Hey everyone. Welcome to a little bonus edition of the p practicality podcast. Josh Smith is joining us again rem a call that he was with us for our last session talking about, addictions of biblical understanding and response. And after we talked for a while about that, Josh, thought it might be good just to do a little bit of a follow up focus specifically on our mobile phones, our cell phone So, Josh, I appreciate that thought and happy to have you back with us.
Well, thanks again for having me Matthew, and a lot of times, we do have these conversations or we'll do presentations or or talks, or even a message on something like this and afterwards in conversation, 1 of the things that, is often expressed by individuals is we would love to hear more practical resources on how to actually make some of those changes that that we
were referring to. And so we discussed you know, looking at reducing the amount of time that we might use our phone specifically, in the area of, we addressed pornography last time. And, not only do we address concerns on what we might look at on your phones, but things we might communicate on our phones.
And so the idea is how do we as Christians especially reduce the amount of time in general that we're using our phones, kind of taking away the agency or the the the product that can create such a bad situation for us. How do we reduce the amount of time we're actually using the phone? Well, I appreciate that because I would confess it. I'm probably looking at my phone. I am looking at my phone more than I should, more than I would like to. So, happy to hear what you've got to say today.
Mh. And I think we're all on that same boat. And if we checked in our in our apps at 8... In our phones, it will actually tell us you know, how long we've been on it for the day or the week. Some of them we even tell us how many times we open our phone per day. And that can be a humbling experience to take a look at some of the times that we've been on and the number of times we've looked at our phones. So... Hopefully, this will be a encouraging episode or or podcast because there is hope.
There is encouragement in that we can address some of these issues. Alright. Well tell me what you got. Alright. So the first thing I'd like to do is just briefly reiterate that, in in the last episode, we looked at looking at our phones, viewing things we shouldn't be looking at, perhaps even inappropriate material. And so the concern is what we see. In addition to that, many people have have come to the conclusion that there's also concerns about this idea of constant comparison.
So when we look at our phones, even if it's not inappropriate context, sometimes behind the scenes, there is a sense in which we're constantly comparing to 1 another. So for on Instagram or whatever app we use, and we're constantly seeing pictures of people at the beach or people on a vacation, or people having a wonderful time. Without even noticing it sometimes in our own minds in our own hearts, we can envy be or have jealousy and and it's not even intentional. And sometimes we get in the...
Into this mode of, constant comparison, which doesn't always lead to thankful gratitude, and, contentment. And so you know, that's a that's another area that we wanna be careful of. But it's not only necessarily what we're viewing. But sometimes it's it's what we're communicating. Now, Matthew, I I think you know and and some some May know this too that I
work in a high school. I work as in a public high school as a school counselor in many, many times, there will be, issues that arise potentially physical, altercation or, threatening language or just people who are sincerely upset because of something that was communicated by text or through social media apps. And while I don't think that's a a huge concern for our listeners, sometimes we do need to take note of the way that we communicate through our phones.
Whether we're using Whatsapp or text or, any number of apps. And I think, Matthew, you you probably even experienced yourself different times where you've received the message or an email, and and maybe it wasn't... It was difficult perhaps to understand. What exactly was being communicated and could have been taken in the wrong way. Has that has that happened to you? Yeah. I'm often concerned about the tone that is getting communicated in our digital communications.
I totally get what you're saying. Yeah. And so, again, we're looking at reducing the amount of time that we're spending on our phones and just being careful about the things that we say. In a previous podcast as well, a number of months is
not even over a year ago. We discussed also anxiety and how that the cell phone the mobile phone plays an important role in that and that it's just an overload of information, and you know, as soon as cell phone sales increased, especially around the year 2007, so did anxiety among teenagers and adolescents. So what we'll do if it's okay with you is just spend a few minutes right now, looking at ways that we can understand and reduce the amount of time that we're looking at our phones.
I would appreciate hearing that. Absolutely. So 1 of the things I like to do in in presentations that I do in different situations. Is to look at James chapter 3 in light of our phones. Now, James 3, as you already know, as a listener, you know that James 3 is talking about tam our tongues. And watching the way that we use our words and being aware of the... Potential dangers that there are, and it's talking about having that under control.
With God's help. And 1 of the things I find to be very helpful is to use this passage, specifically in light of of our phones. Now, we have a very high view of scripture, and we want to make sure we're not reading something into the text that's not there. And so we're we're gonna be talking about putting phones in the place of the tongue or the mouth or or the... Words that we use. And so we always wanna be careful with that. We're not saying that this is what the text is
specifically talking about. But it is useful in application. Yeah. Matt Smith has given an alternate translation of James chapter 1 verse 26 for the digital age. If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his thumbs, his religion is useless and he has deceived himself. Well, that's useful and. I've actually read some of his material to and found that helpful.
