Our church has been in a sermon series this month, talking about the dangers of technology in regards to our spiritual formation. Although technology is not a bad thing in itself and has many benefits, the truth is that it affects us much more than we would like to admit. Everything that we consume does something to us.
Our pastor made this statement recently: We are either being passively conformed to technology, or we are actively being transformed by God.
Key words: passively conformed
Not many of us go on to technology thinking that we are going to intentionally waste time and spend hours scrolling and comparing our lives to other people. It’s often passive, meaning that it wasn’t what we meant to do, but it’s happening and doing something to our thoughts and hearts in the process.
This connects to Romans 12:1-2. I like the way the NIV version puts it:
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
So, what is the pattern of this world in year 2025? There are many things that could be said, but for the sake of the focus of this blog, we will only camp out in technology. We live in an age where more screens are available to us than ever, and more information is passed on to us than ever. In fact, there are significant studies that remind us that it is more information than we are supposed to take in as humans. Because of this reality, it’s no surprise that mental health and division among people has risen to a high number. The pattern of our world today is tempting us to conform to addiction, hatred, anxiety, fear and comparison. Satan is working behind the scenes to make these things appear attractive, so that when we don’t practice self-control and use technology correctly, his lies deceive us and draw us in.
How do we overcome this? How do we not be conformed to technology addiction, but be transformed by the peace of Christ and His way? Well, Romans 12:2 tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. This action does not happen by osmosis; we have to put the discipline and work in, just like any spiritual habit and practice. God does the ultimate work, but we have to position ourselves in order for Him to transform us. When this happens, we can actually discern the will of God for our lives and walk in His path for us.
So, here is a helpful way to think and pray about this: Create a Rule of Life for technology.
The idea of a Rule of Life comes from the Christian leader John Mark Comer and the ministry called Practicing the Way. He defines it as this: A Rule of Life is a schedule and set of practices and rhythms that help us create space in our busy world to be with Jesus. It’s putting a plan together, looking at your life, schedule, calendar and rhythms, and asking God to give you wisdom as to how you can arrange your life to help you intentionally keep Him in the center of it all.
These practices are divided into different areas of our lives, such as: Sabbath, Prayer, Fasting, Solitude, Generosity, Scripture, Community, Service and Witness.
Technology is intertwined into many of these categories, but let’s think about technology as it’s own practice. This can help us to practically set up parameters and disciplines in our lives, where technology doesn’t have power over us, but we have power over technology, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
I have been heavily convicted about my own use of technology in recent years. As I’ve taken steps along the way to not be on technology as much, I’ve quickly realized how dependent I was on it.
Here are some steps I have been and currently am thinking through in my own life, for creating a Rule of Life with my technology. I fail in these things often, but I’m trying to cultivate new habits that help me be present and keep me focused on the right things. You can take or leave these for yourself, but maybe it will at least get you thinking, too. Some of them could be worth a try.
- Not checking your work email on days you are supposed to be off of work.
If we are off work, shouldn’t we be fully off? I recognize that different jobs have different rhythms and it’s not always that easy, but we must have regular times when we are truly off work. When we check our work email, we think about work. It’s something that we’ve become so accustomed to doing, that we don’t usually notice it. If you have more than one email, then you may just need to think through when you can check a certain one. At minimum, it would be wise to have at least one day a week where we do not check any email, as we see this pattern in the creation order of working six days and resting one (the Sabbath). Resting our minds is important, too.
- Putting your phone down when you get home so you can be present.
As soon as our whole family is home, I’ve been putting my phone away on the charger and not grabbing it again until before bed to set my alarm for the next morning. I will keep my ringer on, incase someone is trying to reach me for something important, but I try to put it out of my sight while we are having dinner and doing our nightly routine. Having a designated place to put it has helped me not resort to look at it as much. Depending on your season of life, this could look different.
- Take some notifications off of your phone.
Several years back, I remember waking up each morning to check the time, and then I would see columns of notifications on my phone as I’m trying to wake up, whether that be social media, email, text messages, etc. It was the worst way to wake up, being reminded of all the things going on – haha! Now, I’ve taken those notifications off, so that I’m not prompted to just go see who has sent me what. If it’s important enough to check something, I’ll open up the app separately at a later time.
- Take off of social media a certain day / days of the week.
This has been my biggest struggle. In recent years I’ve deleted Twitter (X), which has been great. I still use other social media platforms, but I’ve removed the apps from my phone. I have to use my tablet or laptop now to post or check social media. This has been great for me. I’ve learned to live without it for both short and long periods of time. I have a long ways to go in this area and it’s a work in progress, but I can honestly say that the less I scroll through social media, the happier I am.
So, what kind of things do you need to do to control the technology in your life? Should you set up a Rule of Life, so that you can overcome technology addiction and all the stress and noise it can bring? There is a way to use technology for good and not to be conformed, but transformed by Jesus and His way. May God give us discipline and wisdom in this.
Grace & Peace!
Matthew Weaver 