Dear Elim Grace,

Can we go 60-75 minutes without looking at our phones? Is it possible to be together on a Sunday morning without our phones on us? 

What if we began, little by little, to think about our Sunday services as a phone-free time? 

I don’t mean to leave our phones at home (though some of us may get to that point). I recognize that some are on call for work. Some have loved ones at home, sick or elderly. Our nursery workers may need to text a parent. And there may be other reasons you should have your phone with you.

Neither do I mean our Sunday services are becoming tech free or without a projector and screen. We will use all the technology we need, the best we can afford, to the best of our ability.

But, rather, what I mean is what we already know. Our phones distract us. Our apps have a gravitational pull. Our notifications demand a constant pick-up. Our texts demand an instant reply. Our email contains important information…. Our phones weigh on us and separate us from the moment we’re in and the people we’re with.

The last thing I want to cultivate – and one thing I detest the most – is a self-righteous rule. Any rule that leads you to feel you’re a better Christian or church than others because you do this. That’s not what I’m calling for. 

The bottom line is Christianity doesn’t replace the technical. If you want to feed the hungry, Christianity doesn’t offer cooking lessons or recipes. If you want to learn that, you must go to a cook rather than a Christian. If we want to build a new expansion, Christianity doesn’t offer blueprints or budgets. If we want to use technology (or not), Christianity doesn’t offer rules or commands. 

At Elim Grace, we navigate the practical challenges of ministry, growth, and technology with wisdom and humility. We use what we can with excellence. We learn what we must with diligence. But all we do remains rooted in God’s Word. Dependent on God’s Spirit. Aimed at the glory of Jesus. 

So, if Jesus is real and present among us when we gather together. If Jesus is real and draws near to us when we draw near to Him. If Jesus is real and speaks to us through His Word. If Jesus is real and is working in us and for us by His Spirit. Then we can and we should be present with Him and present to Him. 

I’m calling us to consider doing one thing for the sake of one thing. Let’s try to put our phones down or away for 1 hour on Sundays. Because “one thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4)