READING: Exodus 20:1-3
Sometimes, discipling means leading others to remove stuff/actions/thoughts from their lives. I’m particularly interested today in leading my disciples to give up their cell phone at least once a day. Many generations lived without such a device, and our inability to do so is more a mark of our idolatry than a tribute to technology.
For example, the guys I disciple might choose to lay their phones aside during meals or conversations with others. Or, they might plan not to look at their phone prior to 9am each morning and after 9pm each night. Some might choose other hours of the day simply to give up their phone and focus on more productive things. This commitment, I suspect, will show several things:
- Just how powerful is the lure of a phone in our hand
- How much we communicate via electronic means—so much that we seldom actually talk face-to-face with others
- How much time we waste as we check our phone over and over again
- Whether we can, in fact, give up our phones at all. If we can’t, idolatry lurks in our hearts.
Honestly, I don’t know if my disciples would follow my lead here. Even if they make a verbal affirmation of this commitment, they’ll quickly feel the magnetic pull of their phone as the enemy says to them, “Look at what your faith is requiring you to give up! Look at what you’re missing.” I can only pray that the men I disciple would be faithfully courageous to stand up to that enemy.
PRAYER: “Lord, please help me to give up my phone, too.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Hosea 1-5, Revelation 3-4
