Trying to be as Smart as my Smartphone

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Today was one of those days in which I have found myself greatly distracted from doing the things I was hoping to get done.

During graduation weekend Adam Forney, our Executive Director of the Re-Entry Center and Project Manager for all things I.T. at Teen Challenge, informed me that I would be getting a new Droid to replace my Blackberry as we phased out our contract with Sprint

So today I got my new Droid Bionic and Patrick, the support staff guy at the Verizon store, warned me that going to a Droid from a Blackberry would not be an easy transition. Unfortunately he was prophetic in that way. So I have been spending most of my time today working to get my phone activated and my number ported from Sprint to Verizon. I have also been working on getting it figured out and learning how to use it.  Fortunately, my daughter has a Droid so she has given her dear old, technologically-challenged dad, a lot of tutoring.

Sweet Child of Mine.

One of the things I was thinking about today as I was trying to make this new technology useful to me is how blessed we are to live in a nation that has been so blessed by God. But I also believe that with much blessing comes much responsibility.

My daughter commented to me that if she could pick out and have any phone, she would want the Droid Bionic she was teaching me to use. She said it can do so much ...if you know what you're doing. So the challenge is on!

That definitely made me feel even more blessed!
But on a more spiritual note, however; I thought that is so true of everyone who lives in this nation. Let me elaborate... Compared to the rest of the world we have so many resources available to us it isn't even funny how much time we can spend on our "blessings" and totally neglect the provider of those blessings and the opportunity of using those blessings to bless others! This is something I fear has become more and more commonplace in our culture.

Earlier this year I read Jesus Wants to Save Christians by Rob Bell. He did a great job explaining how nations often take their blessings for granted and then eventually fail to appreciate the responsibility that comes with those blessings.  Check this out:

Book Cover

• America controls nearly 20 percent of the world's wealth. There are around six billion people in the world, and there are roughly three hundred million people in the US. That makes America a small percentage of the world's population. And this 5 percent owns a fifth of the world's wealth.

•  One billion people in the world do not have access to clean water, while the average American uses four hundred to six hundred liters of water a day. 

• Every seven seconds, somewhere in the world a child under age of five dies of hunger, while Americans throw away 14 percent of the food we purchase.

• Nearly one billion people in the world live on less than one American dollar a day. 

• Another 2.5 billion people in the world live on less than two American dollars a day.

• Nearly half of the world lives on less than two dollars a day, while the average American teenager spends nearly $150 a week. 

• Forty percent of people in the world lack basic sanitation, while forty-nine million diapers are used and thrown away in America every day.

• 1.6 billion people in the world have no electricity. 

•  By far, most of the people in the world do not own a car. One-third of American families own three cars. 

•  One in seven children worldwide (158 million) has to go to work every day just to survive.

• Americans spend more money annually on trash bags than nearly half the world does on all goods total. 

Bell then asks a very interesting question. "If all this wealth and prosperity is supposed to make us so happy, why are so many of us so sad? There is another response to accumulation besides gratefulness. It is called entitlement."

My wife is an RN and can attest to the fact that the number of American people taking anti-depressants has tripled in the past decade. She often comments that she is amazed at the numbers of people on prescription drugs for anti-depression.

Author Rob Bell

I may not agree entirely with Bell's theology, but I think he makes a very relevant statement when he observes the reality that blessing brings with it a tremendous temptation. And that temptation is to forget the God who provided it.

How does a person forget God? The answer can be seen in Scripture over and over again. You forget God when you forget the people God cares about. God repeatedly speaks of the widow, the orphan and the refugee. This is how you remember God: you bless those who need it the most in the same way that God has blessed you when you needed it the most.

Entitlement leads to immunity to the suffering of others, because "I got what I deserve" and so, apparently, did they. 

Moses warned about this as well in Deuteronomy 8, when he said, "You may say to yourself, 'My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.' But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth."

In an empire of entitlement, when the fundamental awareness is lost that this is all a gift, luxuries can become normal. And it can be very easy to lose perspective on just how much we have.

I am a very blessed man. God has blessed me and living in this country has given me access to some incredible blessings. This past week as I have celebrated my birthday and begun to learn how to use a new smart phone, I am sometimes amazed at how the blessings can so easily begin to consume my thoughts and attention. And before I know it, I have let an entire day pass by and given little thought or time to listen to how God wants me to use the blessings He has placed in my life to bless others.

I may have a smart phone, but my goal in the coming year is to be smarter than the smart phone by listening to and obeying the God who has let me use the smart phone so I can make a difference in the lives of others.

Thanks for reading this blog. I hope it has given you something important to think about today.

You are loved!