Abstract
All Christians understand that the call on our lives, the mission for which we live, is to make disciples of Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:18-20). We want to live out our own discipleship and help others find and follow Jesus, by God’s grace. In making disciples we aim to help others know God, know all things in relation to God, and equip them so they can make God known to others.
There are several habits and disciplines that positively influence our spiritual growth. Other habits are items that weigh us down and keep us from being all that we could be as Christians. Other habits and disciplines are the means of God’s grace that encourage our growth in godliness. In the latter category, the list typically consists of Bible intake, prayer, Christian community, and a host of sub-topics. Patterns of life that keep us from such disciplines and draw our attention to the values of this world can detract from our spiritual growth and discipleship.
This is crucial to consider. What we give our attention to and set our affections on shapes who we become (Ps. 115:2-8; 2 Cor. 3:18). We are all worshippers, and we become like what we worship. 1 Since this is the case, one area of our lives that is incredibly formative, though often overlooked, is our use of technology, particularly our phones. A number of secular authors have recognized the effects of technology, 2 and it is time that Christians take this formative force more seriously. As such, this essay will briefly review nine works written recently by Christian authors concerning the impact of technology on Christian living and how we are to approach such a tool while committing ourselves to Christian discipleship. The essay will conclude with an overall summary, synthesis, and a general exhortation for the way forward.
Book Summaries
The Tech-Wise Family 3
Andy Crouch is the author of numerous books and partner for theology and culture at Praxis, a venture-building ecosystem advancing redemptive entrepreneurship. The author states, “This book is about how to find the proper place for technology in our family lives—and how to keep it there.” 4 Technology, Crouch argues, is in its proper place when it helps us bond with the real people we have been given to love, when it starts great conversations, when it helps us care well for the fragile bodies we inhabit, when it helps us acquire skill and mastery of domains that are the glory of human culture, when it helps us cultivate awe for God and the created world we are part of and responsible for stewarding, and only when we use it with intention and care. 5
Crouch offers readers ten “tech-wise” commitments to engage in Christian formation in our modern cultural milieu. 1. We develop wisdom and courage together as a family. 2. We want to create more than we consume. So, we fill the center of our home with things that reward skill and active engagement. 3. We are designed for a rhythm of work and rest. So, 1 hour a day, 1 day a week, and 1 week a year, we turn off our devices and worship, feast, play, and rest together. 4. We wake up before our devices do, and they “go to bed” before we do. 5. We aim for “no screens before double digits” at school and at home. 6. We use screens for a purpose, and we use them together, rather than using them aimlessly and alone. 7. Car time is conversation time. 8. Spouses have one another’s passwords, and parents have total access to children’s devices. 9. We learn to sing together, rather than letting recorded and amplified music take over our lives and worship. 10. We show up in person for the big events of life. We learn how to be human by being fully present at our moments of greatest vulnerability. We hope to die in one another’s arms.
A great deal of wisdom is contained within the pages of this work. Crouch could have been more overt in dealing with specific passages of Scripture, within their specific context and at greater length, instead of merely proof-texting. However, Crouch’s study is both cultural analysis and biblical worldview application, helpfully aimed at assisting families to think as Christians about the ways they engage with the technology around them.
Ways Your Phone Is Changing You 6
Tony Reinke is a journalist, the author of several books, and serves as senior teacher and host of the Ask Pastor John podcast for desiringGod.org. Reinke is clear that technology, such as the smartphone, is not going to be making its way out of our lives anytime soon, and while there are real dangers, such technology also offers genuine assistance. Knowing this to be true he states, “The question of this book is simple: What is the best use of my smartphone in the flourishing of my life?” 7 The work centers on worldview issues as well as specifics concerning the theological and sociological impact of technology, but Reinke also brings up application throughout and especially in the conclusion.
