Devotion to God in the Age of Distraction
So it turns out that our attention span is shorter than a goldfish. It’s true, in 2000, the average attention span was 12 seconds; today, it’s at just 8. The goldfish, on the other hand, has an attention span of 9 seconds [1]. Talk about an “L.” Maybe like me, you read that (then after 8 seconds get distracted) and think, “Nah, that ain’t me.” Well, let me throw a few more sobering stats out there. A recent study showed that the average iPhone user touches his or her phone 2,617 times a day [2]. In fact, Microsoft did a recent study where 77% of young adults said the first thing they do when nothing is occupying their attention is... Can you guess? Reach for their phone [3].
So what does an 8-second attention span and reaching for my iPhone 2,600+ times a day have to do with anything? Put simply, there has never been a more distracted generation than the one we’re in now. Still don’t believe me? The average American spends 705 hours per year on social media, almost 2 hours a day [4]. I think Andrew Sullivan has it right when he describes this problem by saying, “This new epidemic of distraction is our civilization’s specific weakness.” We live in a day and age where it’s normal to stream a Netflix series, check Instagram while talking on speakerphone, and work on homework simultaneously. At some point, we have to start asking some questions.
Why are we so distracted?
And what is all of this distraction doing to us?
Sean Parker, the first president of Facebook, writes on the effects of social media in our time, saying, “God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains. The thought process that went into building this application, Facebook, being the first of them... was all about ‘How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?’” This admission makes it clear that the design of social media platforms isn’t pure and accidental, but instead intentional in its aim to steal something from us: focus. Why? Well, Netflix, Facebook, Instagram, Hulu, Youtube, ESPN, Call of Duty, and Disney+ have all zeroed in on a fantastic enterprise called “digital capitalism,” a term borrowed from Mark Sayers. The equation is simple: the more of your attention they have, the more money they make. Don’t be fooled: these are billion dollar companies making a strategic effort to keep us distracted.
What is all of this doing to us? Just one statistic gives a major hint: the average 16-year old today experiences the same level of anxiety as mental health patients did in the 1960s [5]. The information overload, shallow relationships, busy living, and frantic pace of the distracted lives we live have worn on us mentally, emotionally, and physically. But it does not stop there. Andrew Sullivan writes, the thread of distraction “is not so much to our minds, even as they shape-shift under the pressure. The threat is to our souls. At this rate, if the noise does not relent, we might forget we have any” [6].
So what is the answer? How can we seek to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2) in this age of distraction which seeks to squeeze us into its mold?
I’d like to offer three points for our consideration from Mark 1:35, which reminds us that we have a loving Savior who is worth our lives’ greatest attention and devotion. Read it with me:
“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”
1. SACRIFICE — We must be willing to embrace discomfort
“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark”
Before you start pulling up your bootstraps, let me give you a contextual reminder. Jesus, the second person of the Triune Godhead, came to the earth to love and save sinners like us. Just before this passage, He was preaching good news in the synagogue and healing the sick in Simon and Andrew’s hood. He is on a mission to rescue us because He loves us, even to the point of giving up His life. What a Savior! But while He loves us, He loved the Father too much to pass up meeting with Him. And it wasn’t easy! It’s not hard to see that Jesus probably slept little (they brought all those who were sick from the city to be healed). I can almost imagine Him getting up early, stepping over sleeping people on the floor to sneak out to be with His father. What love! We make sacrifices for the things we love, and Jesus loved His Father. For many of us this will mean getting to bed earlier, putting our phone to bed, or fasting from the “gram,” which we sometimes feel is calling our name. Consistent and constant communion with God in prayer, meditating on His word, or memorizing a passage of scripture may not be as thrilling as the last scene of “Avengers Endgame.” Our motives may not be always pure (in fact, they never will be), but the same Father who Jesus Christ met with invites us into His loving presence. This is the good news which gets to the very core of our being. God did not spare his only Son, but graciously gave Him up for us. Let that love sink in deep. It will compel you to no longer live for yourself.
2. SOLITUDE — We must be intentional about getting alone
“he departed and went out to a desolate place”
And the introverts said, “Amen!” It makes sense that Jesus had to get alone. He had just displayed a small glimpse of His eternal power and His present kingdom the night before by putting an end to the sickness and diseases which plagued the people He cared for. What do you think might happen if Jesus just showed up at our local hospital on the cancer floor healing people with brain cancer, lung cancer, and breast cancer? He would probably become a pretty popular guy pretty quickly, right? Jesus went to a desolate place to be alone, by himself, with God.
He hid from people because He knew that His soul needed communion with the God He loved. What would this look like for us? What things might we need to say no to in order to guard our time with God? What things might we need to hide from? Corie Ten Boom once wrote, “if the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy.” Has this been the case for you lately? Do you need to carve out some time and escape from the treadmill of busyness that has been shriveling your soul and squelching your love for Christ?
3. SUPPLICATION — We must seek the Lord in prayer “and there he prayed”
Jesus prayed. He PRAYED. The audible, spoken prayers He utters before the people in John 11 and on the cross make it safe to assume that Jesus prayed aloud, to His father. He talked with God as a man speaks to a friend. We don’t have to wonder what he prayed about. John 17 gives us a peek into the intimate, heart-emptying, intercessory prayer of Jesus. He prayed for God’s glory. He prayed for us. He prayed for Himself. We can learn from His lesson on prayer in Matthew 6 that we ought to pray as well. And when we do, we should emulate Him in praying for God’s glory, for His kingdom to be built here on this broken earth, and for Him to meet our greatest and most fundamental needs.
Do you do this? Do you talk to God as a man speaks to his friend about these things? If this is a great struggle for you, let me close with another prayer Jesus prayed: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46) It was his very last prayer on earth before He died on that cross. And He did die. He died for our self-importance which keeps us busy. He died for our fickle hearts which fall in love with created things and keep us distracted from our Creator. But He also died so that we might have our hearts melted by his loyal love and deep grace. He died that we might answer His invitation when He calls: “come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” What rest He offers us indeed! We find great hope and encouragement to know that He prays for us even now (Hebrews 7:25) in our weakness, in our sin, and in our distraction. What a glorious Savior!
[1] Kevin McSpadden, “You Now Have a Shorter Attention Span Than a Goldfish,” Time, May 14, 2015.
[2] Julia Naftulin, “Here’s How Many Times We Touch Our Phones Every Day,” Business Insider, July 13, 2016,
[3] Kevin McSpadden, “You Now Have a Shorter Attention Span Than a Goldfish,” Time, May 14, 2015.
[4] Charlie Chu, “The Simple Truth Behind Reading 200 Books a Year,”Medium, January 6, 2017.
[5] Leahy, Robert L. “How Big a Problem Is Anxiety.” Psychology Today, April 30, 2008.
[6] Andrew Sullivan, “I Used to Be a Human Being,” New York Times Magazine, September 19, 2016