No Time for Distractions
We’re a distracted people. Don’t believe me? Let’s play a little game!
Raise your hand if you’ve ever thought or said something like, “I wish I had more time for spiritual disciplines,” or “I would pray/read/memorize more, but I just don’t have time.” (Psst, there’s like an 86% chance you should be raising your hand)
Now, with that hand still raised, go ahead and use it to slap yourself silly. I’m kidding! (kind of)
Do you talk about being busy? I’d argue we’re not busy, we’re actually just distracted. The honest truth is, we have plenty of time. We just fill it with useless things. Put on your stompin’ boots, we’re going to step on some toes. Don’t worry, at the end of each section I’ll have ready-made comments for you to copy and paste into the comment section below. I’m here to serve.
We Work Too Much
Is work a good thing? Absolutely. Is work Biblical? 100% yes. Is work necessary? You know the answer to that.
Is work getting in the way of our devotion? Very probably.
The fact is, we’re probably working too much. We are going and going with our jobs. In fact, even for those of us with a 40-hour weekly salary, we’re often working well beyond that. In fact, before COVID slowed things down, at least 50% of people who were salaried at 40/hrs per week admitted to working longer hours. Even if we leave the office, many of us take work home with us. There’s a ton of pressure to do so, especially in this connected world.
The reality is that even 40 hours a week might be too much when you look at how much productivity you get in return. Many places report more productivity with less time on the clock.
When we spend a third or more of our day working and a third sleeping, it gets that much harder to spend more time on things that matter, like extra curricular activity, eating balanced meals, maintaining relationships with friends and family, spending time with our immediate family, healthy recreation, and when we can fit it in, time in the Word.
Work is a good thing. Work is positive. I enjoy working and being productive and fruitful and contributing in every way I can. But while the Bible tells us to work diligently, it puts our relationship with God above that at every opportunity. Work: yes. Know God: more yes.
Obligatory Comment: “Hey, we have to work. What do you expect me to do? Quit my job?” Maybe. If it gets in the way of your walk. Probably not, though. Many of us are already in financial peril (hence why we work long hours). Pray about what God wants you to do and how He wants you to redeem that time.
We Play Too Much
Our lives are filled with a lot of fun things. Despite the craziness of 2020, it’s still pretty great with all the incredible ways we can relax and enjoy ourselves. But we often take it too far.
First and foremost, this is hitting me right between the eyes, so don’t think I’m on a pious, self-righteous rant here. This is for me, first and foremost.
We’ll watch a few hours a day of our favorite TV show (binge culture, y’all) and then be too tired or exhausted to actually read our Bible that evening or the next morning. We might decide that we’ll make up for it with a good solid prayer, but we fall asleep in the middle of it and never realize that it happened.
Then we get to our social lives. It’s super important to maintain healthy friendships and devote serious recreational time to those relationships. But we also do that every day at lunch, and so often at dinner and on the weekends and all of our time is spent discussing the shows we watch, or what so-and-so said on Facebook, or other things that aren’t actually that important when you think about it. Don’t believe me?
Try an experiment. Do a long fast of your favorite form of entertainment or recreation, be it TV, social media, or whatever else. You’ll discover that all anyone talks about is that. I’ve been off Facebook personally for over a year, and it’s been amazing. When I first jumped ship, I was made fun of a lot with people saying, “All you ever do is talk about how you’re not on Facebook, we get it dude.”
The reality? Every single conversation was, “Hey did you see that post on Facebook? Did you see what so-and-so commented? Have you seen that article that’s been going around?” I would honestly respond, “no, I don’t Facebook anymore, remember?”
Everyone thought I was being pretentious, when they didn’t realize that all they talked about all the time was Facebook. This was confirmed recently when a friend apologized. They’d recently jumped ship as well, and had finally noticed that yeah, pretty much all anyone talks about is Facebook. They’re deep in our lives.
It’s okay to deepen relationships by spending time with people. I believe it’s even God-honoring. But don’t put His name on an evening spent in social media fueled gossip.
Obligatory Comment: “Hey, we have to have a social life.” or “Hey, everyone needs to relax once in awhile.” Do we? Maybe. But the Bible teaches us that our rest is in the Lord and that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. So what better, more edifying way to relax is there than spending time with God. And relationships with people are important, but no relationship is more important than our relationship with Him.
