Church

Danny sits in church every Sunday, looking down; often gazing at his phone. He seems sociable, chatting with a few people after the service. But you notice he never seems to move forward with his life. Always travelling. Never arriving.

You suggest he meets up with other congregants outside. You even try to arrange this yourself. He politely declines.

You encourage Danny to have some goals; something other than playing World of Warcraft—and you suspect that’s not the only thing absorbing his attention via his digital devices.

You want him to have something to look forward to; to read his bible more; to apply biblical teaching to all his life. He takes some small steps to change, but only a few weeks later he’s back sitting in church looking more down than ever.

Is Danny in your church? It could easily be Sharon or Michael; with a family, or without. But the symptoms are the same: Lack of purpose, low confidence, unable to make decisions—a serial procrastinator; tired and distracted.

Shifting Attention

In our modern world there is so much that fragments our attention, dispersing it among the amorphous digital landscape. It is no different for the christian than it is for the non-believer.

Congregations are full of people struggling to manage their attention. Excessive time on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and WhatsApp pulls us away from being fully focused on following Christ; loving God and our immediate family and neighbour.

That does not mean those same tools cannot be used for good, if we know how. They can be, and are. But we often know more about those illusive connections on our social media, than we do about our own, literal, next-door neighbours, and sometimes—to our even greater detriment—our own families.

This is let alone the affliction of pornography addiction; gaming addiction, news and doom scrolling, and the impending crisis through AI Chat attachment, all of which leads to higher rates of loneliness, anxiety and depression, and further away from Christlikeness.

Wisdom of the age

God designed us. There is nothing He doesn’t know about how our brains work; how habits and routine affect us; how the Holy Spirit empowers us.

But local churches don’t always have the knowledge of biblically based neuroscience, philosophy or psychology, to be able to handle situations that may be taking brothers and sisters in Christ, further and further away from their God given calling.

So what often happens is that members are referred to secular psychologists and therapists who have a vastly different understanding of the human condition. Their anthropological starting point is almost always that mankind is naturally good, thereby often assigning the person victim status, put upon by bad relationships or an unjust society; the focus very much being on them and their desires, not God and His commands.

The bible says different: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23) And, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” (Psalm 51:5)

Our starting point will affect the end point, and only God can truly restore us back to the path of righteousness.

How we help

Through critical thinking rooted in eternal truth, we provide workshops and talks, one to one, or group coaching, and books & resources, all promoting a christian worldview; encouraging church leaders and congregations to manage their attention in the digital age.

Christian coaching empowers people. It is true discipleship; not about telling someone what to do (although in situations of clear direct violations of God’s law, this is required), but showing them, by asking powerful questions to help them think for themselves. The very skill the modern world doesn’t want us to engage with, is directly what God expects of us.

Take a look at the What we offer box to see more specifically how we can help your church, or get in touch below.