So that's exactly what I wanna look at in chapter 3, but I did wanna note that that we wanna make sure what we're looking at in the text is is exactly what it's trying to tell us. But In this case, we'll buy application, we'll look at it from the stance of the cell phone. So I'm gonna read a couple of those verses. James chapter 3 and verse 2. It says we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says or instead how he uses his phone.
He is a perfect man able also to b his whole, body. If we put bits bits into the mouths of horses so that they may obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also, though they are so large, they are driven by strong winds, yet they are guided by a very small rudder, wherever the will of the pilot directs So also the phone is a small device yet it boasts of great things.
How great a is set ablaze by such a small fire and the cell phone or the phone is a world of un unconscious. The phone is set among our members, staining the whole body setting on fire the entire course of life and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird and reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human can tame, the phone. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. And with it, we
bless our lord and father. And with it, we curse people who are made in the likeness of God from the same phone comes blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, these things ought not to be so. And so, again, I think that helps us understand there are potential dangers with our phone just like with the words that we use. And so in the next few minutes, I'd like to just give 10 or so very practical, hopefully useful tips for reducing the amount of time that we're
on our phones. Yeah. Well, thank you for those always good and challenging scriptures from James chapter 3. Let us know what number 1 is on your list now, Josh. Okay. So number 1 is turning off our notifications. So if we don't have the the sound going off on our phone or the vibration on our phone when someone messages us or we get you know, somebody snaps us, then there's less temptation to go on to your phone. So number 1, is turn off notifications. Does that make sense?
Yeah. That... Yeah. That's good and useful. I'm just thinking that, you know, there's some apps that I have notifications on email, for instance, I have off. Mh, I don't wanna get a notification every time an email comes in And... But, yeah, I, I'll put some more thought into what other apps I allowed to notify me. That's very good. Excellent. And then number 2 is when we're home, to have a place that our phone goes. Amen. So we have a a counter on our kitchen right next to our sink.
And that's where I'd like, all of our kids, our children, those that have phones. And and even Mel and I our our phones go in the same place. And so when we're home, that's where the phone belongs. Now if you want to take some time and and message some people or check some apps. You can do it right there in the kitchen where where everyone is present and can see. And so that's a another useful way to really reduce the amount of time that we spend on our phones.
So if you if you just wanna lay out on the couch for a few minutes. You're kinda guaranteed of doing that without, Mh, looking at your phone because not near you it's not in your pocket. And you're... Exactly. So it's not in your pocket. And if you do have notifications on, which after this podcast, hopefully, you won't But if you do, it'll be on the kitchen counter instead of in your pocket and easy access.
So number 3, Number 3. This was this is 1 that I have never done, and, yet, I've had a lot of clients and people that I worked with. Who found it to be helpful is to turn your phone to a setting that's called grayscale. Okay? So our... The people who design our phones are very smart. They are into... They are intuitive and that they want... They know what sounds and colors are going to attract our attention.
And so 1 of the things we can do is turn it to a setting where the the colors will not be as attention grabbing. And thus less attractive to our time in our eyes. I never heard of that. Didn't know that existed. So it's us especially with the iphone and their steps so you can go through and turn it to grayscale. Number 4, And actually heard this 1, we were having a discussion at a youth conference a couple of weeks ago. On how to
do this better. And 1 of the teenage girls who was in our group, made this suggestion, and so I'd like to share it. She said that when she begins scrolling, again, it's not a sin to do so, and it's not like it's it's evil necessarily,
but we want to reduce the time. She says what she does is she sets a 10 minute timer on her phone and allows herself to scroll and kind of, you know, snap or message for 10 minutes and when that timer goes off, she turns off the phone and puts it back where it needs to go. So 10 minute timer when you begin using. Does that make sense?? I thought we'd be surprised how quick that U. 10 minutes gets away on us without that time. Absolutely.
The fifth 1, the fifth of 10 is to not use your phone as an alarm clock. So many people do that? That's that's how they wake up in the morning. And so what's the first thing you grab on the nights stand next to the bed as soon as you wake up? My phone phone. Right? So using something other than the phone as an alarm clock. Some people, this was 1 discussed a few weeks ago, also, which I found very interesting and helpful. Is to actually put your bible on top
of your phone. Now, ideally, especially teenagers, if you're listening to this, don't keep your phone in your bedroom. Not a good place to have it. If you're older and you're using your phone as an alarm, then put your bible on top of it. So the first thing you grab in the morning is not your phone. It is your bible. And so that is number 5. So then what are we supposed to use as as an alarm clock? An actual alarm clock? Using an alarm clock.
