Several years ago, I decided to become a real church member. Let me explain.
For over 30 years, I was the preacher each Sunday at whatever church I attended. I preached as the pastor, the interim pastor, or guest preacher. I never viewed the church on Sunday mornings from the pews or the chairs. I wrote a book called I Am a Church Member, but I did not have the view of the church member, at least on Sunday morning worship services.
I decided eight years ago to decline almost every invitation to preach. I wanted to be active in my local church as a church member, not away on Sundays as a preacher in another church.
It has been an incredible blessing.
And it has been eye-opening. Let me give you one example.
I noticed several people in the church using their smartphones or tablets, presumably as a digital Bible or a digital notetaker. For those I could see from my vantage point, I also noticed that many of those with digital devices would click on the notifications they received. They were obviously distracted, and they obviously distracted me. As a point of confession, I looked over the shoulder of a church member last fall as he was looking at the college football rankings for the week. I am ashamed to say I looked longer than I should.
Recently, I went to a movie theater in my hometown. I noticed the previews stressed that everyone must turn off their phones and other digital devices.
I guess theaters have higher standards than churches in that regard.
Have I become a legalistic and grumpy old man? Maybe. But hear me out.
Frankly, I have good reasons to ask church leaders to encourage their members to turn off their electronic devices. Here are seven of the reasons.
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- Smartphones and tablets often distract the person looking at them. I see it every week. Rarely do I see church members looking at their smartphones without some kind of notification popping up. Of course, they can’t wait to read the notification.
- Smartphones and tablets often distract others. I wish I were not one of those prone to distraction, but I am. When that light on someone’s phone catches my eye, I immediately turn to it.
- Smartphones have addictive content that is contributing to a mental health crisis among young people. If you doubt the veracity of my claim, just do some research. For example, read The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. Look at his research on how social media on smartphones is rewiring the minds of our children and youth. Look at the dramatic increase in anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide among Gen Z once they begin using a smartphone with social media access and other harmful sites. Frankly, I don’t want to give my tacit approval to the habitual use of smartphones by reading my own smartphone in church.
- Most churches have many options for reading the Bible or taking notes in a worship service without needing a smartphone or tablet. I encourage pastors to get pew Bibles in the translation from which they preach most frequently. The biblical text can be put on a screen. It’s easy to place a sermon outline in the bulletin. Most churches have pens in their worship centers as well. You don’t have to have a digital device even if you didn’t bring a print Bible.
- Writing increases retention more than using a keyboard. I was surprised again at the number of studies that proved this statement. When you take handwritten notes, you are more engaged in the sermon and retain the content more effectively. By the way, your pastor will be encouraged when several church members become notetakers.
- Smartphones create a sense of isolation. Again, there are several good pieces of research on this topic. Gathering for worship services is meant to be a communal experience because we are involved in shared community activities like reading our Bibles, taking notes, listening to the sermon, or singing and praising God together. The smartphone sends us into isolation rather than community.
- Church members communicate the wrong priorities when they use their smartphones in worship services. Even if we stay focused on the biblical text and the sermon, we could implicitly communicate to other church members that we are more focused on the phone than the God we worship.
I know we can’t mandate that members turn off phones during worship services. I also know that many churches have permitted or even encouraged it so long that reversing it will be difficult. Still, I hope you hear my concerns. I think they are real and pervasive.
I would love to hear your thoughts, whether you agree with me or not.
Posted on August 12, 2024
With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
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25 Comments
Wow, I guess I will opt to not go to church. My digital device is the only way I can read and take notes. Being diagnosed with Dyslexia after I was an adult allowed me to understand why I was last in my high school class. I can read all day on a screen, sometimes I have to change the color, but put paper in front of me and 2 or 3 sentences later it becomes so slow I loose all train of thought. For years I would sit with pen and paper in front of me trying to write a paper and could not get anything out. Now that I have a keyboard, I am NOT a Grammar major, but I can get something out of my head now. Most of all, there is NO way I would ever desire to be a distraction to anyone else, and for myself, I do have several years of notes from every sermon, but that does not override the distraction point. After 70 years I guess there is a real reason I should not go to church anymore. Thanks for opening my eyes.
Hi Dennis,
Obviously, you’re an exception and I think we can assume that the author wasn’t referring to people like yourself who NEED tech to engage with the service properly. He’s referring to people who use phones during service for non-essential or entertainment purposes.
We must be able to read between the lines and assume the author’s best intentions.
Thanks.
I agree with your comments, for the most part. I use my iPad in the Sunday worship service for only two purposes.
1. My Bible app allows me to magnify the text large enough for me to read it without straining, fatiguing, or hurting my eyes (I am 76 years old).
2. I use the camera app in my iPad to take pictures of the slides my pastor projects on the large screen as he presents his sermon. This wallows me to peace together his sermon at a later time, so I can study it again.
No other uses are necessary, I find, for a tablet or smart phone during the Sunday worship service. I agree that all other stuff can be looked later at an appropriate time, assuming of course, that the material to later be viewed is not sinful in any manner. Great analysis, though.
