, nor the exchange of two opposing commentators seeking to mock their opponent, but reasonable people engaged in dialogue as disciples of Christ. People who recognize that to truly love God supremely and to love their neighbor as themselves requires engaging the most polarizing issues in a reasonable way. And, I’d love to invite group leaders to stand on the platform on Sunday morning and share about the messy, glorious experience and invite more people on a reasonable journey.

A recent study says, “Fifty-four percent of kids think their parents check their devices too often…32% say they feel unimportant when their parents get distracted by their phones.”¹ I don’t want the conveniences of technology to overshadow the simple importance and value of a conversation with my kids. If I am constantly distracted with technology, what am I communicating to them? Even if I’m doing kingdom work through these screens, do my kids know the difference? And if our screens have the power to damage our worldly relationships, how much more do they damage the spiritual relationship with our Father?

In Luke 10:38-42, Jesus acknowledges distractions as a threat to our intimacy with Him. The passage depicts Martha, concerned with serving and upset over Mary’s decision to rest at Jesus’ feet, but Jesus said, “Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” If this is a concern for Jesus, shouldn’t we take the time to determine whether we are concerned with the wrong things too? I’d argue that we are often blinded to the impact of technology. Maybe it’s time to assess our dependency and make adjustments. By allowing technology to weigh so heavily on our list of priorities, we are vulnerable to the following threats:

1. THE THREAT OF ADDICTION:

Addiction may sound like a strong word, but that could very well describe the dependency most of us experience. Can you go a week without looking at social media? Do you feel unsettled when you forget your phone? According to a study published in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions by Dr. James Roberts, behavioral addictions are just as real as substance addiction, sharing a lot of the negative consequences as alcohol and drug abuse. A spike of dopamine is released each time we receive a mobile alert on our phones. Because of this, it becomes harder and harder to stop checking for a new message. We seek more and scroll more, but the chemicals that keep you satisfied can’t keep up with the hits of dopamine that cause you to seek in the first place. This kind of addictive behavior has negative effects on the quality of life. Roberts asserts that cell phone addiction has the unfortunate consequence of “crowding out many more important activities, including family/friends and other pursuits, that might bring us true happiness.”²

Let’s be real here. Even if society is fine with phone addiction, God isn’t. There are several passages that caution us against becoming a slave to anything, like in 2 Peter 2:19, “…For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved,” and 1 Corinthians 6:12, “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything.” The problem is not the technology itself; it’s our dependency and constant focus on it.

2. THE THREAT OF ACHES: (PHYSICAL ISSUES)

Aside from psychological dependencies, there are several health drawbacks to persistent use of technology. Look out for headaches from poor posture³ while using phones, carpal tunnel from typing incorrectly and thumb cramps from constant scrolling. Even children are at a far greater risk for developing ADHD⁴ from playing with apps and games than those who have limited screen time.

Merely spending time in the Scriptures may lessen our aches and pains. The Bible promises that the Word of the Lord will bring health and vitality to our lives. Proverbs 3 states, “…Do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity…This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones” (Proverbs 3:1-2, 8). Moving away from digital distractions moves us toward strength, satisfaction and peace.

3. THE THREAT OF ATTENTION: (LOSING POWER TO FOCUS)

Have you ever trailed off in a conversation while you attempted to send a text? Your mind is telling you it can’t process information as effectively when it’s doing two or more things at once. When you multitask, you’re subjecting yourself to Cognitive Switching Penalty.⁵ This is the process of having your mind quickly switch from task to task (or screen to screen), relying on your brain to provide contextual, working memory for each item. Your brain is overloaded, and you are spread thin and exhausted without any deeper, productive work completed. Your energy was spent context-switching. James 1:8 reads, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” Keep focused, and fruit will increase.

4. THE THREAT OF SPIRITUAL APATHY:

Just last week, I watched a video about something I absolutely didn’t care about but felt compelled to watch to the very end. I now know that there is a solution to street flooding through a newly invented porous concrete,⁶ but my brainpower was spent for two minutes on something that has little consequence to my purposes and priorities. There is an abundance of work to be done for the kingdom. Mindlessly scrolling posts and watching videos dulls our sense of urgency for this work. We are distracted with things we think are interesting, frustrating our capacity to perceive and discern those moments for God’s intents.

Author, Kevin DeYoung, writes: “For too many of us, the hustle and bustle of electronic activity is a sad expression of a deeper spiritual apathy. We feel busy, but not with a hobby or recreation or play. We are busy with busyness. Rather than figure out what to do with our spare minutes and hours, we are content to swim in the shallows and pass our time with passing the time. How many of us, growing too accustomed to the spiritual slothfulness of our age, feel this strange mix of busyness and lifelessness? We are always engaged with our thumbs, but rarely engaged with our thoughts. We keep downloading information, but rarely get down into the depths of our hearts. That’s spiritual apathy—purposelessness disguised as constant commotion.”⁷

5. THE THREAT OF NOT BEING ALONE:

When you keep tabs on the world at large, your thoughts are trained to continually look outward for context and meaning. The inner life of reflection and imagination is stifled. According to Peter Kreeft, author of Christianity for Modern Pagans, “We want to complexify our lives. We don’t have to, we want to. We want to be busy. For if we had leisure, we would look at ourselves and listen to our hearts and see the great gaping hole in our hearts and be terrified, because that hole is so big, nothing but God can fill it. We think we want peace and silence and rest, but deep down we know that this would be unendurable to us.”⁸ Busyness sends more people to hell than unbelief because they fail to reflect on the true purpose for our lives!

Because of these threats, I am convinced that all of us should make changes. Think of the spiritual advances we may grasp by simply balancing technology in our lives! We will be stronger, more influential, more discerning people, sensitive to the great call on our lives to be the hands and feet of the Gospel. Jesus, please show us a better way to live. As I’ve researched this topic, I’ve compiled a list of sources for you to browse to learn more about the detriments of digital distraction and addiction. Visit www.ccbc.info/distract for more insights.

¹ “Many Kids Feel ‘Unimportant’ When Parents Are Distracted By Smartphones, Survey Says”– Huffington Post
² Medscape
³ “5 Seriously Bad Side Effects Of Your Smartphone Addiction” – Good Housekeeping
^4″Possible Link Between ADHD in Children & Cell Phone Use” – Psych Central
⁵“The True Cost Of Multi-Tasking” – Psychology Today
^6″Incredible Concrete Surface Can Absorb 4,000 Litres Of Water In SECONDS Providing A Flooding Solution” – Mirror.co.uk
⁷“Don’t Let The Screen Strangle Your Soul (2 Of 2)” – The Gospel Coalition
^8“Why Are We So Busy?” – The Gospel Coalition