Twenty years ago, Sandi and I shared a cellphone, and we had that one for only a couple of years. It was a simple Nokia candy-bar-style phone. It didn’t have a camera, but it had a game or two. We didn’t pay for texting because we didn’t really know anyone we could text. Back then, it was a luxury that we rationalized getting for those unexpected, what-if moments – something happened with the kids at preschool, emergencies while traveling, that kind of thing.
These days, we wonder what we did when we didn’t have a smartphone. It was a different way of living, wasn’t it? What used to be reserved for emergencies is now central to everyday life. We are in constant contact with everyone we know and with more and more people we don’t know. We have immediate access to endless information. Cellphones are so handy and useful that having one and using it has become not just an everyday occurrence but a necessity for many people.
Some people are so attached to their phones and the information, interaction, and entertainment they provide that they have developed FOMO, the fear of missing out. You can see that fear kicking in when someone misplaces their phone, when they lose a data connection or their location doesn’t have a Wi-Fi network, or when the app they’re using starts glitching. FOMO grows when people get hooked on social media or never-ending, ever-changing news streams. It has been associated with anxiety and depression and even a worsening quality of life.
Most of us would consider that perspective and lifestyle strange, but I am willing to bet that many of us are closer to that kind of dependence than we realize. I believe that it develops slowly and yet all at once. There’s something about the devices, the technology, the convenience, the immediate satisfaction that draws us in and captures our hearts and minds with such completeness that it transforms our whole life, everything we think, say, and do.
So, what’s the trigger? What is it that changes this device and technology from something we possess and use to something that possesses and uses us? I believe it’s as simple as everyday use. When you’ve got it in your pocket or purse every day, when you’re looking at it several times a day or several times an hour or every time it buzzes, chirps, or flashes, the actions become a habit and the device becomes a part of your everyday life. Then it changes the rest of your life, things you wouldn’t expect it to change; for example, I don’t buy shirts that don’t have a breast pocket where I can carry my phone.
That’s a super simple explanation for a dramatic change of life, right? So why is it so difficult for so many people to live out their Christian faith consistently? It seems that far too often it’s because many people look at their faith in Christ as a series of events rather than as everyday life. Putting your faith in Christ, getting baptized, for many that’s a one-and-done event. Going to church is an hour-long event on the calendar each week, maybe. Prayer, reading and studying the Bible, serving are individual tasks that have to get done, if we have the time and energy or if we don’t have something more important. Those observations aren’t meant to be judgmental, but more often than not, they’re accurate.
The bottom line is this: gospel life is everyday life. Jesus said plainly, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Everyday life as a disciple of Jesus is gospel life – death, burial, and resurrection life. Every day, we must take up our cross; we must bury our old selves; we must live in new life, raised with Christ (Romans 6:1-8; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 2:11-14; 3:7-10). Just as we might tell “those kids” to put down their phones, Paul tells us to put down our old selves so that we might be transformed completely (Romans 12:1-2). When we do this, the transformation may seem slow at first but it will change us all at once. We might struggle through it, but we will no longer have a fear of missing out on God’s gift of new life, eternal life. This is Good News for every day!