How long do you think it is that the average adult can hold their attention span?
This image shows 2 numbers, 12 seconds in the year 2000, and 8 seconds now. If you look on the internet these seem to have been accepted as conventional wisdom.
THE PROBLEM – the research that backs up this statistic is basically without actual research record.
Another one of those “they say” type bits of public information that we feel like is true, but actually has no basis in actual research.
As I read in research on this topic, Psychologists are not interested in the “average” attention span, but attention spans directed towards specific tasks. Like driving safely, or witnessing a crime, or other such task focused attention work.
What is truer of our ability to focus our attention is this:
• The learning we have stored up for what is normal in each situation.
• This learning informs our expectations.
• These expectations create the conditions either for serious concentration or serious distraction.
However it is true is that our phones and media platforms are taking up more of our attention as we read, learn and find entertainment and are proving to be increasingly dominant in terms of our daily habits:
• Teenagers – can average up to 5.8 hours a day.
• The average time spend on social media daily is 2hrs, 24 minutes.
• If you tally it up, this could end up meaning spending over 5 years of our lives on social media, assuming we start at 16 and live to 72 years of age.
• 60% of the world and 93% of all internet users use social media.
In short, over 5 years of our attention is being given to apps that tend to invite us to scroll into a vortex of not much in the end.
How then do we best spend our attention?
We are starting in January a series titled “Everyday Helper”, focusing on the person and work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The bible teaches us that the reality is, we are not left to our own attention devices, if we believe in and follow Jesus. We have an everyday helper in the Holy Spirit. With us to empower our lives with God’s purpose. Given to help us spend our attention, and our time, wisely and for His glory.
THIS IS TAUGHT CLEARLY – In a passage out of the letter to the early church in Rome, written by the Apostle Paul. The Apostle writes this letter with the following flow:
• He begins writing about the story of humanity without the help and power of Jesus – broken and corrupted in sin.
• He then paints a picture of what reality looks like for all the Gentile world that is without the help and power of Jesus.
• And after this, paints a picture of what reality looks like for all Jews without Jesus.
• Paul then reverses things – talking about Abraham, and how Abraham begun the way of faith that is now fulfilled in Jesus.
• He contrasts the example of Adam with Jesus, comparing humanity without Jesus and humanity that is rescued and under the authority of Jesus.
• He arrives at the section we will read together now with a dramatic climax – life with the help, and power of Jesus, life under the authority of Jesus, is life led by the Holy Spirit.
Paul is making a radical claim about humans who trust their lives to Jesus. He is saying:
• You have a new power at work in you, EVERYDAY. None other than God’s own Spirit, the Holy Spirit – has magnificently cleared the air in your heart, freeing you from the enslaving power of sin and it’s consequence, spiritual and final death.
• You have been set right once and for all from your disordered mess, EVERYDAY. I don’t know how you view yourself right now, but if you’re normal, you’ll see some order, and perhaps more than a little disorder within. This can be frustrating at best, and at worst, downright depressing. But this is not how God sees you, because of Jesus. God sees you, in fact declares you, as set right once and for all in His sight. And He works this into your heart, your mind, your every living – yes even your everyday attention – by the Holy Spirit.
• You are not trying to fix anything ANYMORE – instead of redoubling our own efforts to live clean, or well, or with better focus or attention, we “simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.”
• We are, all of us, set free from all kinds of self-obsession and measurement, EVERYDAY - given grace by God to be God aware, God focussed, God-led – living the lives we were created for, purpose-made for. By the power of the Holy Spirit.
As this passage concludes, quite powerfully:
“…if God himself [by the Holy Spirit] has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him.”
Clear evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in your life is a God-aware, God-attentive, God-focused mindset. God-focused attention, if you will. Everyday of your life.
How are you going living God-aware in your day-to-day life? God-focused as a daily mindset?
There are two ways to live life. Reading now from the NIV
• The mind/life that has not put faith in Jesus is death. It’s that blunt, clear even. Nothing sobering, nothing darker, nor depressing, nor soul-destroying, as death. That’s life, both now and as an end result, outside of Jesus influence, power and help.
• The mind/life that has put faith in Jesus is life and peace. The complete opposite. The believer has life and peace from God the Holy Spirit constantly there to be learned and lived more fully and more freely
THIS IS THE EVERDAY HELP: God has introduced into the world through Jesus.
We learn – because we need to unlearn a fair few of our normal habits, and learn what life with the Holy Spirit is.
Through a particular way of life – there are practices, and habits of life, that will help us discover the Spirit led life.
If we are followers of Jesus, but our habits are none different to those that don’t follow Jesus, we are not near the Spirit led life.
If we are followers of Jesus, and our habits are none different to when we didn’t follow Jesus, we are also not near the Spirit led life.
The Spirit-shaped life – once we’ve trusted ourselves to Jesus, the Spirit is at work. To change us. To make us more like Jesus. In mindset. In habits. In desires.
Through this series, we’re going to explore some of the ways of life and peace of the Spirit. Different ways He works in our daily lives.
For now, I want to leave you with this thought:
Take this image - a group of people learning to navigate the rapids on a river. Imagine being in this boat - what do you need most?
Are you able to handle this on your own? Wouldn't you look to someone who has done this all before?
Each of us needs a guide! In life the rapids can come thick and fast, and none of us has been through it all before. So like navigating a river, if you’re new to the ways of the Spirit, likewise, what do you need most? An experienced teacher and guide.
Link up with someone here, and there are a number of people who can help you and learn from an experienced teacher and guide how to work with, and walk with, the Holy Spirit.
The life and peace of God is yours for the discovering as a result.
Who wouldn’t want to live into this – it’s what we’ve been made to learn and live!
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