Unplugging as a spiritual discipline is not mentioned in the Bible, for obvious reasons!
But it’s a spiritual discipline we all desperately need to practise in the 21st century.
This modern spiritual discipline is deeply intertwined with many ancient disciplines, such as fasting, Sabbath, silence and solitude.
But it is also enables us to find the time for and better practise all of the spiritual disciplines.
In this guide we’ll explore what exactly the spiritual discipline of unplugging is, why it matter so much and how you can take steps to practise the discipline of unplugging in your everyday life.
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What is the spiritual discipline of unplugging?
We live in a culture that is “always on”.
A culture that is filled with constant distraction, noise and information overload.
A culture that so often prioritises the buzzes and pings of our digital devices over the real humans in our lives.
A culture that has, in many ways, been hijacked, shaped and moulded by the algorithms of Big Tech.
And we as Christians are just as susceptible…
How many of us, I wonder, spend more time on our screens each day than we do with God?
In fact, how many of us spend close to ZERO time alone with God each day and nearly ALL of the rest of the time on our iPhones, in front of our TVs, computers and tablets, or on some other digital device?
And how many of us even allow ourselves to be interrupted and distracted by our phones and other digital devices while in the middle of praying, studying the Bible, worshipping and during our quiet times?
The modern spiritual discipline of unplugging is a counterbalance to this.
Of course, modern life is such that it has become almost impossible to spend ZERO time in front of a screen each day, but that doesn’t mean we should just shrug our shoulders and write it all off as a lost cause!
That’s where unplugging fits in.
Unplugging is deliberately going without your digital devices for a period of time, so you can spend uninterrupted, quality time focused 100% on God and/or other important things in your life such as family, friends, church etc.
In essence, unplugging is a type of fast. And, like other fasts, it’s a way of saying “God, you are more important to me than my phone/tablet/TV etc.”
In its most basic form, this discipline can be as simple as switching off your phone or putting it in another room while you spend time with God.
On the other hand, some people take this discipline of “unplugging” further and do a “digital fast” and / or practise a “digital Sabbath” – one day a week when your phone and other digital devices are either turned off completely or drastically limited.
Why Christians should practise the spiritual discipline of unplugging
Our digital devices are so central to our lives, we barely notice the effect they are having on us.
And yet, it is precisely because our digital devices have become so central to our lives that we so badly need to practise this modern spiritual discipline of unplugging.
In fact, I would go so far as to say, without practising the spiritual discipline of unplugging, you will struggle to grow AT ALL spiritually.
Here are 4 reasons why Christians today desperately need to practice the modern spiritual discipline of unplugging…
1. Romans 12:2
Even secular scientists will tell you that whatever you put into your mind will shape the way you think and behave. Essentially, they say that whatever you feed your mind with shapes your physical brain and your future actions. They call this process “neuroplasticity”.
But long before scientists first coined the term “neuroplasticity”, God told us the exact same thing:
“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.” – Romans 12:2 (NIV)
He also said…
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” – Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
And yet what do we as Christians do?
We spend most of our waking hours filling our minds with “the pattern of this world” and very little time “renewing our minds”.
We spend vast amounts of time each day doomscrolling, watching Netflix, gaming, listening to secular podcasts, consuming the news (often delivered by an algorithm that gives us an extremely one sided, angry, divisive form of news), filling our minds with the world’s ideas, the world’s agenda, the world’s values.
And we give God, what? A rushed 15 minute quiet time in the morning? A quick prayer when we can’t find a parking space? An hour at church on Sunday… if there’s nothing “better” on that is…
As a result of feeding our minds with a constant barrage of worldly priorities / agendas / values, we become more WORLDLY and less GODLY!
Unplugging acts as a counterbalance to this.
Unplugging is a discipline (and it sure takes discipline!) that says “NO” to this pattern.
Unplugging is a discipline that says:
“I don’t want to be more influenced by the world than I am by God.”
