Is Constant Entertainment Harming Your Spiritual Life?

Published: January 21, 2025

Is Constant Entertainment Harming Your Spiritual Life?

By Movieguide® Contributor

The American population has become obsessed with entertainment, spending every free second on our phones, but is this such a bad thing?

Recent statistics show that the average American adult spends seven hours a day on their devices. The numbers are even worse for children, with ages 11 to 14 spending nine hours a day on technology. While these numbers are partially attributed to work/school, they also represent a significant time investment every day in our technology.

These high screen time numbers are cause for significant concern for all ages. For toddlers and young kids, high screen time is associated with numerous developmental issues, while older kids, teens and adults with high screen time experience higher rates of depression and anxiety. A concern for all, however, is the impact that screen time has on our spiritual lives.

By spending every second of our time seeking entertainment on our screens, Americans are blocking out God’s voice in their lives. For this reason, starting in 2020, pastors began to become very concerned about the amount of time their congregations were spending on screens.

While the Lord can certainly reach any person at any time, Christians are called to live a life in constant communication with the Lord. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Paul writes, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” It is much harder to live out this vision of the Christian life when we distract our minds with the technology in front of us.

Introducing healthy limits into our lives is the best way to honor the Lord and give Him room to speak into our lives, however, consuming edifying content is also incredibly important. Movieguide®’s founder Dr. Ted Baehr writes about discernment in media choice in his book The Culture Wise Family. In it, he teaches that parents and children should reflect on the media they are consuming and the lessons it teaches.

Entertainment is not bad in and of itself. God created humans to be storytellers, and there is great value in a story done right. However, our society has gone overboard and taken entertainment to the extreme. Christians should beware of the spiritual impact of always being entertained and focus on consuming edifying content, rather than allowing themselves to indulge in debauchery.

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