We Sports Too Much
Ask anyone with kids between the ages of 5 and 18 and they will happily tell you that they spend so much time with their kids’ sporting activities and/or dance or other non-sports things like band or choir or any number of a trillion things we like to sign our kids up for these days. It’s all consuming. Most evenings are taken up with practice and most weekends are games and tournaments. It’s distracting.
I’ve talked to a lot of people that have said sports have only gotten busier since cities and states began opening back up after the pandemic. There aren’t any other activities to schedule around, so sports has taken over in many ways.
Here’s the sensitive part: when I think about people—especially parents—who have told me they don’t have time for attention to Scripture, it’s often those with multiple kids in at least 1 sport a piece, with parents coaching or otherwise deeply involved in the sport. So here’s the bare truth: you have time for it, you’re just unwilling to make the time for it in light of the other activities you value more.
Yes, it’s fun. And it certainly can be evangelistic (though I’ve only known a few families who write it off as such actually live that mission out). If you can balance your spiritual life and your kids extra-curricular life with integrity and honesty, then do it. But are your kids able to do the same? What are you teaching them about that balance?
Our kids’ involvement in sports is not an unalienable right, but we often treat it as such. Our faith is a higher calling. Our relationship with Christ is the highest calling—everything else ought to flow from that.
Obligatory Comment: “Hey, my kids love it! And they’re going to be a star someday!” or “You’re too legalistic. It’s okay to have fun.” It’s absolutely okay to have fun. Fun is great. We are meant to enjoy God’s creation and the company of others. Sports are a great way to do both. When the pursuit of fun is more devout than our pursuit of God, we have a problem. Fun and recreation become our god, and we spend far more time at that altar than we ought. Also, statistically, your kid’s probably not going to be a star. Sorry. But if they’re a believer, they will be a Christian with influence. Are you teaching them to use that influence or simply how to swing a bat or throw a ball?
We School Too Much
This might actually be the most controversial section of this whole post. But hear me out (if you’re still with me, thank you).
We put scholastic achievement on way too high of a pedestal and it’s a distraction.
There, I said it.
Anxiety is on the rise for youth today at an alarming rate, largely as a result of intense pressure to succeed. I talk to teenagers or parents often enough to confirm that this is true. It’s all about too much homework, so many tests, college admissions, figuring out what they want to do with their life, etc.
And it’s not all the school’s fault. Parents tend to support and enforce the classroom demands. It’s not uncommon to see parents tell their kids they can’t go to church or church-related activities until their homework is done.
Homework is important, and success is a great goal. But how does the Bible define success? Meditate on the Word day and night.
Far too often we teach our kids that scholastic performance is more important than Biblical literacy and spiritual disciplines. We focus so much on achievement by the world’s definition. Getting into AP classes is the most important part of Junior High or Middle School. Getting into a good college is the most important part of High School. Getting a good job is the most important part of college. We may verbally say that the most important part of life is knowing God, but our actions tell a different story altogether.
We wonder why there’s such a significant drop off in church attendance once our kids go to college or enter the workforce. It shouldn’t be a surprise at all: all we’ve taught them and emphasized their whole life is how to be a good student and get a good job. Church and faith is secondary to those aims for many families in America, whether they admit it or not. It’s no wonder once our young adults leave the house they go on to be excellent students and excel in their jobs while church is optional: it’s all we’ve prepared them for.
Obligatory Comment: “Hey, don’t get in my business. I’m preparing my child for success like any good parent should be doing.” You’re right. We should absolutely be preparing our children for success. But success is fleeting. It lasts for just a little while, and it has a nebulous definition anyway, which means we’ll always be chasing it. And we can’t take it with us. But our relationship with Christ has eternal consequences.
I’ve probably sufficiently stepped on a lot of toes here, and I’m not too terribly sorry. I really do think we can see a big change, and the COVID-19 pandemic has afforded us an opportunity for that change. We’ve seen how busy we were.
Don’t let yourself slip into that same busy cycle again.
Be honest: do you emphasize scholastic performance more than biblical literacy? Do you put more time into practicing sports than building your faith?
We all talk about how busy we are, but I’d argue we’re not busy, we’re distracted. Here’s your homework: grab a pen and paper and list all the things you’re involved with. List everything that takes your time. Put an “x” next to everything that has no or little eternal consequence. When it’s time to make changes in your life, start there.
We have too many distractions and too little time on this Earth. Put your time toward things that matter.