The book centers on what the title suggests, twelve particular and corresponding ways our smartphones are changing us, though you may be unaware of it (and his point is to make us cognizant of such changes): 1. Our phones amplify our addiction to distractions (ch. 1) and thereby splinter our perception of our place in time (ch. 12). 2. Our phones push us to evade the limits of embodiment (ch. 2) and thereby cause us to treat one another harshly (ch. 11). 3. Our phones feed our craving for immediate approval (ch. 3) and promise to hedge against our fear of missing out (ch. 10). 4. Our phones undermine key literary skills (ch. 4) and, because of our lack of discipline, make it increasingly difficult for us to identify ultimate meaning (ch. 9). 5. Our phones offer us a buffet of produced media (ch. 5) and tempt us to indulge in visual vices (ch. 8). 6. Our phones overtake and distort our identity (ch. 6) and tempt us toward unhealthy isolation and loneliness (ch. 7).
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Much could be said for each of these observations, and readers should allow themselves opportunity to ponder the ways technology is readily impacting our lives and formation. To summarize, the author offers helpful contrasting principles that Christians must take seriously in this era of technological advancement for the health of their own souls. 1. We minimize unnecessary distractions in life to hear from God (ch. 1) and to find our place in God’s unfolding history (ch. 12). 2. We embrace our flesh-and-blood embodiment (ch. 2) and handle one another with grace and gentleness (ch. 11). 3. We aim at God’s ultimate approval (ch. 3) and find that, in Christ, we have no ultimate regrets to fear (ch. 10). 4. We treasure the gift of literacy (ch. 4) and prioritize God’s Word (ch. 9). 5. We listen to God’s voice in creation (ch. 5) and find a fountain of delight in the unseen Christ (ch. 8). 6. We treasure Christ to be molded into his image (ch. 6) and seek to serve legitimate needs of our neighbors (ch. 7).
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In all of this we ask, do my smartphone behaviors move me toward God or away from him? Do they edify me and others, or build nothing of lasting value? Do they expose my freedom in Christ or my bondage to technology and man-centered approval? 10
Competing Spectacles 11
Reinke wrote this next book as a “theology of visual culture,” seeking to answer one question: “In this ‘age of the spectacle’ (as it has been called)—in this ecosystem of digital pictures and fabricated sights and viral moments competing for our attention—how do we spiritually thrive?” 12 The format of this work is slightly different, reading more like an instruction manual with thirty-three brief chapters. The first section of the work defines the concept of “spectacle,” as well as the various distractions they pose to Christians. Part two casts Christ as the true spectacle all humanity longs for, concluding with a number of points of application.
Key to the book as a whole is Reinke’s definition of “spectacle.” He defines this concept as “a moment of time, of varying length, in which collective gaze is fixed on some specific image, event, or moment.” 13 In other words, a spectacle is some object that captures our attention such that our eyes and brains fixate and focus on that particular item projected at us. The author hits the issue squarely when he claims, “The rise of media saturation, targeting every moment of our lives, has ushered in a new age of competition with the gospel for the human gaze.” 14
Within these brief chapters, Reinke focuses on various forms of media, such as gaming, movies, shows, and social media in the first part of the book, including ways to be aware of our own habits and how they are forming us. As image-bearers of God we are hard-wired to yearn for glory, which is why we need to be so careful of our inputs, putting off what is unhelpful and engaging with what will form us toward Christ-likeness. Thus, the second half of the book is the real payoff, where Reinke shows that “the greatest Spectacle ever devised in the mind of God and brought about in world history” is the cross of Christ. 15 The author concludes by reminding readers to call out worthless and worldly things for what they are, reclaim the category of “eye sins,” resist the manipulation of worthless spectacles, devote ourselves to self-discipline, and commit ourselves in community to gaze at God’s spectacle banquet provided to us in Christ by means of Scripture, beholding him so that we can become like him (2 Cor. 3:18). 16
God, Technology, and the Christian Life 17
