iPhone and Ecclesiastes 12:9-14

Ecclesiastes 12:9-14 (Click to read text)

One day until the release of Apple’s newest version of the iPhone. Their slick. I have partly convinced myself that I desperately need a smart phone to do my job. I own a Mac. I like the iPhone. I really like the iPhone. But I won’t be buying one. You may well wonder why, or may be just as well wondering why I’m talking about my desire for an iPhone. And the answer to both questions is, “I’m not buying an iPhone because of Ecclesiastes 12:12-14.” Or at least I like to think that is the reason.

So what does the iPhone and Ecclesiastes have to do with one another? Let me tell you. If you read the previous entry on this passage, you may have noticed that the Preacher doesn’t just say God is necessary for meaning. His conclusion isn’t “The end of the matter, God is necessary.” The conclusion is “fear God.” And he further adds, “and keep his commandments . . . for God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” Sounds scary. Everything in your life, everything you’ve ever thought, exposed for the Judge of all things to examine and judge. Like I said, scary. Thus, the command “fear God.” The point is that the existence of a God isn’t just necessary for meaning. The existence of a just God is necessary for meaning.

The Preacher has already lamented the horrors of senseless oppression and the sufferings or our daily existence. How do you make sense of all of that? And his answer is a just God makes sense of it. It is the God who sees, justly adjudicates, and carries the power and authority to enact his fair decisions that brings sense into this world. If you don’t believe that, than talk to the oppressed and see what sense they can make of a world in which their oppressors never meet justice. We need a God of justice to bring meaning to a world full of injustice.

Okay, so what does this have to do with iPhones? It’s simple really. I will one day answer to the God of justice. I fear Him. I fear opposing his plan to renovate the world with goodness and justice. In fact, I love his plan of renovation, so I don’t want to oppose it. I want to be a part of it. An iPhone doesn’t fit the plan, and I’ll give you five reasons why it doesn’t fit it for me.

1. Money - There are better ways to use my money right now to join God’s mission of renovation (like giving some money to help those in need or those ministering to others, like buying stuff needed for my family, like having a little extra cash around so my wife can have a break from cooking every so often, like buying a nice gift for my wife to encourage her and show my thankfulness to her, like buying books to better understand God and His mission or to give others those books, like keeping myself out of excessive debt so I don’t have spend extra time working other jobs to pay the bills, and so on).

2. Time - There are better uses of my time than playing around with an iPhone. An iPhone can do a lot of things. In fact, it can do way too much, and I fiddle with it far beyond what is reasonable. The last thing I need is portable internet. I need less access, not more.

3. Accountability - There are no filters for iPhones. I have filters for all my computers, and logs that my wife checks. Unaccountable access to the internet is not an option for me.

4. Motive - I don’t need an iPhone. I can do most everything that it does with the stuff I have. I just can do it all in one handy, portable device. The actual benefits to me are minimal. My real motive, I think, is to have a new, cool toy. A new, cool toy that costs me a lot of money, robs time, and provides temptation.

5. Joy - There is more joy to be found in abstaining from it, using my money for more God-glorifying purposes, employing my time in serving others, avoiding possible temptations, and saying “No!” to my lust for more.

Bottom line is that I fear God more than I fear life without an iPhone.