Using Notifications to the Glory of God

Perhaps you’re like me and you occasionally find yourself looking back to your pre-smartphone days with a certain degree of longing. In those moments, I imagine what it would be like to experience again the space in my life created by the disappearance of the distractions my newer, brainier device provides. There are other occasions, however, when I think differently. It’s in these moments when I remember that my phone is a tool and not a source of satisfaction. This clarity is valuable, in that it helps me think in terms of mastering my phone to accomplish a goal. 

As Christians, our ultimate goal is to glorify God (1 Corinthians 10:31), and if we see our phones as tools, then we can use them to help us accomplish this goal on a daily basis. One feature on our phones that can help us glorify God are the notifications. How can we use notifications wisely as we seek to glorify God in our daily lives? First, let me begin by saying that we can definitely go too far with notifications so that they just become white noise that we learn to ignore. But if we prioritize which apps are allowed to notify us, then they can become aids in training ourselves for godliness (1 Timothy 4:7-8). Do you really need to be notified every time your favorite YouTube channel drops a new video? Is it necessary to know the exact moment when someone “likes” your Facebook post or retweets you on Twitter? These kinds of notifications can easily be sacrificed so that other more important notifications don’t get lost in the crowd.

Another way to use notifications wisely is to see them in the proper light. By this I mean, don’t think of a notification as the silver bullet in accomplishing a certain task. If you set a notification, that is a good step toward completing a task, but it’s only a step. You still have to do something with the notification when you see it. I like to think of a notification as a mini confrontation. In a world where many of us have packed schedules and others struggle with procrastination, a notification provides you with a moment in time where you have to make a conscious decision: Will you choose to swipe the notification away or take the steps of action the notification is highlighting? A notification is a fork in the road. It gives us the chance to stop and think about how we are going to steward the time and opportunities God has given us for His glory.

One of the reasons I need to use notifications is because I am a forgetful person. This means that I have, at times, let people down in failing to keep my word. This is especially convicting, given that the person who dwells on God’s holy hill in Psalm 15 is one who “swears to his own hurt and does not change” (v. 4). It is important for me to set notifications for myself so that I can reflect the God whose promises in Christ are always “yes” (2 Corinthians 1:20). In the moment when I see a notification, I should see it as an opportunity to remind myself of these realities, pray for the Spirit’s help, and take the next step in faith to honor Him. 

For you (or the person you’re discipling), it may not be keeping your commitments to people, but instead, maintaining consistency in prayer or Bible meditation. Or maybe a reminder to put date night on the calendar…or family worship…or to send out encouraging texts to people in your small group. Where do you need these mini confrontations in your life?

Notifications can’t make us do what we ought to do, but they can help us make decisions that are consistent with God’s will. The British abolitionist, William Wilberforce, was a man of determined devotion to God, and I appreciate his thinking when it comes to what one might call a “notification” in his day. Consider these words from Wilberforce himself: “Let me try to keep myself reminded of invisible things by something which will call attention, though not produce pain…I did try a little pebble in my shoe. Why should such secondary means be despised?”¹

Wilberforce’s notification was a pebble in his shoe to help him remember to “set [his] mind on things that are above” (Colossians 3:2). And though it may seem a bit fanatical to some, he had the mentality of using anything he could to help him draw near to Christ. When we consider the love and worth of our Savior, isn’t that mentality appropriate?

¹ Quoted in Vital Christianity: The Life and Spirituality of William Wilberforce by Murray Andrew Pura (p. 67).