It is obvious that Tony Reinke is dedicating himself to addressing the technological realities of our day from a biblical perspective. This is the culminating book (thus far) the author has written concerning a theology of technology. Reinke writes here as a “tech-optimist,” making a more positive case for human innovation and innovators, all understood within a biblical framework under the sovereignty and good designs of God. 18
The overall framework of the book revolves around six key questions, one per chapter: What is technology (ch. 1)? What is God’s relationship to Technology (ch. 2)? Where do our technologies come from (ch. 3)? What can technology never accomplish (ch. 4)? When do our technologies end (ch. 5)? How should we use technology today (ch. 6)? As a “Bible-believing creationist, Reformed in my theology, trusting in God’s providential orchestration over all things,” Reinke is neither dystopian or utopian, opting for a middle road that seeks to make redeemed use of technology while also understanding its effects as we seek to know God. 19
He engages with nine particular figures, (theologians, public intellectuals, and innovators, including John Calvin, Charles Spurgeon, Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, Jacques Ellul, Wendell Berry, Kevin Kelly, Elon Musk, and Yuval Noah Harari), delves into nine specific passages of Scripture (Gen. 4:1-26; 6:11-22; 11:1-9; 1 Sam. 17:1-58; Job 28:1-28; Ps. 20:1-9; Isa. 28:23-29; 54:16-17; Rev. 18:1-24), and gives answers to typical myths about God and technology. These myths include: 1. Human innovation is an inorganic imposition forced onto the created order. 2. Humans set the technological limits and possibilities over creation. 3. Human innovation is autonomous, unlimited, and unchecked. 4. God is unrelated to the improvements of human innovation. 5. Non-Christian inventors cannot fulfill the will of God. 6. God will send the most beneficial innovations through Christians. 7. Humans can unleash techno-powers beyond the control of God. 8. Innovations are good as long as they are pragmatically useful. 9. God governs only virtuous technologies. 10. God didn’t have the iPhone in mind when he created the world. 11. Our discovery of atomic power was a mistake that God never intended. 12. Christian flourishing hinges on my adoption or rejection of the Technium.
The longest of his works thus far, the amount of data, quotations, biblical exegesis, warnings, and takeaways can be somewhat overwhelming. However, the wisdom contained in the book is to be appreciated. One helpful insight is his contrast of the “gospel of technology” and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Reinke highlights the gospel of technology as the story of evolution and the pursuit of overcoming impediments to the rise of man, looking to science, medicine, and other technologies as the pathway to the good life as one seeks self-evolution to the point of transhumanism. 20 This is a starkly different story than the true gospel, which speaks of the creation of the world by a perfect God, the fall of humanity into sin, redemption that is completely outside of ourselves accomplished by Jesus Christ, and the new creation that awaits us for eternity. This will be an essential conversation point to broach with others as the relentless drive for immortality by human means is so entrenched in our culture.
This is a thought-provoking work to with which to engage for our times. While many in our culture simply say of new technological advances “adopt it,” Reinke insightfully points out both positives and negatives as he encourages readers to use and redeem technology toward proper and fitting ends.
The Common Rule 21
Justin Whitmel Earley is a writer, speaker, and lawyer from Richmond, VA. After describing his own journey of struggles and triumphs, he details the ways in which we as Christians need to think more clearly about our habits as formative aspects of the Christian life. He notes, “We are all living according to a specific regimen of habits, and those habits shape most of our life.” 22 And habits shape our lives, Earley argues, because they form our hearts, because they are liturgical acts (i.e., a pattern of words or actions repeated regularly as a way of worship). We become what we give our attention to. Speaking briefly of studies in the areas of neurology and worship, the author differentiates between education (what you learn and know) and formation (what you practice and do) and states, “our unconscious habits fundamentally reshape our hearts, regardless of what we tell ourselves we believe.” 23
Thus, Earley writes this book not merely to be read, but practiced. He gives a rule for life, that is, a set of habits committed to in order to grow in love for God and neighbor. 24 The author provides eight specific habits, four daily habits and four weekly habits. Half of the disciplines focus on the love of God, the others on the love of neighbor. Half are intended for embrace, the other half meant for resisting unhelpful habits.
