IPhone Sabbath Revisited

I should first say that I just learned how to turn my own IPhone off.

I should secondly say that I am not allowed to create a rule about the Sabbath. The reason is not that I am a hypocrite, but that Jesus said many things about the Sabbath and they involved less rules - not more.

The Sabbath command appears all over the Bible. And the heart of it is this: take a day off, rest, be with your family, learn that there is a different rhythm to life than the one you see at work and at Schnucks. (Genesis 1, Exodus 16, Exodus 20, etc.)

What does this have to do with your IPhone? If you are a stay at home mom, I can see using your IPhone twice as much as usual on your Sabbath. If texting breathes relational life into your heart, then you should text even more on the Sabbath. But, the way to know if it is a good Sabbath practice is to pay attention to your family. Does texting (or emailing, or using your favorite APP) give you renewed energy to be with your loved ones (the sabbath, of course, applies just as much to single people as married ones)? Are you more relaxed when using these 'time-savers', and genius pieces of technology?

I am on a couple of list serves with multiple men. Most of us have stressful jobs. Posting to the list serve on the weekend might breathe life into some of these men. I say 'might' because creating hard and fast rules on the Sabbath misses the point of Jesus' teachings on it (Matthew 12 for instance).

In Matthew 5-7 Jesus revisits many Old Testament laws and re-imagines them in a broad way. The Sabbath is not included. The Apostle Paul treats the Sabbath similarly in a couple of his letters. The point, then, is not to turn off your IPhone (especially if you don't know how), but to pay attention to what email, texting, the internet, video games, tv, books, food, etc. do to your heart and the rhythms of your life. You are supposed to take a break once/week. You are supposed to slow down, be present to your heart (which hurts if you are used to moving fast), be present to your family, eat, and to play. So, play with your IPhone frequently on the Sabbath. But, do it while paying attention to what it does to the rhythm of your day - which is supposed to be slow.