Unplugging is a type of fast that says:
“I am going to deliberately go without my digital devices for a period of time so I can fully focus on God, on God’s agenda, God’s values, God’s priorities and on what is true and noble and right and pure – so that I can be transformed by the renewing of my mind, so that I can become MORE like God and LESS like the world.”
2. Exodus 20:3
I wonder how you’ve been feeling as you’ve been reading these words…
If I could hazard a guess it would be a sense of stress / fear / anxiety at the mere thought of doing without your phone and (to a lesser extent probably) other digital devices.
The truth is, most humans today are, to a greater or lesser extent, “addicted” to their phones and especially social media.
And it’s hardly surprising.
Big Tech companies literally hire psychologists and neurologists to come up with addictive features that will keep users on their platforms as long as possible.
Why?
It’s not rocket science…
The longer users stay on their platforms, the more ads that user will see and the more money Big Tech makes.
As a result, most of us feel stressed, anxious and fearful at the mere idea of doing without our phones – even for a very short period of time.
We have elevated our digital devices far above being mere “aids” – to make life a bit simpler or more efficient – to being at the very centre of our lives.
Our phones – almost without us realising – have become gods in our lives.
And God is pretty clear about that being a problem:
“You shall have no other gods before me.” – Exodus 20:3
Again, unplugging is the counterbalance to this.
In essence, unplugging is a type of fast. It’s a way of saying:
“This thing has become too much of a god in my life, and so I am going to deliberately fast from this for a period of time to remove the addictive power it has over my life.”
3. It’s good for our physical, mental and spiritual health
The internet is awash with serious scientific studies which warn of the negative effects of phones, screens, digital devices and constant media exposure on our physical and mental health.
As one study puts it:
“The physical hazards of excess screen time include eye strain, neck and shoulder pain, and back pain. Mental health hazards include increased levels of depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders. Overall well-being can also be impacted by excessive screen time, particularly when it comes to social relationships and cognitive development.”
Another study says:
“Chronic low-level stress from constant media exposure can keep your nervous system in a heightened state for hours, disrupting sleep, impairing concentration, and contributing to feelings of hopelessness or persistent worry.”
Ironically, many of the ways people try to deal with these symptoms actually exacerbate the problem. For example, doomscrolling, compulsive checking of notifications, gaming for hours on end and binge watching Netflix.
The antidote is of course “unplugging” or, in the parlance of the world, doing a “digital detox”.
The crazy thing is, even secular health experts are now recommending a “digital detox” as a way to restore mental clarity, increase productivity, improve sleep and mental health, improve relationships with family and friends, and feel more “present” in the moment.
If this is being recommended by secular health professionals, how much more do we as Christians need to adopt this practice of regularly “unplugging” in order to benefit not just our mental and physical health, but also to increase our spiritual clarity, go deeper in our relationship with God, hear God more clearly and grow spiritually?
4. It enables us to practise the other disciplines better
The discipline of unplugging is deeply intertwined with the other spiritual disciplines.
For a start, unplugging creates the conditions necessary to practise many of the other disciplines.
Let’s start with the obvious one: we cannot practise the discipline of silence and solitude if we are constantly being interrupted by the buzzes and pings of our digital devices!
But unplugging also enables us to practice many of the other disciplines better:
- Prayer
- Reading the Bible
- Quiet Time
- Studying the Bible
- Worship
- Fellowship
- Meditation
- Listening
- Journalling
- Reading Christian books
- Sabbath
Imagine deciding to spend half an hour in prayer, but allowing yourself to be constantly interrupted by the buzzes and pings of your phone…
Or spending your Sabbath doomscrolling…
Or settling down to read the next passage of Scripture in your Bible Reading Plan… but then getting distracted by something on your phone and ending up running out of time to spend ANY time that day reading God’s Word…
Or getting interrupted in the middle of homegroup by an “important” text and missing half the meeting…
Or surreptitiously checking your phone for messages in the middle of the worship at church.
Or never having the time to read good Christian books and properly studying the Bible, but somehow finding hours and hours each day for doomscrolling / watching Netflix / gaming etc.
Except you probably didn’t have to imagine did you?