I totally agree that smartphones etc should not be used in church. There is something special about opening a Bible. Also, I know those who have used a smart phone during services and they did get distracted with social media, etc.
I respectfully disagree with Thom’s post here about not using cell phones in worship services. I use Logos Bible Software on my smartphone to look at various translations for the text and also quickly do word studies. For me, this is all part of engaging with the text and increases my spiritual learning. I also have hearing aids with an app on my phone that gives me options for various settings so I can better hear the speaker and music. My hearing options would be a lot more limited without being able to use my phone app. I also have a heart for the younger generation being drawn into the church. For most of these young adults, the use of their phones is part of their daily life, and need to be encouraged to engage with the text on their phone as part of their learning. It is not more spiritual to look at the Bible in a written text than it is to look at the text on a person’s phone, and is simply a matter of preference. We are losing nearly 1 million young people a year from churches. Most young adults are aware of the distractions that phones can bring and have learned to navigate this in other settings. We need to respect one another’s preferences in this matter.
Most younger people are being attracted to more traditional denominations (e.g. Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican etc) BECAUSE of the high church elements and sense of transcendence they provide that many modern evangelical churches FAIL to muster. Ironically, many modern churches need to be “cool” in order to stay relevant may be a reason many young people stay AWAY from church. We MUST be relevant but not at the EXPENSE of being reverent! Part of the attraction of these types of churches is that it FEELS different and otherworldly- priestly robes, incense, liturgies etc. Maybe gently dissuading phone use in our churches could be a way of maintaining reverence for God and focus on Him in a way that attracts the young AND let’s them know they’re “not in Kansas anymore”?
Interestingly, many young people are being attracted to more traditional denominations due to the sense of reverence and otherworldliness they embue. The idea that you’re entering into God’s presence- with incense, liturgies, priestly robes etc. Some modern churches miss this since they try SO hard to be “cool”.
Maybe gently discouraging non-essential phone use (for people who don’t have learning difficulties, aren’t using phone to engage with the service etc) is a way for modern evangelical churches to do this? I’m not saying we mustn’t be relevant (we MUST be) – I’m saying we mustn’t be relevant at the EXPENSE of being reverent!
I’m such a fan of yours, Thom, that I hate to disagree. Every age brings new technology used effectively by Christians for good and by Satan for evil. Discipline (a key part of discipleship) is what makes the difference. People now read scripture and take notes on their tablets and smart phones. We want them to do both. Many pastors even post their outlines on Bible apps like YouVersion. Other Bible apps have the ability to highlight verses and create embedded notes attached to the verse (like we used to scribble in the margins of the Bible). These can be effective tools. And just like the airlines demand, we can even use airplane mode to eliminate the internet distractions. I think we need to make technology work for our cause, since we can’t turn back the clock. But a true disciple is a learner under discipline. Technology will be under control as our spirits are under control. We need both – but a little nudge on the airplane-mode button might help. Maybe we can post that note on our hi-def screen.
I wholeheartedly agree and yet I seem to see an increase in preachers using a tablet. If we do it, then there is an implied message that “you can too.” I may be another grumpy old man (!), but I have been on a frustrating campaign for three years encouraging our people to bring their Bibles to church. Many do; most do not. But hope springs eternal!
I’ve used my smartphone with the Bible app a few times in church only because I have a small print Bible or forgot my Bible. I’ve gone back to my Bible. I usually don’t look at my smartphone during church. I know ther are others using their smartphones or tablets during church only because they have told me that they do this.
Thank you.
We are asked to turn off our phones in the doctors office and I believe we should do the same in church. I think it’s rude to turn on your phone; it’s showing disrespect to the Pastor and our Lord and Savior
Thank you, Martie.
I agree with you 100%. How to get that across to my church members without causing a ruckus is quite another story. Any suggestions?
Ken –
Start small. Think about a gentle request in your bulletin: “We greatly appreciate everyone putting away the phones and tablets during the service. Pew Bibles are available if you did not bring your Bible.”
That’s a good idea. Thanks!
Dr. Rainer,
Thank you for this post on digital devices. I agree with you. But, one thing making this incredibly difficult to address is all the digital devices used on the platform. The pastor may have an iPad for his notes, the music team and instrumentalist have iPads for their music, and all of the digital devices required to snap the QRs posted in the bulletin and monitors around the church campus.
On one hand, we want these devices put away during the service; yet, on the other, we “demand” that we use them because we are communicating so much more digitally.
A two-edged sword!
Billy Morehead
Professor of Accountancy
Director, Center for Faith, Service, and Ethics
Mississippi College
mc.edu
Great points, Billy.
I agree with you completely. I say that as one who has pastored for 30 years but now sit in the pews mostly. I have used a cell phone quite a lot during worship and often have used it for Bible references, comparing versions, etc., but I find it is distractive to me and others.
Yes, the pew provides an entirely different perspective.
Thank you, Thom, for articulating these very real concerns and consequences.
Thank you, Bob.