{"id":4092,"date":"2015-03-11T07:04:54","date_gmt":"2015-03-11T13:04:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/?p=4092"},"modified":"2015-03-11T07:20:14","modified_gmt":"2015-03-11T13:20:14","slug":"10-questions-for-the-only-pastor-i-know-who-doesnt-have-a-cellphone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2015\/03\/10-questions-for-the-only-pastor-i-know-who-doesnt-have-a-cellphone.html","title":{"rendered":"10 Questions for the Only Pastor I Know Who Doesn’t Have a Cellphone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"cell\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This article was previously published at Crosswalk.com. You can go\u00a0here to see the whole<\/a> interview.<\/p>\n

How many of your friends can you name who do not have a cell phone? If I don\u2019t count anyone under the age of 16, or over the age of 80, then I can only name one: my friend Garrett. He\u2019s barely 40 and is a pastor, which seems like a tough job to do without a cellphone in hand. Over the years he\u2019s taken a lot of razzing about his stubborn unwillingness to conform to the group. Lately, however, I\u2019ve been wondering if he might be onto something. So, I asked him to respond to a few questions about what it\u2019s like to navigate culture and ministry without a phone in his hand. Here\u2019s how the conversation went:<\/p>\n

TS: Let\u2019s start with the obvious question: why don\u2019t have a cell phone? Is this technophobia? Are you a Luddite? This has to be a philosophical objection, right?<\/strong><\/p>\n

GL:<\/strong>\u00a0I do not suffer from technophobia. Truthfully I like the idea of a portable handheld computer. It is the phone that I find objectionable. My reasons have multiplied through the years but there are basically three.<\/p>\n

First, I don\u2019t think that level on connection is healthy for me, and possibly not for anyone. I fear a cell phone would place me on a tether which stretches out to hundreds of people who are making dozens of rash decisions a day. If only a fraction of those rash decisions involve expressing momentary negativity or asking for my immediate assistance with a crisis, I could be exposed to a hail of need\/hate bullets for which I lack the emotional Kevlar. I see men every time I go to the grocery store calling their wives on cell phones to ask \u201cWhich baked beans should I buy?\u201d Does it really matter? I do not want to be the on the receiving end of hundreds of baked-bean calls. I believe cell phones allow us to transfer anxiety quickly to another, when that anxiety rightly belongs with us, right where we are, momentarily overwhelmed by the number of baked beans before us\u2026but we can figure it out.<\/p>\n

Second, by observation I now find that people with cell phones are present everywhere on the planet, except in the place where they actually are. \u00a0People now talk to me (sort of) while carrying on a second (text) conversation with someone else, somewhere else. I\u2019ve seen people being interviewed in documentary films answering texts while they are on camera. \u201cHey! You\u2019re in a movie! Millions of us will rent this to hear about your experience. Must we all wait for you to text your peeps?\u201d<\/p>\n

Third, a moment before my wife\u2019s phone rings, our TV surround sound clicks several times. As a scientist [former career] I am still not convinced of the safety of having something emitting that amount of field energy (reaching twelve feet) close to my head for long periods of time.<\/p>\n

TS: Are you offended that I just asked you why you haven\u2019t bought a consumer product, as though that is a prerequisite for participation in our culture?<\/strong><\/p>\n

GL<\/strong>: I am not offended. I am fascinated that something which barely existed twenty-five years ago has so quickly attained \u201cnecessary for life\u201d status.<\/p>\n

TS: What kind of reaction do you get from people when they find out you don\u2019t have a cell phone. Has anyone harassed your, or taken offense?<\/strong><\/p>\n

GL<\/strong>: Absolutely. Most people who are offended that I don\u2019t have one seem to consider it a piece of life-safety equipment. I am endangering my wife and children by not having a cell phone. I used to say, \u201cYou\u2019re right. Remember when we were in school, and millions of kids met terrible fates all because they couldn\u2019t call their folks from the sidewalk; when we used to have to walk into a building and ask to use the phone to check in. Oh! The lives that were needlessly thrown away!\u201d \u00a0People didn\u2019t think that soliloquy was clever so I had to stop. I sometimes think about pointing out cell phones are now a factor in 25% of all car accidents. \u00a0People probably wouldn\u2019t think that was clever either. \u00a0Safety first.<\/p>\n