The daily habits are as follows: 1. Kneeling prayer at morning, midday, and bedtime 2. One meal with others 3. One hour with phone off 4. Bible intake before engaging with your phone
The weekly habits are as follows: 1. One hour of conversation with a friend 2. Curate media to 4 hours 3. Fast from something for 24 hours 4. Sabbath
Each of these habits are covered in respective chapters that include anecdotal approaches to the habits by the author, along with principles and practical guidance for pursuing such habits as a follower of Christ. Earley provides an excellent guide to set up habits for life that lend themselves to Christian formation within everyday life.
Habits of the Household 25
Beyond his work that focused generally on habits of purpose for individuals wanting to push against distraction and grow in godliness, Earley wrote this work dealing more specifically with family patterns that would yield the same kinds of results. A central theme that makes its way through the book is, “We become our habits, and our kids become us.” 26 This is so because we enact what is taught and caught. That is, we learn from content as well as example, and so children are certainly educated by what they know, but they are also formed by imitation over time.
Earley focuses on ten specific habits of the household throughout this work: 1. Waking 2. Mealtime 3. Discipline 4. Screentime 5. Family devotions 6. Marriage 7. Work 8. Play 9. Conversation 10. Bedtime
And each of these habits is pointed toward a certain dynamic of growth within family structures, such as forming parents (waking and marriage), forming families (mealtimes, work, play, conversation), and forming children (discipline, screentime, family devotions, bedtime). Earley connects this work to his previous book, The Common Rule, noting, “We need spiritual rhythms to become the kind of people God calls us to be before we can think about the kind of parents God calls us to be.” 27 In both of these works, Earley clearly emphasizes that we do not engage in these habits so God will love us more; rather, we engage in these habits because God in his grace loves us and we receive this love and respond by putting ourselves in the path of his grace again and again by means of such habits so that our love for God and others will increase as a result. 28
The Wisdom Pyramid 29
Brett McCracken is a senior editor and director for communications for the Gospel Coalition, author of several books, and an elder at Southlands Church in Santa Ana, CA. The heart of the book is really captured in the first sentence: “Our world has more and more information, but less and less wisdom.” 30 In the age of immediate and ubiquitous access to information by means of the internet, we have never been so inundated with information, but this does not necessarily lead us to wisdom.
In defining what wisdom is biblically, McCracken states, To simply accumulate more knowledge is not to be wise. . . . Wisdom is knowing what to do with knowledge gained through various means of education: how to apply knowledge and information in everyday life; how to discern if something is true or not; how to live well in light of truth gained. Wisdom is not merely knowing the right answers. It’s about living rightly. It’s about determining which right answer is the best. It’s a moral orientation: a developed sense and intuition for discerning right and wrong, real and fake, truth and falsehood; the ability to weigh greater and lesser goods and make complex decisions involving multiple, sometimes competing truths. Wisdom is not something you can Google or download in one fell swoop. It is accumulated over time and through experience.
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The author notes how our shallow, expedient, cursory intake of information is actually deforming our ability to think accurately, grow in wisdom, and develop in our character. We need to view the acquisition of wisdom in a biblical fashion, one that is focused on biblical meditation, discernment, and applying knowledge to life.
McCracken spends the majority of the book highlighting six sources of wisdom and does so based on an analogy to the food pyramid, recognizing that much more of our time needs to be spent on the first couple of sources with decreasing time spent as you move up the pyramid. The sources of wisdom, from most important and time-consuming to least helpful are as follows: 1. The Bible 2. The Church 3. Nature 4. Books 5. Beauty 6. The internet and social media
Like other works reviewed here, McCracken pleads for his readers to move toward a posture of curation/intention when it comes to media intake. We need discernment about what sources we imbibe, patience to process longer, deeper conduits of information, and a God-centered, others-loving humility that approaches technology in a way that enhances the Christian life. 32 Scripture especially and the church secondarily must be our primary sources so that our gaze is fixed on God as we listen to God by the means he has given us, increase in our love for him, and live wise lives in distinctively countercultural ways. 33
Restless Devices 34
Felicia Su Wong is a cultural sociologist of media and digital technologies, currently serving as Professor of Sociology at Westmont College. As such, she approaches the subjects of personhood and digital technologies from a sociological perspective, but always with an eye to theological truth and the riches of our Christian heritage.
