The New "gods"

Flipping open my laptop at the beginning of my day, I see I have 147 new email messages downloading into my Inbox 95% of which are spam. I quickly minimize my Mail program and open my browser where I see I have three tabs open each with important information that I need to get to soon.

I open another tab where I can write this article on my blog. I begin with a Bible verse, but I'm not sure exactly where it's found so I flip open my iPad to check my Bible app. I have new notifications that people have posted to Facebook and that it's my turn to play Words With Friends. After typing in my password, I'm greeted with Angry Birds waiting for me to complete another level. I set the iPad back down.

I check my cell phone and find more alerts waiting for me. They same ones from Facebook, only more of them. No missed calls. No voicemails. No missed text messages. Good!

My son gets up and suddenly the "peacefulness" of the morning is broken as he asks me "Where's the remote?"  He begins playing Minecraft on our living room TV/Computer while at the same time watching Angry Birds TV on his iPad (I know, honey, maybe their own iPads weren't a good idea).

Elijah, the prophet of God to Israel, says in 1 Kings 18:21 "How long will you water between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him..."

Traditionally, we have heard that we need to be aware of the "gods" in our lives that can take our focus away from the LORD God. "gods" like money, materialism, pride, power, and the like. The Bible clearly teaches we can't be devoted to two masters at the same time. God vs. Mammon (Matthew 6:24). Hot or Lukewarm (Revelation 3:16). Open or shut door (Revelation 3:20). Times have changed and there are new "gods" in our world.

The new "gods" vying for our loyalty and devotion are: CHOICES and INTERRUPTIONS. They aren't actually new on the scene, they've just gain prominence recently in our society. They are in vogue. Most people aren't even aware they exist. These "gods" are subtle. They claim to add value to your life, but they come with dangerous consequences if given untethered rein in one's world.

The famous "Paradox of CHOICE" study from 2000 demonstrated that when given the choice between 6 jams and 24 jams, sales went down as people were presented with more options. Although some today would dispute the conclusion of this study, it still demonstrates the stagnation we experience when confronted with an overwhelming number of CHOICES.

In actuality, companies have paid little or no attention to the dilemma of CHOICE and have continued to give the consumer more CHOICES than ever in the history of the world. Starbucks boasts about it's 87,000 drink combinations and supermarkets are full of options in every isle. Shop for a new cell phone recently? You know what I mean.

The "god" INTERRUPTION demands our attention. He rarely has evil intent. He is usually friendly. He doesn't usually hang around, but shows up frequently just to check in. And he's almost impossible to ignore. In fact, if you pretend to ignore INTERRUPTION, he's actually already succeeded.

A text message just came in on my cell phone, and now my thoughts on INTERRUPTION have become, well, you know.

The "god" CHOICE paralyzes us. The "god" INTERRUPTION steals away our focus. What can we do to to combat these "gods?" I welcome your comments.

The remainder of 1 Kings 18:21 says, "...But the people said nothing."

I think they were too busy checking their cell phones.