Lost behind the glass

Lost Behind the Glass

Living the Bible in an age of distraction

It's Sunday morning. I'm on the front row. My usual prominent seat. The preacher asks us to get our Bibles out. I switch apps on my iPad to my bible software.

I look up at the other end of the row, catching the eye of a younger Christian. He's been at the church for a couple of years. His Bible is open on his lap and turned to the passage that the preacher is just about to speak on. He gently and lovingly shakes his head.

This is awkward. I'm the pastor of the church. The one who's often preaching. Over the last year, we've been encouraging people to bring their Bibles to church. Their physical bibles. We want people to engage with the scriptures for themselves.

Yet here I am, modelling it so well as I navigate attention from one app to another on my iPad.

Minding our attention

The church stream that I grew up in was very focused on the Word. I remember everyone used to bring their Bibles to church. People would take notes in a physical notebook during the 'sermon'. To engage with the word of God was a serious business. In recent years something's changed.

We now have access to a wealth of information that previous generations couldn't even dream of. This little slab of glass that I hold in my hand opens up hundreds of versions of the Bible. Commentaries, study guides and Bible dictionaries are all just a swipe away.

I can highlight a word and have the New Testament Greek explained to me in words that even I can understand. The phone in my hand can also transport me across the world to listen to podcasts and talks from the most exciting preachers. Well-crafted apps can guide my daily prayer. Helping me to be still and rest in the presence of God.

While helping me to grow as a disciple of Jesus, this little device also vies for my attention. It's like standing in an incredibly noisy room with everyone shouting at you. You're trying to concentrate, to be still, to learn and grow. But people keep waving things in your face. Reminders pop up about things I might want to buy. 'I'll just have a quick look at that video that I scrolled past last night.'

The very thing that has given us free access to a world of resources is also the most efficient distraction device in history.

Learning to abide

There is another issue underneath the surface.

I could go through a whole week using an app to help me pray in the mornings. Listening to an inspiring talk from a preacher I've never met.
Watching videos of people explaining theological nuance (which I love and find really helpful).

Every week, I learn so much more about God. But more information about him doesn't necessarily lead to a closer walk with him. Perhaps we've started to live our faith by proxy through others.

Forever preparing to come into the presence of God, yet not actually stopping long enough to abide in him.

Jesus says

Jesus invites people to follow him. The disciples, attentive to the call of Jesus, begin to keep in step.

In contrast, religious leaders grew more hostile. They swarmed around him, intrigued but interrogating. Their information is high but they have missed the revelation in front of them.

Jesus says to them:
You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. John 5:39-40 (NIV 2011)

Sometimes Jesus' abruptness feels harsh. But he's naming the reality. The disconnect between their heads and their hearts.

What would he say to us today?

Settling down to study the scriptures and, in a moment, distracted by our attention devices. Listening to another podcast that declares that we need to meet the King of the Kingdom and walk in step with him. Starting the day with a guided meditation that helps us abide with Jesus. Then rushing into the day, missing the fact that he's come with us.

Imagine that Jesus is sitting nearby. We are caught in his gaze, and his full attention is upon us even though we are lost behind the glass.

He waits patiently for us to look up.

Then he gently says:
...

You need to fill in the blanks here. It's personal. I can't write the script for you.

An invitation to life

Over this last year, we've been encouraging people to bring their physical Bibles to church. We want people to engage with the Word of God themselves. To reduce distractions and be attentive to King Jesus.

Our devices have a world of resources that can just as easily distract us from him and mediate our faith through others. Reading a physical Bible removes some of those distractions. But we can still get stuck on the page.

Jesus is inviting us to follow him. Walk with him day by day. There will be many things that resource and feed our relationship with Jesus. But the very things that could bring us close can also distract us from being attentive to him.

My encouragement is simply this. Walk slowly enough through the day to see his steps beside you. Give Jesus your attention. Allow the truth of who he is to bring you alive in him.

So, how will you do this?