Wong notes that the various technologies of our day can have shaping effects on our families, work, leisure, social interactions, and even our character formation. They can have roles in stigmatizing and dividing over matters of politics, and bring about harm through access to pornography, gambling, and other such vices. All of these could be dealt with in detail that far surpasses the purpose of this work.
Her focus is not to directly deal with such issues, but to get to what lies beneath them. “The problem that this book seeks to engage is the way in which the technological and institutional structures of our contemporary digital lives are fundamentally shaping our imaginations and appetites about what it means to experience satisfaction, goodness, and wholeness as a human being.”
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Wong seeks to advance three basic convictions she believes can function as “meaningful handholds” in dealing with digital technology. 1. Our contemporary dilemmas about living with technology are not going to be solved merely through critique and lament but reconsidering the formative work of spiritual disciplines and practices that ground us in the sustaining reality and presence of God, the physical world, and our neighbor. 2. Such disciplines and practices are only generative when rooted in a robust view of human embodiment.
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3. These disciplines and practices are only sustainable when practiced not as an individual but together in community.
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The first part of the book (ch. 1–3) provides a sociological framework, revealing that while there are benefits to the technologies we enjoy today, particularly our phones, these devices, and the social media apps many frequent through them, are also designed to point us toward lives of restlessness, performance, and reification. 38 The author notes, in summarizing this portion of the book, “as human beings who have strayed from the source of life, we often feel trapped by our circumstances, unable to satisfy our appetites, and bent on establishing control as a source of security. . . . the digital ecology we have created powerfully reinforces and amplifies these tendencies.” 39
The second part of the book (ch. 4–9) shows us how the good news of Christianity can free us from the tyranny of our digital addictions. Here Wong highlights how we are created for communion, not mere digital “connection,” and she reminds us that as embodied beings made for place and presence in community, we are in desperate need of “counterliturgies” drawn from the sources of our historic Christian heritage to form us as we set our minds on things above to know God and all things in relation to God. 40 And the church is key in this endeavor as the haven to which people can come not to be distracted again by technology, but to slow down, meditate on biblical truth, pray, sing, and engage corporately so as to know God and make him known.
Throughout the book Wong also includes various sections called “The Freedom Project.” These are excerpts of practical attempts she has made in her courses to guide her students toward the kind of deep, formative lives she is describing within the book. 41 In all of this, Wong provides a sociological assessment of our dilemma, draws from the history of Christian tradition to show the proven pathways of character formation, and encourages us toward an altogether different relationship with our digital technologies for the sake of our souls.
Digital Liturgies 42
Samuel James is the associate acquisitions editor at Crossway, as well as the author of digitalliturgies.net, a regular newsletter on Christianity, technology, and culture. We have become, he argues, default web users, where opting out requires genuine dedication, planning, and discipline. While not as list-focused and applicational throughout as some of the other works in this review, James' book does offer meaningful, long-form interaction with technology’s impact on humanity, including our relationship with God, and helpful steps to take in our digital habits.
James notes how “expressive individualism,” the belief that each person holds a unique core of feeling and internal intuition that must be expressed publicly if they are to be true to themselves. 43 Instead of looking to external, objective truth, one looks internally to determine their own truth. The author then maintains, “What’s crucial to realize is that alongside the philosophical revolution of expressive individualism, the digital technology revolution has exploded, and in the process it has provided the revolution of expressive individualism with its most important, most enchanting, and most effective vehicle.” 44 That vehicle, of course, is the internet.
