Phones face-down

Phones face-down

Matthew Ruttan October 5, 2026 2:07

Lately, I’ve been putting down my phone more often. (And yes, I appreciate the irony that many of you are reading or listening to this on your phone—but stick with me…)

Not only have I been putting down my phone more often, but I’ve been trying to not pick it up in the first place. When we’re not careful, we can simply pick up our phones when we have ten seconds of downtime. It becomes automatic.

For example, I was outside barbecuing some chicken. It still had some time to go, so I pulled my phone out of my pocket and opened Instagram. The first thing I saw annoyed me, and the second thing I saw upset me. In about twenty seconds my brain was taken to a less-than-ideal place.

Why did I pull out my phone again?

I would have felt better if I had simply looked at the sky, put on some good music, or just pondered the day in silence.

The point of life isn’t to become frantic and to melt into a puddle of digital goo—it’s to glorify God as the hands and feet of Christ.

In Matthew 6:28-29, Jesus says: “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” In context, Jesus is teaching about worry, and about how God provides.

But recently it struck me that Jesus often uses imagery from the world of nature.
-“Consider the lilies of the field…”
-“Look at the birds of the air…”
-“A farmer went out to sow…”

There is something good and beautiful about being rooted in the natural rhythms of the world God made, instead of just starting at our screens all the time.

Sure, we need to check our messages and find out what time practice starts. But more and more often, our phones are trying to take the wheel, and kick our mental well-being into the back seat.

A phrase comes to mind: “Phones face-down.” I’m going to try it more often. Perhaps you might want to try it too.

The point of life isn’t to become frantic and to melt into a puddle of digital goo—it’s to glorify God as the hands and feet of Christ.