Online All The Time: Applying Christian Wisdom to our Digital Connection with Samuel James

In 1997 only about 1 in 5 American adults had been on the internet in the last three months. Today, over 85% are online every single day and 30% say they’re almost constantly online. On average we check our phone every 12 minutes and a large portion of us check ours right when we wake up.

This is a massive shift for humanity over the span of just one generation. Implications are sweeping with everything from increased loneliness despite connectivity, increased depression and self-harm amongst teens, and increased rage and division amongst all of us. Our digital connectivity is shaping our hearts, minds, souls, relationships, and lives.

As Christians, though, we have access to the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and the people of God to help us apply wisdom to our time online. Listen in to this helpful conversation with Samuel James, tech-realist and author of Digital Liturgies. Samuel doesn’t offer any quick, pat answers, but he does help us think deeply about our online engagement.

Episode sponsor:

Crossway: www.crossway.org/plus

Digital Liturgies: Rediscovering Christian Wisdom in an Online Age by Samuel James: https://www.crossway.org/books/digital-liturgies-tpb/

Samuel James:

Digital Liturgies: Rediscovering Christian Wisdom in an Online Age by Samuel James: https://www.crossway.org/books/digital-liturgies-tpb/

On Substack: https://www.digitalliturgies.net/

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/samueld_james

Resources on this episode:

Most data cited is directly from Digital Liturgies.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/04/25/1171773181/social-media-teens-mental-health

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/oct/14/the-lost-art-of-concentration-being-distracted-in-a-digital-world#