The book is divided into two parts, the first dealing with truth and technology, the second engaging with the digital liturgies that are coming into fruition in the lives of people frequenting the web, namely, authenticity (think expressive individualism; ch. 4), outrage (ch. 5), shame (ch. 6), consumption (ch. 7), and meaninglessness (ch. 8). James offers a disturbing commentary that is likely indicative of many Christians when he says, Many times over the last several years I have experienced a sense that the truths of Scripture feel foolish or implausible, not because of any strong argument I encountered against them, but simply because they felt out of step with the ideas and memes and mentalities that proliferate online. And especially in the past few years, I’ve seen and heard testimonies of genuine, God-fearing people who became deeply foolish—not because of intellectual deficiency, but by giving themselves over day by day to petty controversies, cheap outrage, and minute arguments. So many times, when these problems have emerged, a digital liturgy that took root in the heart has been the culprit.
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A sobering thought indeed, and why we must give ourselves to the “analog truth of the gospel,” immersing ourselves in its depths, which will demonstrate “just how flimsy, how untrue, and how unsatisfying the spirit of the web age really is.” 46
Summary and Analysis
Works on technology and the Christian life abound. This is a mere sampling of the last several years, but taken in concert, these authors shed some helpful light on the subject. These authors have their differing emphases, but all are aware of both the benefits and traps of such technology. Most offer pathways forward toward a disciplined use of technology so as to ensure our lives are bent toward God and the pursuit of godliness, with our minds set on him.
Yes, it can be agreed that technology, and smartphones in particular, can be used as a tool for good, but one can also observe how such technology has been set up to keep the consumer ever attending to worldly entertainment. We become like what we set our minds and affections on, what we attend to, what we worship. That is why this discussion is so critical, because digital technology is attracting so much of our attention these days. One can scarcely fail to observe on planes, trains, subways, and car rides that heads are down, earbuds are in, and eyes are fixated on the small screen before them. How is this impacting our Christian formation?
Part of our Christian discipleship is a continual growth in discernment, that is, distinguishing good from evil (Heb. 5:14). We are to not be conformed to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2). We are to hate what is evil and hold fast to what is good (Rom. 12:9). We must set our minds on things above (Col. 3:1-2) and not love the world or the things of the world (1 John 2:15). God is working all things together for our good, that is, that we would be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:28-29).
Are such truths utmost in our minds? Is our ultimate desire to be conformed to the image of Christ in our thoughts, motivations, affections, words, and deeds? While many may pay lip service to such attention set on God so as to worship him, our habits are the most demonstrable display of what we are truly attending to. And what is revealed is that people are on their phones, tablets, computers, and tv’s far more than they would like to admit, and that such habits can be quite deforming in nature.
Several of the authors, particularly Crouch, Earley, and Wong, suggest limitations on digital media, ways in which we can seek to keep our focus where it should be. These are offered in ways that almost suggest such practices would be nearly superhuman, since they would be so countercultural. But perhaps Christians should take on such practices and habits as minimal norms if they truly are serious about their own Christian formation as well as discipling others. Perhaps we need to recognize our own weaknesses, and while we do make use of various kinds of technologies, we must be much more disciplined in our approach. Just because such technologies are available to us does not mean we must avail ourselves of them.
Jay Kim states, “Digital tools, from email to social media, have become so integral to our everyday lives that we often fail to consider not only what these tools are doing for us but, more importantly, how these tools are forming us.”
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At root, something or someone is always catechizing us, our children, our churches. And it is imperative that we are aware of this fact and respond appropriately. Kim continues, Much of my loss of contentment was connected to the persistent sense of self-centric despair I felt as I continued spiraling down the vortex of comparison loops and contempt systems found within social media. Much of my loss of resilience was connected to the tethering of hostility and impatience, as antagonism was accelerated, and the easy way out was always just a push or two away. Much of my loss of wisdom was connected to forgetfulness, as the pressure of virtue signaling and cancel culture wrapped me up in outrage, forgetting what really matters and what doesn’t, leaving me exhausted and recklessly indulging online for temporary reprieve.
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Many of us can relate to such a confession. Kim goes on to advocate for “an ancient and timeless remedy for this undoing, a way to come up for analog air above the digital smoke,” namely, the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; Gal. 5:22-23).
