It’s not a stretch to say lots of people have allowed their smartphones to become addictions, and often far too much time is spent looking at, scrolling through, texting, and otherwise being occupied with those smartphones. When was the last time you left home without your phone?
Our phones have become an absolute necessity, a near-constant attachment in our lives. Anywhere you go—in line for coffee, sitting in a waiting room, stopped at a red light, walking on the street—near everyone is looking down at their phones. But can you really call that an idol? After all, these smartphones are handy, and they can be great time-savers.
But at some point this helpful tool can and often does have us at its mercy. We don’t control it; it controls us. And for Christ-followers we need to understand the enemy of our soul will use anything he can to cause us to pay attention to and spend time with anything other than the Lord.
For Christians, idolatry is anything that causes such a strong attachment in our lives—such as a strong habit—that without realizing it, we become addicted. In the case of phones, it’s not that we’re addicted to it but to the attention it demands of us—the attention that we choose to give it.
Our smartphones demand so much of our attention, we may allow it to become not just a useful tool, but a demanding and controlling habit of devotion, and that can start to interfere with our devotion to Jesus Christ.
I read once that people do not drift toward holiness. Our sinful natures, combined with the sneaky attacks from our enemy, can easily push us away from the Lord, and without intending to, we find ourselves devoted to something or someone more than to our Lord. Jeremiah 17:9 reminds us the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? The warning of scripture is that unless we seek the Lord regularly—daily—for help, then we are opening ourselves to idolatries of the heart and mind.
When you think about it, what we pay attention to determines what we think about, and that begins to take over the focus of our lives. Something as small as a smartphone can cause us to think more and give more attention to anything other than things of God. These aren’t necessarily bad things, but distractions that take up our time and thoughts.
If you pay little attention to the important relationships of your life they will suffer. Being attentive to a person—listening, caring, conversing with them—is how we build strong relationships. As we spend more and more time on our phones, doesn’t this interfere with our relationships and create barriers and hindrances to healthy relationships?
And the same is true with our relationship with God. If we don’t spend time with him and give attention to his Word, to prayer, to fellowship, that can lead to a decline in our devotion to God and to obedience to his Word. We love what we give attention to.
I doubt there has ever been any one single development that has grabbed humans worldwide like the smartphone has. I mean, how many apps do you have on your phone? And what is their purpose? To seize your time and attention. To cause you to want something you don’t have. To allow wrong worldviews and wrong information to fill up your mind. Who could ever have predicted the impact smartphones are having on people everywhere.
I read an article that said, “If an idol is anything that takes our attention and love away from the one true God, then the mass-produced, internet-connected devices in our hands are among the most insidious idols history has known.”[1]
As believers, should we just get rid of our smartphones? Is that the answer to its control over us. Well, let’s see what Jesus said, and yes, he had something to say about smartphones.
If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for yo