TS: Is there a fraternity? Have you found other people who have opted out of the cell phone?<\/strong><\/p>\n

GL:\u00a0<\/strong>This is amazing. \u00a0I don\u2019t know anyone else who doesn\u2019t have a cell phone. \u00a0Kids, the elderly,the very poor, people in third world countries\u2026everyone seems able to get and maintain a cell phone. \u00a0That is impressive. \u00a0However, when someone now tells me they don\u2019t have enough money to go on a prayer retreat or to the\u00a0marriage<\/a>\u00a0counselling I am recommending, a voice in my head does say, \u201cThis person who can\u2019t afford to invest in soul or marriage is paying for five cell phone plans.\u201d (And had they not been texting the new girl at work so often perhaps this counselling would not be necessary in the first place.) But again, safety first.<\/p>\n

TS: What do you see in cell phone users that we can\u2019t see in ourselves?<\/strong><\/p>\n

GL:\u00a0<\/strong>You are part of a massive cultural phenomenon that has grown so much faster than any sort of good etiquette to regulate it. You are present to everyone in the world except for the people who are right there with you. You are on a leash. \u00a0If the cell phone rings you feel guilty for not picking it up immediately. If not guilty, you are at least anxious until you can get somewhere and look at that screen and see what it is you have missed. It\u2019s been months since you did only one thing at a time in your own home. You are experiencing so much more anxiety. Think about it:<\/p>\n

Non-cellphone World: Person A has problem, anxiety, and must solve it themselves. Person B is at peace, unaware<\/p>\n

Cellphone world: Person A has problem, anxiety, and must solve it. Person B gets a text and now has anxiety also, though they cannot help.<\/p>\n

