Distraction and the Kingdom of Noise
In my last post, Are you in a hurry?, I shared how, after months of reflection, I now know that it wasn't just one thing but a collection of several blind spots that led to my recent emotional, physical, and spiritual meltdown.
Hurry sickness was my first blind spot. A hurried life leads to a lack of patience and love for ourselves and others, resulting in tense and shallow relationships.
If hurry attacks our pace of life and our view on the speed at which time moves, then distraction takes aim at how we spend our time and produces a stubbornness that refuses to accept the limits of time given to us by Creator God as a gift.
In today's modern digital world, Satan's greatest attack on followers of Jesus is not to tempt them into sin. Instead, it is to simply keep them distracted. John Ortberg wrote this about distraction, "for many of us the great danger is not that we will renounce our faith. It is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we will settle for a mediocre version of it."(1)
A mediocre spiritual life?
I don't think that is what you and I are shooting for when it comes to becoming like Jesus.
The Distractions Are Many
The distractions of the modern world, and there are many, drown out the voice of God and largely cut off our souls from the one Person we need most. Our enemy wants to keep us forever focused on filling our schedules with good things. Good things like family, friends, work, hobbies, and even serving the needs of other believers, but never prioritizing the most important thing - spending time alone in solitude and silence with the one person that we need most - Jesus Christ himself.
Jesus knew we would struggle with distraction. He once told a story about a farmer who scattered seeds that fell on different types of soil. The seed fell along the path, among the rocks, in the thornbushes, and on the good soil. In His explanation of the story to His disciples, He said that the seed that had fallen among the thorns represented people who "hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful." (Mark 4:18-19 NIV)
Distraction comes in many forms.
Our enemy knows just the right string to pull for each of us when it comes to distracting us from our Heavenly Father.
Distraction From Technology
For me, distraction looks like an addiction to technology leading to an excess of internal and external "noise" in my life. Prior to my meltdown, there was zero space in my life that wasn't filled with noise - music, radio, podcasts, TV, etc. "Noise" was always present - while running, at work, in the car, while traveling - basically anywhere I didn't have to interact with people (and often when I did). From the moment I got out of bed to when I laid my head down to sleep, silence and solitude were nowhere to be found.
Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still, and know that I am God." Truth be told. It's almost impossible to "be still" if we allow the noise of the digital world to be the dominant voice in our ears.
The technology we allow into our lives is often a portal into a world of many other distractions like - email, social media, video games, entertainment, and shopping - just to name a few. All fine things when kept in balance. But the question is, how are we doing at keeping them in balance? Who is the parent, and who is the child in our relationship with our devices? Are we setting healthy boundaries with our use of technology?
Okay.
So before you write me off.
As a grumpy old man.
Or as an Apple fanboy who has lost his way.
When Digital Distraction Becomes Normal
"There's no doubt that some things are better because we are all wired to everything,” observes Kevin DeYoung. “The problem is that some things aren't better. We must realize that, as the presence of digital devices and digital dependence grows, with this growth comes new capabilities and new dangers. The question is not whether the digital revolution adds to the craziness of our lives or whether it poses threats to our souls and our sanity. The question is, what are the threats and what can we do about them?"(2)
Distraction threatens our ability to be present to the things that matter most in our lives. John Mark Comer summed it up best when he said, "this new normal of hurried digital distraction is robbing us of the ability to be present. Present to God. Present to other people. Present to all that is good, beautiful, and true in our world. Even present to our own souls."(3)
So a word of caution from a recovering technology addict. Maybe it is time we do a self-check on what strings our enemy is pulling to distract us from becoming more like Jesus. I know for me, the technology in my life is at the top of the list!
Anyone else out there addicted to their screens?
Even maybe a little?
Notes
John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines For Ordinary People (Grand Rapids, MI, Zondervan, 1997)
Kevin DeYoung, Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem (Wheaton, IL, Crossway, 2013)
John Mark Comer, Ruthless Elimination of Hurry (Colorado Springs: WaterBrook, 2019)
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