The Digital Detox Guide
We all need support when undertaking a new discipline. When starting an exercise routine, we often do better when we have an accountability partner that will encourage us.
With that need in mind, Pastor Ed Glaize is offering a small group experience which will meet on Tuesdays at 12:00 pm during the Lenten Season using the book, The Digital Fast by Darren Whitehead as our guide. Discussions will center around detaching from our cell phones, discovering hobbies, rekindling relationships, finding ways to delight in the beauty of God’s creation, and figuring out how to make lasting changes in our lives in relation to technology.
You may pick up a copy of the book in the Church Office or as you exit church on Sundays. We are asking for a $10 donation to offset the cost of the books. Bring your lunch and join Pastor Ed on Tuesdays, beginning March 11 in the Conference Room by the Church Office.
What?
The Digital Detox or Digital Fast is a 40-day journey to reimagine our technology and practices. It is structured around four movements, each designed to progressively reshape our relationship with technology, our God, and His creation and fellow creatures around us.
When?
– The 40 days of the season of Lent
– Starting Ash Wednesday, March 5, and ending Good Friday, April 18
– Commemorating Jesus’ 40 days of temptation and triumph in the wilderness
– Preparing us to celebrate Easter and Jesus’ victory over sin and death
How?
Days 1-10, Detach: Focus on making your smartphone “dumb,” creating space and regaining a sense of presence.
– Avoid social media
– Remove “distraction apps” (social media, games, news, videos, shopping) and keep only “utility apps” (phone, text, maps, weather, calendar, camera)
– Turn off notifications
– Remove phones from bedside at night
– Move anything off your phone that you can do on your computer and limit yourself to work apps on work devices during work hours
– Set phone to grayscale
– Consider a fast from other screens – TV, gaming, tablets (or for certain days)
– Questions to consider: How can you best eliminate distraction from your digital devices? What do you notice about how you are feeling?
Days 11-20, Discover: Explore what emerges in the absence of constant digital engagement.
– Rediscover hobbies, rekindle relationships, and engage in deeper prayer and meditation
– Question to consider: What emerged in the absence of constant digital engagement?
Days 21-30, Delight: Cultivate joy in the newfound space and time.
– Delight in God’s creation, meaningful conversations, and activities that nourish your soul
– Question to consider: How are you enjoying God’s provisions of creation, relationships, and activities in His world?
Days 31-40, Determine: Focus on solidifying lasting changes.
– Decide which digital habits to reintroduce and which to leave behind, establishing a healthier digital rhythm that prioritizes spiritual and relational growth
– Question to consider: How are you going to decide about new habits and predictable patterns for digital engagement?
Why?
As a church, we are going to band together and engage in a shared experience to intentionally reduce digital distraction and deliberately increase spiritual devotion. Together, we can turn down the noise and experience the time, space, and mental clarity to listen to the voice of God. We hope this will change how we view and use technology during the 40 days and throughout the year, maximizing its usefulness and minimizing its harm. And we hope this, in turn, changes our relationships with our Heavenly Father and the people around us.
Who?
The value in doing this together as a shared, churchwide experience is in its collective action power. Many of us have tried to do this on our own, but individual efforts are difficult and even insufficient in isolation. By banding together and doing this journey together, it leads to higher levels of engagement as we support one another and celebrate small victories together.
How to Prepare?
In the week leading up to the fast, we suggest letting the people in your daily life know you plan to engage in the Digital Detox. Due to the addictive nature of digital technology, and specifically smartphones, we want you to be aware of what you may experience during this time. In terms of withdrawal, you may experience nervousness, restlessness, or irritability during the first several days. You may have heightened emotional sensitivity and realize feelings of anger, grief, or sadness. Our engagement with digital technology often disguises unpleasant feelings and leads us to avoid coping with them. Like Jesus in his wilderness temptations, let this season of self-denial be an opportunity to pray, ask the Holy Spirit to fill you, and rely on the Father to draw you closer to Him.
Resources
Listen
– “The Digital Fast: Dr. Darren Whitehead” Theology in the Raw Podcast
– “Living a Tech-Wise Life with Andy and Amy Crouch” The Trinity Forum Podcast
– “Luminary Interview: Andy Crouch” Rule of Life Podcast
– “The Case for Digital Asceticism: Unhurrying with a Rule of Life (E3)” John Mark Comer Teachings Podcast
Read
– The Digital Fast Workbook: Detox Your Mind and Reclaim What Matters Most
– The Digital Fast: 40 Days to Detox Your Mind and Reclaim What Matters Most (Available in Church Office for $10 donation)
– The Life We’re Looking For: Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World
– The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in It’s Proper Place
– The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World
– Taming the Technology Monster: 8 Guiding Principles for Raising Digital Natives
– Lent, The Season of Repentance and Renewal
– The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World