Net Gain for Cellphone World = x2 anxiety<\/p>\n

You can\u00a0read the rest of the interview here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article was previously published at Crosswalk.com. You can go\u00a0here to see the whole interview. How many of your friends can you name who do not have a cell phone? If I don\u2019t count anyone under the age of 16, or over the age of 80, then I can only name one: my friend Garrett. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1118,"featured_media":4093,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1261,165,445,612],"class_list":["post-4092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cellphone","tag-pastor","tag-technology","tag-unbusy-pastor"],"yoast_head":"\n10 Questions for the Only Pastor I Know Who Doesn't Have a Cellphone<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This article was previously published at Crosswalk.com. You can go\u00a0here to see the whole interview. How many of your friends can you name who do not have\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2015\/03\/10-questions-for-the-only-pastor-i-know-who-doesnt-have-a-cellphone.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"10 Questions for the Only Pastor I Know Who Doesn't Have a Cellphone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This article was previously published at Crosswalk.com. You can go\u00a0here to see the whole interview. How many of your friends can you name who do not have\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2015\/03\/10-questions-for-the-only-pastor-i-know-who-doesnt-have-a-cellphone.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Paperback Theology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=654515438\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-03-11T13:04:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-03-11T13:20:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/230\/2015\/03\/cell.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"402\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tim Suttle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Tim_Suttle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tim Suttle\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2015\/03\/10-questions-for-the-only-pastor-i-know-who-doesnt-have-a-cellphone.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2015\/03\/10-questions-for-the-only-pastor-i-know-who-doesnt-have-a-cellphone.html\",\"name\":\"10 Questions for the Only Pastor I Know Who Doesn't Have a Cellphone\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-03-11T13:04:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-11T13:20:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#\/schema\/person\/63a7ffe567a014f809abae15ebfc44a6\"},\"description\":\"This article was previously published at Crosswalk.com. You can go\u00a0here to see the whole interview. How many of your friends can you name who do not have\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2015\/03\/10-questions-for-the-only-pastor-i-know-who-doesnt-have-a-cellphone.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2015\/03\/10-questions-for-the-only-pastor-i-know-who-doesnt-have-a-cellphone.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2015\/03\/10-questions-for-the-only-pastor-i-know-who-doesnt-have-a-cellphone.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"10 Questions for the Only Pastor I Know Who Doesn’t Have a Cellphone\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/\",\"name\":\"Paperback Theology\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#\/schema\/person\/63a7ffe567a014f809abae15ebfc44a6\",\"name\":\"Tim Suttle\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ce6d230b7d3a7d50e5fc4b6c265691fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ce6d230b7d3a7d50e5fc4b6c265691fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tim Suttle\"},\"description\":\"Find out more about Tim at TimSuttle.com Tim Suttle is the senior pastor of RedemptionChurchkc.com. He is the author of several books including his most recent - Shrink: Faithful Ministry in a Church Growth Culture (Zondervan 2014), Public Jesus (The House Studio, 2012), & An Evangelical Social Gospel? (Cascade, 2011). Tim's work has been featured at The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, Sojourners, and other magazines and journals. Tim is also the founder and front-man of the popular Christian band Satellite Soul, with whom he toured for nearly a decade. The band's most recent album is \\\"Straight Back to Kansas.\\\" He helped to plant three thriving churches over the past 13 years and is the Senior Pastor of Redemption Church in Olathe, Kan. Tim's blog, Paperback Theology, is hosted at Patheos.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=654515438\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/@Tim_Suttle\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/author\/timsuttle\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"10 Questions for the Only Pastor I Know Who Doesn't Have a Cellphone","description":"This article was previously published at Crosswalk.com. You can go\u00a0here to see the whole interview. How many of your friends can you name who do not have","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2015\/03\/10-questions-for-the-only-pastor-i-know-who-doesnt-have-a-cellphone.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"10 Questions for the Only Pastor I Know Who Doesn't Have a Cellphone","og_description":"This article was previously published at Crosswalk.com. You can go\u00a0here to see the whole interview. How many of your friends can you name who do not have","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2015\/03\/10-questions-for-the-only-pastor-i-know-who-doesnt-have-a-cellphone.html","og_site_name":"Paperback Theology","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=654515438","article_published_time":"2015-03-11T13:04:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-03-11T13:20:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":402,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/230\/2015\/03\/cell.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Tim Suttle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Tim_Suttle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tim Suttle","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2015\/03\/10-questions-for-the-only-pastor-i-know-who-doesnt-have-a-cellphone.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2015\/03\/10-questions-for-the-only-pastor-i-know-who-doesnt-have-a-cellphone.html","name":"10 Questions for the Only Pastor I Know Who Doesn't Have a Cellphone","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-03-11T13:04:54+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-11T13:20:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#\/schema\/person\/63a7ffe567a014f809abae15ebfc44a6"},"description":"This article was previously published at Crosswalk.com. You can go\u00a0here to see the whole interview. How many of your friends can you name who do not have","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2015\/03\/10-questions-for-the-only-pastor-i-know-who-doesnt-have-a-cellphone.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2015\/03\/10-questions-for-the-only-pastor-i-know-who-doesnt-have-a-cellphone.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2015\/03\/10-questions-for-the-only-pastor-i-know-who-doesnt-have-a-cellphone.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"10 Questions for the Only Pastor I Know Who Doesn’t Have a Cellphone"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/","name":"Paperback Theology","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#\/schema\/person\/63a7ffe567a014f809abae15ebfc44a6","name":"Tim Suttle","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ce6d230b7d3a7d50e5fc4b6c265691fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ce6d230b7d3a7d50e5fc4b6c265691fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tim Suttle"},"description":"Find out more about Tim at TimSuttle.com Tim Suttle is the senior pastor of RedemptionChurchkc.com. He is the author of several books including his most recent - Shrink: Faithful Ministry in a Church Growth Culture (Zondervan 2014), Public Jesus (The House Studio, 2012), & An Evangelical Social Gospel? (Cascade, 2011). Tim's work has been featured at The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, Sojourners, and other magazines and journals. Tim is also the founder and front-man of the popular Christian band Satellite Soul, with whom he toured for nearly a decade. The band's most recent album is \"Straight Back to Kansas.\" He helped to plant three thriving churches over the past 13 years and is the Senior Pastor of Redemption Church in Olathe, Kan. Tim's blog, Paperback Theology, is hosted at Patheos.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=654515438","https:\/\/twitter.com\/@Tim_Suttle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/author\/timsuttle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}