We spend vast amounts of our waking hours on our digital devices, being fed a constant barrage of worldly values and priorities, and then wonder why we are so stunted spiritually???
Again, unplugging is the antidote to this.
In many ways, unplugging is actually a necessary prerequisite to being able to see things as they really are. To having our perspective restored.
When we start practising the spiritual discipline of unplugging, when we consciously choose to fast from our digital devices and say “God, you are my #1” and when we take a break from filling our minds with the poison of the world…
… we finally see things for how what they truly are.
We suddenly realise what a hold these digital devices have had on us. How much they have been gods in our lives and how much they have been poisoning our minds with the “pattern of this world”.
The scales fall from our eyes.
But then we can re-orient.
Then we can put everything back in its proper place.
Then we can finally realise that we should be giving the larger part of our lives to God, to practising the spiritual disciplines and to our spiritual growth. And a much smaller part of our lives to our digital devices.
In many ways we are like the proverbial frog in the pan of water that has gradually been warming up… so imperceptibly that we barely noticed.
The spiritual discipline of unplugging is like taking the frog out of the pan – we can finally see things clearly. And realise what a narrow escape we’ve had!
And the spiritual disciplines can then help us to continue seeing clearly… so we never get back in the pan again!
How to practise the spiritual discipline of unplugging
There are many different ways of practising the spiritual discipline of unplugging. Below is a list of suggestions and ideas – roughly in order of difficulty!
I recommend you start at the beginning and work your way down the list gradually.
As we’ve covered above, our devices are literally designed to be addictive. The process of reducing and removing this god in our lives takes time and it will be hard.
But it is essential – and it will be so worth it!
1. Practise “unplugging” during your quiet time
This is a great way to get started with the discipline of unplugging.
Your quiet time *should* be uninterrupted time with God.
But how many of us, if we are honest, allow ourselves to be interrupted by our devices – especially our phones – during our quiet times?
And sometimes for seemingly “good” reasons?
A quick Google search to find a commentary on something we’ve just read in the Bible and didn’t quite understand – for example.
Except when we pick up our phone, we see three notifications… and one of them is really “important” so we have to “quickly” reply and suddenly “time has flown” and we never did get to checking that thing in Google, let alone finish up reading the portion of Scripture on our Bible reading plan.
So here’s the “discipline”…
Unplug completely during your quiet time every day.
Pick a room to do your quiet time where there are no digital distractions. (If some are fixed, e.g. a TV, make sure they are completely off.)
And crucially:
PUT YOUR PHONE IN ANOTHER ROOM!
Then give the entirety of your quiet time to God – totally distraction free.
Use a physical Bible, a physical commentary if you need one… and resist the urge to check your phone.
If there’s something you want to check out online, write it down and check AFTER your quiet time!
That’s it. That’s the discipline. Now do that every day.
2. No phone before quiet time
Of course, there’s another issue.
How many of us end up not even having time for a quiet time in the morning…
And yet, somehow we DO have time to message 3 people, doomscroll for half an hour and watch half an episode of whatever Netflix series we’re in the middle of?
So here’s the next rung on the “unplugging” ladder…
No phone (or any other digital devices) before quiet time.
It sounds simple enough.
It’s a lot harder than it sounds.
The pull of the “quick check” is phenomenally strong.
It takes serious “discipline” to resist!
But it’s such a good habit to build.
Not just because you might FINALLY find the time to actually do a quiet time each morning, but also because it does something even more important.
It says God, you are my #1 – not just in theory, but in practice. I am going to PHYSICALLY put you first EVERY day (Exodus 20:3) .
And it also means we start each day with the “renewing of our minds” not the “pattern of this world” (Romans 12:2).
It means the VERY FIRST THING we put in our minds each day is God’s Word, God’s agenda, God’s priorities, God’s values – things which are good and right and pure and lovely.
And NOT the world’s agenda / priorities / values – things which are often bad, wrong, unlovely, unkind, impure and just not what we should be filling our minds with.
I cannot overstate just how transformational this small act of rebellion against sin, the world and the devil can be.
But also, precisely because of that, I cannot overstate how hard it is.
You will feel enormous resistance.
It will take discipline to do.
But it is 100% worth it!
And it will get easier the more you do it.
3. A longer digital fast
The next step up the rung of the “unplugging” ladder is a longer digital fast – maybe an hour to start with, and work up from there.
Identify a timeslot in your weekly routine which you currently fill with digital devices / worldly inputs.
An obvious one here would be your evenings – do they currently consist of some combination of social media / TV / gaming / YouTube / etc.?
Here’s the discipline…
Pick one hour a week, an hour which is usually filled with digital devices / worldly inputs and do a digital fast.
Fill that time instead with one or more of the spiritual disciplines – maybe that could be the time each week that you study your Bible… do that extended prayer time you’ve always wanted to… read that Christian book that’s been on your shelf for years… practice silence and solitude… meditate on Scripture… journal… or practise Lectio Divina.
And once you can manage one hour a week, up it to two, then three and so on…
Again, you may well encounter quite a bit of resistance to start with, but the more you do it, the easier and more enjoyable it will become.
4. A digital Sabbath
The next rung up the ladder is a digital Sabbath.
The idea here is that you either completely remove all digital devices from your life during your Sabbath or (because sometimes that’s impossible) drastically restrict them.
Some people literally put their phone in a draw for the entirety of their Sabbath.
Others practise a slightly less extreme version. For example:
- No social media on the Sabbath
- No (work) emails on the Sabbath
- No phone / devices for part of the Sabbath
Of course, all this pre-supposes you are already practising the spiritual discipline of Sabbath.
If you are not, I recommend you first read up on Sabbath and start implementing Sabbath in your life… then layer on this digital Sabbath element.
5. Permanently fasting from certain influences
Right at the top of the ladder we have: making permanent changes to your life, with respect to digital devices and worldly influences.
For example:
- Permanently deleting a particular social media app
- Permanently deleting all social media
- Unsubscribing from some / all streaming services
- Getting rid of your TV or games console
- Getting rid of your smartphone and getting “dumb” phone
As you make your way up the “ladder” of unplugging, you’ll be like that proverbial frog who has been plucked out of the increasingly hot water and you’ll finally be able to see what kind of effect these worldly influences are having on you.
You may decide, when you see all this for what it really is, that you want to make some more drastic choices in your life.
I’m not saying any of these options are compulsory.
You may find that, by doing regular digital fasts, you are able to minimise your digital device usage and prioritise spiritual disciplines to such an extent that you don’t really need to do anything more permanent.
But you might also discover just what a hold a certain device, platform or app has on your life… and the only way to remove that “god” in your life is to completely get rid of the temptation.
As it says in the Gospel of Matthew:
“If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” – Matthew 5:29 (NIV)
Let me slightly rephrase that…
“If a certain device, platform or app continually causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one device, platform or app than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”
Final Thoughts
Unplugging is deliberately going without your digital devices for a period of time; essentially it is a type of fast.
Unplugging as a spiritual discipline is not mentioned in the Bible for obvious reasons, but it’s a spiritual discipline we all desperately need to practise in the 21st century.
Our devices are constantly feeding our minds with “the pattern of this world” and becoming “gods” in our lives.
They are also damaging our health – not just our physical and mental health, but also our spiritual health.
And they are filling our time to such an extent that we have no time to practise an of the other spiritual disciplines.
Unplugging is the antidote to all of these problems.
Unplugging allows us to put God back in his proper place, spend more time with God, fill our minds with godly values and priorities, and drastically reduce the influence that our digital devices and their worldly inputs have on us.
Recommended books on silence & solitude
- The Ruthless Elimination Of Hurry – John Mark Comer
- The Solitude Practice – John Mark Comer
- Invitation to Solitude and Silence – Ruth Hayley Barton
- The Way Of The Heart – Henri Nouwen
- 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You – Tony Reinke
READ MORE >>> Recommended books on silence & solitude
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