“The average American checks his or her cell phone 205 times a day,” said social scientist Arthur Brooks in an interview on the Today show last week.
Norma Jean and I listened with interest because we expected to hear Brooks in person at the Florida College Impact Gala two days later.
In both the interview and an energetic, impassioned 45-minute speech, Brooks discussed the struggle for happiness in today’s culture. He explained how boredom and constant digital distraction crowd out time to think, reflect, and ask life’s important “why” questions.
Drawing on his research and experience teaching graduate students at Harvard University, Brooks identified incessant, mindless cell phone use as a contributor to this widespread societal problem.
Brooks argues that constant cell phone use exploits our brain’s reward systems, encouraging us to chase cheap, easy pleasures through endless scrolling rather than pursue deeper satisfaction. Such digital distraction, he says, contributes to loneliness, anxiety, and lost meaning.
These distractions invade the quiet moments of life, crowding out meaningful contemplation and weakening our connection with the people around us.
Brooks says we don’t have to throw our phones into the ocean or join a monastery to isolate ourselves from modern technology. But he offers three practical guardrails to control their use and improve our quality of life.
#1 Don’t look at your phone the first hour of the day.
#2 Don’t have your phone on the dinner table while you’re eating.
#3 Don’t look at your phone the last hour of the day, and definitely don’t take it to bed with you!
Brooks says our modern-day culture has created a perverted value system that:
- Loves things.
- Uses people.
- Worships self.
In greater detail in his book, The Meaning of Your Life, Brooks explains technology’s psychological impact, the emptiness so many young people experience, and the failure to understand life’s true purpose.
While the Bible was written centuries before our technological age, I couldn’t help but think of the ancient principles that apply to these modern-day challenges.
When we idolize things and neglect relationships, we create emotional and spiritual problems. Worshiping created things instead of the Creator is an age-old problem Paul identified in the pagan Gentile world (Rom. 1:18-23). While our society’s idolatry may look different, it still departs from spiritual values and virtues.
We must not let the things of life master us instead of serving us. The Bible often speaks of the importance of self-control, discipline, and the ability to check our fleshly desires (1 Cor. 9:27; Gal. 5:16-18). Paul’s determination not to be mastered by anything—even something lawful—offers a fitting principle for how we use social media and technology (1 Cor. 6:12).
Furthermore, we must always be mindful of how we steward our time. The Bible offers this important admonition:
“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:15–17).
Time spent mindlessly scrolling through social media memes, posts, and videos could be better used to build relationships, serve others, think deeply, and pursue the Lord’s will through Scripture.
As Brooks observed, technology is not going away. And it has good uses that benefit us. I post this blog on social media, connect with readers through their comments and questions, and often do research for Bible study, classes, or sermons.
My iPhone also allows me to quickly book appointments, make purchases, deposit checks, communicate with friends, connect with my kids and grandkids, download my boarding pass, listen to hymns, and read Scripture.
However, let’s heed both the warnings of social scientists like Arthur Brooks and the Biblical admonitions that remind us of what really provides purpose, significance, happiness, and contentment in life.
Let’s begin with a personal question: Is my use of technology helping me strengthen my faith, love my family, and connect with friends? Or is it consuming the time and attention they deserve?
Let’s not lose sight of those important values—or the counsel of the ancient wise man who sought life’s meaning:
“Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all” (Eccl. 12:13).
–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman
