I’m more convinced than ever that our “smart” phones are only making us dumber. Every few seconds our phones beep, buzz, or ding. It might be a text message, a Facebook notification, or that occasional phone call that the device was actually designed to handle.
But it’s not all our phone’s fault. The truth is, we humans are easily distracted.
We look up, look down, or just look away. Staying on task is harder and harder to do. We start a book but may never finish it. We rent a movie only to return it having never watched it. We flip through multiple channels, watching a little of this and a little of that.
Being easily distracted is not a good thing, especially when it comes to the church and accomplishing our God-given mission. The stakes are too high to lose focus … the stakes are eternal.
Throughout church history, the church has allowed itself to be distracted. Whenever that happens, the mission suffers. Opportunities are missed. Lost people remain lost.
Staying focused requires discipline — which is why most people and churches are easily distracted.
Let me challenge you to work on your spiritual attention span. Try to stay tuned in to God a little longer each day.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. — 1 Corinthians 9:24-27