“The average iPhone user touches his or her phone 2,617 times a day.” (By way of contrast, the psalmist said, “I have set the LORD always before me” [Psalm 16v8, ESV]. What would my life be like if God touched my mind as frequently as I touch my phone?)
If you're anything like me, this quote from the foreword of John Mark Comer's book - The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry invokes a series of thoughts in your head as you read it. "I'm not that bad!"; "But, I need to keep tracking that parcel I'm expecting!" (particularly common excuse in my household at the moment as so many of us are shopping online!); "I use it as my SatNav"; "It's how I listen to music"; "I'm expecting an important email"; "I'm following the latest Brexit negotiations on the news"; "I'm following the comments on the latest Government Covid briefing" etc.
The two scary thoughts that struck me were: if the figure quoted above is an average, that means that a number of people must have touched their phones many more times in a day! But the scariest thought is how my default position is to justify myself "I'm not as bad as them. I need it for x, y & z reasons. It's a tool to help me work more efficiently and to communicate effectively with people!" Aren't I guilty of the same thing that Adam did all those years ago in the garden? He justified why he'd eaten the fruit and tried to blame someone else! How many times while growing up did my parents and teachers try to reason with me and explain about peer pressure by using the analogy, "If they jumped off a cliff would you follow them?" Just because everyone else is a slave to their phone, should I blindly follow? How addicted am I to my phone/tablet/laptop? To the constant ping of emails or social media posts? Why do I waste so much time scrolling, oblivious to all that's going on around me?
This book was recommended to me about 6 months ago by a good friend, but the recommendation came with a warning, that it was a book that demands a response. For that very reason, I've put off purchasing a copy, justifying it to myself by saying that I don't really have any spare money at the moment. Over the months since, I've seen a few reviews about it, which have highlighted to me that the it's going to be an important book for many of the church leaders that we're in contact with.
Funny how, even though the book had been recommended and it's likely to be very useful, that it never quite made it on to my Christmas list! Was I subconsciously trying to hide from the truth that I knew it contained? Then a few days ago, I read on social media (whilst scrolling!) that Pete Greig's book - How To Pray was on offer on Kindle for 99p, what a bargain, so I had to have a search for it to check if it was true. When I found it, guess what came up in the suggestions? Yes, none other than John Mark Comer's The Ruthless Elimination Of Hurry, also on offer at 99p (both offers are available until Christmas). So I took the hint and finally bought it. Now to read it.
If this blog has resonated with you at all, now's the time to do something about it! Don't worry though, I have done all the hard work for you - you can just click on the titles above for the Kindle links to both books. So my challenge to you is to purchase them both, then put your phone down and start reading, then let's have a conversation afterwards about whether either have made a difference to you.
Read our blog