Perhaps you’ve sat on your bed before with a phone and found your time has been lost to you. And maybe you’ve sunk into your couch and wished to do nothing else in your time, therefore finding your will lost to you. Both of those cases are common and often recur in the modern world because it is common for the modern Man to sit on a phone and watch short form media, browse social media for novelty, search for small rewards in video games, and search for any stimulation that would appease a mind on dopamine, as per the creation of a mind utterly reliant on dopamine.
It is an ever growing peril of this frivolity not only to deform the mind’s ability to think critically, but also the desire to do so. Short form and social media both provide hits of novelty which are responsible for the mind’s reliance on dopamine to feel comfortable and entertained. The real trouble comes in the attempt to do schoolwork, write, and read. In any of these cases, the mind would indulge in trying to leave the ordeal and indulge entirely on any task that can provide the usual stimulation. Or on the alternative, it might find a way to make the task more stimulating. Both cases are harmful.
To a christian, this addiction to stimulation is entirely foreign to our mission. A firefighter does not extinguish a fire by bathing in it, so also a christian does not fulfill the commission by bathing in frivolity. If a christian is addicted to the constant novelty and stimulation of social media, then they won’t have the patience to indulge in scripture. More frightfully, the focus on trends on both types of platforms leads away from a focus on God, which is the only thing we should be focused on as christians. (it is even more frightful when trends are associated with God and vice versa. God’s unchanging nature is unlike that nature of novelty) And as information and opinions are much easier to fall into on these platforms, the truth of christianity is undermined. Both social media and short form media are mixing pots of information, and are especially dangerous now that they involve both atheists and christians, especially since we hold entirely different beliefs and tones in our message. Social media and short form media are not alone in this. In a slighter form, video games and tv also play a part in seducing the mind.
These conditions likely apply to you if you have ever rested on such pleasures, and they apply to the majority of modern society as well. The grief they bestow is not known to the victim until they learn that they have a real desire, and not just for the novelty of the screen. If this loop pulls you in, then it’s your responsibility as a christian to escape it and recollect your desire.
