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Several years ago, I wanted to become a true member of the church. Let me explain.
For over 30 years, I was a preacher every Sunday at any church I attended. I have preached as a pastor, acting pastor, or guest preacher. I never saw the church on Sunday mornings from the pews or the chairs. I wrote an e-book called I Am a Member of the Church, but I didn’t have the perspective of a church member, at least in Sunday morning services.
8 years ago I turned down almost every invitation to preach. I tried to be active in my local church as a church member, not missing Sundays as a preacher in another church.
It was a blessing.
And that is revealing. Let me give you an example.
I saw several other people in the church with their smartphones or tablets, probably as a virtual Bible or virtual note taker. For those I can see from my point of view, I also saw that many of those who owned virtual devices clicked on the notifications they received. They were visibly distracted, and they visibly distracted me. As a confession, I looked at the merit of a church member last fall while he was looking at the week’s school football rankings. To say that I saw more time than I deserved.
I recently went to the movies in my hometown. I noticed that the trailers emphasized everyone turning off their phones and other virtual devices.
I suppose theaters have higher standards than churches in this regard.
Do I have a grumpy old legalist? Maybe, but pay attention to me.
Frankly, I have an explanation for asking church leaders to inspire their members to turn off their electronic devices. Here are seven explanations why.
1. Smartphones and tablets distract the viewer. I see it every week. I rarely see church members looking at their smartphones without some sort of notification popping up. Of course, they can’t wait to read the notification.
2. Smartphones and tablets distract others. I wish I wasn’t one of those prone to distraction, but I am. When that light on someone’s phone catches my eye, I immediately turn to it.
3. Smartphones include addictive content that contributes to a crisis of intellectual aptitude among young people. If you doubt the veracity of my statements, do some studies. For example, read Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation. Check out his studies on how social media on smartphones reshape the minds of our young people and young people. Look at the dramatic buildup of anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide among Gen Z once they start having a smartphone with access to social media and other destructive sites. Frankly, I don’t need to give my tacit approval to the habitual use of smartphones by reading my own smartphone at church.
4. The maximum church has many functions to read the Bible or take notes during worship without the need for a smartphone or tablet. I inspired pastors to obtain Bibles from the translation banks from which they most frequently pontificate. The biblical text can be put on a screen. It is easy to place a definition of a sermon in the bulletin. Most churches also have pens in their worship centers. You don’t want to have a virtual device even if you haven’t brought a published Bible.
5. La typing increases retention more than a keyboard. Once again I was surprised by the number of studies that have proven this claim. When you take handwritten notes, you participate more in the sermon and don’t forget the content more effectively. By the way, your pastor will be encouraged when several church members take notes.
6. Smartphones create a sense of isolation. Again, there are several smart studies on this topic. Gathering in places of worship is meant to be a communal delight because we engage in shared communal activities such as reading our Bibles, taking notes, listening to the sermon, or composing a song and praising God together. The smartphone sends us more into isolation than into community.
Church members speak of wrong priorities when they use their worship services with smartphones. Even if we focus on the biblical text and sermon, we can implicitly tell other church members that we are more focused on the phone than on God. Worship.
I know we cannot force members to turn off their phones during worship services. I also know that many churches have allowed or even encouraged this practice for so long that it will be difficult to oppose it. However, I hope you will listen to my concerns. I think they are genuine and omnipresent.
I’d love to hear your opinion, whether you agree with me or not.
Originally on Church Answers.
Thom S. Rainer is the founder and executive director of Church Answers, an online network and resource for church leaders. Prior to founding Church Answers, Rainer served as President and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. Prior to joining LifeWay, he worked at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for twelve years, where he was founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism. He graduated from the University of Alabama in 1977 and earned his Master of Divinity and his Doctorate. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
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