A study of smartphone users conducted with an admittedly small sample size of 14 participants found that the majority responded positively when asked if they use their smartphones during Sunday services at their churches. They reported that using their smartphones during worship made them more attentive and more likely to take notes. This report brings up two important questions:
1. Should we use our smartphones during a worship service at a church?
2. If yes, should we recognise certain limitations on our smartphone use at church?
Paul writes to the Corinthians that everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial (1 Corinthians 6:12) and this wisdom can guide us as we consider the ramifications of using smartphones during worship services. Keeping in mind that smartphones can serve as a source of distraction through games and social media and can also be used to avoid talking to people, so how do we find a place for them in the church today so that we don't take away from our worship of God?
Prayer and Bible apps
I have spent the past five years in a church where the majority of regular attenders accessed the Bible on their smartphones via a Bible app, website, or eBook app. There was no avoiding smartphones during the sermon portion of our worship service. For the majority of users, this was a positive experience.
I personally have a very limited data plan and have removed almost all social media apps from my phone (such as Facebook and Twitter). I have opted to keep a few Bible translations loaded in my Kindle app for easy access during church, and for the most part have removed all potentially distracting apps from my phone or turned off their data. Taking these measures ensures that I am far more less likely to be distracted by my phone if I use it during church.
The distraction of smartphones
Smartphones can provide easy access to the Bible, but they can also serve as a source of distraction and even anxiety. From our anxiety about having low batteries, to the temptation to check email, reply to texts, or to flip from one app to another because of a "fear of missing out", smartphones can prove distracting even if we intend to use them to share pictures, quotes, or notes from a worship service.
For some users who feel especially attached to their phones, it may be more spiritually beneficial to turn their phones off completely during a church service in order to be more fully present for worship and their community. Others may want to set strict limits such as only using their phones to read scripture at appropriate times. Limitations can lead to freedom when used appropriately.
What do we lose with smartphones?
While this study of 14 users focused on what could be gained by using a smartphone during church, I would argue that we need to also ask what is lost. Are we less likely to be quiet, present, and aware for worship? Will we spend our time looking for cool or interesting things to share when our time could be better spent seeking God, searching our hearts, or praying for others?
I'm not interested in a black and white debate about the value of smartphones in church. They can be used for good things or bad things. The true debate is between what is most beneficial for us when we approach God during a worship service.
What are the unintended consequences of smartphones at church?
Social media has always been a mixed bag, allowing us to connect with people who share our interests, but also allowing us to project our best selves and sanitised versions of our lives for others. Studies that link depression with social media suggest, in part, that the comparison game of Facebook can be particularly damaging for some people.
In churches where authenticity and vulnerability before God and others are particularly important, it could be problematic to encourage activity that potentially pushes people to project themselves in the best light possible.
A few years ago I attended a Christian conference at a church with professional lighting on the stage all around the professional worship band. During a particularly brilliant lighting arrangement, a man toward the front opened his arms up toward the heavens. Almost on cue, a person in front of me snapped a picture of the silhouette of his arms in front of the lighting. In the days that followed, that picture made its way around social media posts related to the conference.
I'm not one to judge the person who took that picture during the worship service, but I couldn't help but wonder whether taking and sharing that picture was actually focusing his attention on God. I do know that if I took a really cool picture like that, I would feel at least a little tug from my ego. At a moment when the goal is to focus completely on God, we at least owe it to ourselves to ask if we're better off with our phones tucked away and turned to silent.
We are surrounded by distractions today. Our smartphones go with us everywhere. If we can't bear the thought of leaving our phones behind for a church service, then perhaps we are the ones who are most in need of leaving them behind in church regardless of the potential benefits.
Ed Cyzewski (MDiv) is the author of Pray, Write, Grow, A Christian Survival Guide, and The Contemplative Writer. He writes at www.edcyzewski.com and is on Twitter as @edcyzewski.
