Tests for How You Might Be Treating Your Phone Like God

Much has been said online about the dangers, harms, and distractions of uncontrolled smartphone use. Yet little has been said about the specific ways in which a lot of people’s treatment of their phones is a cheap imitation of the worship of God. There are several ways that the characteristics and uses of phones mimics God’s proper relationships to us. In thinking of the similarities between the worship of God and the worship of smartphones, I was struck at how much people’s devotion to their phones replaces their devotion to our Creator.

So allow me to introduce you to the Phone god, and please evaluate your attitudes and behaviors toward your own phone or computer.

  1. Omnipresence: The Phone god is ever-present, or omnipresent. It is always next to your body, in your pocket, in your hand, or on the table next to you. Can you bear to leave your phone in another room, disconnecting you from quick access to its calls, or its powers?
  2. Omniscience: The Phone god is all-knowing, or omniscient. It is the ultimate source of all the information in the world. And more than that, it is one of the most knowledgeable students of you. It knows where you go, what you talk about, what your most important interests are, who your best friends are, and what your daily patterns are. But of course, we often ignore these things, and focus on what our phone can tell us about the world. Because it knows everything we ever might need to know, right? So whenever we have a question, all we need to do is ask our phone via a search engine or the super brain AI. Do you treat some sources of information as more understanding and helpful than your phone, or do you rely on it for almost every question, as if it knows everything?
  3. Providence: Because the Phone god is ever with you and knows everything, including every business you need, it can provide for all your needs. You can order almost anything delivered to your door with the touch of a button, and often in a very short time. You can get all your food, your groceries, your entertainment, your transportation, and even your money, through your phone. It’s like your personal servant. Do you rely on your phone for most of your physical necessities?
  4. Communion: The Phone god is the center and cultivator of your communities and religious fellowships. It’s through the Phone that you communicate, share, and collaborate with your best friends. You can share your hobbies, vocations, deepest longings, and ideas with people invested in the same pursuits. In fact, many young people use their phones as the main fellowship hall of their lives, or the meeting place of their most precious communities. Through their phones, they participate in mutual devotion to the services and activities the Phone god has to offer. Is your phone the main entity around which you gather with your closest friends, and commune with them? Or is the core and center of your religion and society the Lord Jesus through the reading, study, and practice of the Scriptures with the Lord’s Supper?
  5. Prayer: If the Phone god is any god at all to you, then it is the most sought-after recipient of your prayers. Since it is all-knowing, and can provide you access to all your material and social needs, it is the go-to hearer of your constant longings and needs. Why ask anyone else, when it can tell you everything you need to know, and gain you your physical necessities? Do you go to your phone with requests and complaints more than you go to your Creator, Lord, and Savior?
  6. Life-Consuming Devotion: Finally, as I’ve already alluded to, if you give worshipful attention to the Phone god, then it will determine how you spend much of your time outside of work, or even during work. If you’re constantly pursuing its various powers and resources, then it will demand more and more of your time, attention, and energy. Given enough devotion, your lifestyle, interests, pursuits, and activities will largely be mediated through your phone. Is this the case for you? Does your phone command much of your time and attention, to the neglect of your duties and relationships? If this is the case, then you are worshiping a god of your phone.

I hope this examination of the many facets of phone-worship has been sobering and eye-opening. If you are on the line bordering between legitimate use and worship of your phone, then bring it before the Ruler of all things, and the Redeemer of sinners. It’s only by centering our attention on the Lord Jesus and His teachings in the Bible that we can be free from the constant enticements and distractions of our smartphones and computers. These things can be powerful tools for the good of our souls, but they can also be the means that our flesh uses to deceive us, and lead us to sin against our true God.

As some alternatives to undue attention to your phone, I recommend several possible means of serving the Lord with your mind and thinking:

  1. Focus on cultivating your real-life relationships with face-to-face interactions and activities.
  2. Read more books.
  3. Devote your mind to the study of Scripture.
  4. Devote yourself to serving others.
  5. Keep a journal or notebook of your thoughts, ideas, and plans.
  6. Devote yourself more to prayer.

Until next article, keep bearing Christ and Him crucified.