Absolutely. Right? Some people have watches too that you can set with timers for a for an alarm, but you, using alarm clock. Very good. And and I know... So we sometimes use phones as white noise, but, of course, there's also, alternate white noise machines too. So... Yep. There is there is a way around the things that we feel that we need the phone for. There are other alternatives like you're saying. 100
percent. Use a fan, use an air purifier or something like that to give you some white noise. Number 6, this was actually really useful is to log out of your apps after using them. So log out. And then what does that mean? You have to do next time you wanna check your feed or check your snaps or whatever it is. You have to log back in. Which is kind of annoying.
And what you can do, this... This... Actually I was working with another person who was telling me this is if you make your password this long annoying password to put in. Suddenly, you're like, it's not worth my time. It's not worth the effort. And you end
up logging in significantly fewer times. So almost like those those terrible Wi F passwords that you have to go and actually look up every time you wanna get back on the Wi f, making your app login something like that that actually make you go through a process to get in. And so logging out of your apps is a sixth way of reducing your phone time. Yeah. These are all good, Josh. They're they're they're challenging, but they're wise and they're
not impossible to do either. Mh. Now here's an interesting 1 too, number 7. Have a contest with your friend group. Have a contest to see who spends the least amount of time. On their phone throughout the week. And there's 2 ways this can go. It can be that the winner of your contest, gets rewarded in that if you all go out for pizza or ice cream, the winner the contest doesn't have to pay, like, somebody
else has to pay for them. Or they win some sort of a of a, you know, a funny trophy or prize. And or the other end, of the spectrum is that the loser has to pay for the pizza for everybody else when they go out. So sending some sort of a phone time contest which can be fun? Yeah. That 1 interest me. I think I'm gonna propose that to Esther and see if she'd like to buy me ice cream or something if I win. Or you had to buy her some ice cream. I'm I'm quite curious as to who would
win that 1. So number 8 is have a creative homes screen, Get get creative with the screen that you put on your phone so that, when you open it up or even when you turn it on screen it's a reminder of what's actually important in life. Many of us have our families on the the lock screen of our phone. So that when we log in, we are acknowledging, you know, much like people would do above a, a Tv or a computer where they...
Have a verse up there or their family portrait, putting something in there that reminds you of the responsibilities, And the you know, the things that are most important in our lives, even more important than looking at our phone. So the question is for you, Matthew, who's on your home screen, Who's on your locks train for your phone. Well, it's a picture of Ester and I when we were out on a hike together. So what's your suggestion? Perfect. No, That's exactly
it. Just something like that frame it's it's just 1 of those things that's a reminder of who and what is important in our lives. It could even be a a verse of the bible. If if you're... If you don't have a significant other, that would be a wonderful thing to put on there. Sure. 2 more to go, Just briefly. Number 9. Many people will put stickers on their phone cases that, again are a verse or a reminder of what's important and where where their responsibilities
lie. And so I've seen some stickers that say things like Christ is. Explore, something about the lord Jesus, just a burst that they really enjoy. Those are helpful things to put on your phone case, not only as a witness so that if other people see it, they might ask, but as a way to remind yourself of what's important in life. Mh. And lastly, we just wanna remind ourselves that this is a heart issue primarily.
And I'm speaking to myself that... When I'm on my phone, more than I'm in my bible, that's problematic. At a conference I was at a few weeks ago, 1 of the speakers actually asked the young people in the audience to text him. During his message, if they had spent more time in their bible. Then they had spent on their phones throughout
the week. And you know, I think it was more of a play on words and and more of a illustration than anything else but you know, that's that's a thought provoking question. And so it's a heart issue. And I hope that will be just as we wrap things up here Matthew. I hope this will be our heart cry. The desire of our heart as many of the songs reiterate to us that we... Our desire would
be toward God. And that instead of because we're very big counseling on, not just saying stop doing something, but instead replacing it with something better. So what... How great would it be? If every time I went to scroll through my phone. Instead, I spent a few minutes in prayer beforehand. I think it'd be a blessing in my life, And and, again, I speak to myself first and foremost. Josh, Thank you very much for these. I really appreciated this. I've got a little challenge for you now.
Okay. We are likely gonna see each other in about a month's time. So, I want you to ask me for there when we see each other how I'm doing on some of these things. And if I've reduced some screen time and ask how how I'm doing in my contest with Esther. Okay. And, you know, I might even up the game a little bit Matthew and challenge you, and we'll see maybe in the week leading up
to that time. Which 1 of us, and and you might I might end up you buying some some tea or you might end up buying me some coffee, and we'll just have to see how that goes. Or a Kombucha. Right. Exactly. Alright. Very good. Thanks, Josh for these very helpful practical suggestions, and we appreciate your time and and contributions very much. Thank you, Matthew. Alright. We pray that these will be a help to you all. May the lord bless you in the week ahead.