Certainly, the fruit of the Spirit is what we as Christians desire to live out as we keep in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:25). But how, practically, does one pursue a life that is Spirit-filled and fruitful? By what means, under God’s grace, do we grow in godliness? And these are especially pertinent questions when we are dealing with devices and technologies that can be distracting and even deforming in their impact on us.
The answer is that we must attend to God, gaze on his glory, set our minds and affections on him, habituate our minds to be fixed on him. In other words, our mindset and lifestyle must be one that it centrally and ultimately oriented around the knowledge of God and all things in relation to him.
It is in our beholding of God as a saved people by means of his Word through the Spirit’s illumination that we are continually and progressively transformed into the likeness of God in our character (2 Cor. 3:18). 49 This beholding of God’s glory is synonymous with the idea of seeking the things that are above and setting our minds on things above (Col. 3:1-2). The “things that are above” consist preeminently of God himself and the way in which he has worked in his creation. Allen claims that we engage in such “… heavenly-mindedness in as much as we contemplate not only the one true God of the Trinity but also the way in which this God has freely willed to be with us in Christ and not apart from us.” 50 We as Christians are called to set our minds on the things of the Spirit and not the things of the flesh so as to live obedient, holy lives before God (Rom. 8:5-11, 28–32).
As Edwards states, “…the knowledge of God in Christ of believers is the imperfect beginning of the heavenly sight,” and holiness in the life of the believer is “the imperfect beginning of a blessed-making sight of God.” 51 The knowledge of God must be ultimate in our minds and life pursuits. Individually, we must pursue a knowledge of God in our own spiritual disciplines. As families, we must learn of God through formal and informal means. As the church, we must engage in corporate practices, such as singing, prayer, preaching, and the ordinances, all to the end that we would know God. We must engage in “spiritual-mindedness,” which John Owen describes as “The actual exercise of the mind, in its thoughts, meditations, and desires, about things spiritual and heavenly; The inclination, disposition, and frame of the mind, in all its affections, whereby it adheres and cleaves unto spiritual things; A complacency of mind, from that gust, relish, and savour, which it finds in spiritual things, from their suitableness unto its constitution, inclinations, and desires.” 52 This discipline of mind, affections, and will promise to yield spectacular results, as we behold, finitely and imperfectly, but truly, the glory of God.
Allen rightly notes, “Being spiritually minded and viewing the glorious Christ is not to be myopic, then, but to view all things in a transfigured light. It is no narrow icon, but the discipline of having one’s whole imagination recast.” 53 Such a mindset casts all of reality within a theocentric and eschatological framework, knowing God is all and in all (1 Cor. 15:28; Col. 3:10; cf. Rom. 11:33-36), that he will make all things new (Rev. 21:5), and that we will behold him in the end (1 John 3:1-2). If this is so, the question must again be asked, “To what degree is our engagement with digital media facilitating our beholding of the glory of God for our ongoing sanctification?”
Perhaps it is time to take drastic measures for beautiful ends. Jesus said if our eye or hand caused us to sin, we should get rid of it (Matt. 5:29-30). We are told as Christians that we should lay aside every sin and weight that clings so closely (Heb. 12:1-2) and forsake the world and its desires (1 John 2:15). For the sake of seeing Christ more clearly in this life, for the sake of our ongoing Christian formation and enjoyment of God (Ps. 16:11), perhaps more of us should consider getting rid of smartphones, disabling our internet and cable connections at home, and instead of wandering around with heads down, eyes fixated on a screen, look up and ponder the glories of God. Minimally, the kinds of suggestions, habits, and patterns suggested in these works are worthy of all our consideration. For the vast majority of us, changes can and must be made.
Sanctification through beholding the glory of Christ by means of his Word is our aim, and we await the day we will see him face to face and become like him as he is (1 John 3:1-3). Digital technology can, at times, be a useful tool toward this end, but often it impedes our efforts. As we think through the data supplied by these and many other works, may we take seriously our habits, know the forming power they possess, assess our own lives, and orient ourselves with all we have toward the knowledge, love, and worship of our great and glorious God.