7 Spiritual (Missional) Disciplines for the Digital Age

The digitally connected world has given us access to more information and, ironically, less understanding. It puts me in contact with more people but provides less relationally with them. Technology allows me to see everywhere but not visit. It is as if the Disney movie Wall-e is beginning to happen.

As I’ve done a great deal of thinking, teaching, and writing about spiritual disciplines, I feel a certain pressure to ask people to go analog for a while so they can more deeply connect spiritually to God and others. Particularly, as it pertains to joining God on his mission, a deep connection to God and those around you is of utmost importance. But, what if the tools of the digital age can be helpful? I think that they can, and I’d offer a few ways to leverage digital tools for building missional disciplines–that is, practices that develop our engagement in missional living.

Constancy in Your Bible Reading

Each generation believes that it is busier than the last. Correct or not, many of us would admit that there is less Bible reading now than in generations before. Through Bible apps on smart phones and online Bible study platforms, we can now access the Scriptures without carrying a leather-bound copy with us everywhere. Additionally, the digital age gives us immediate access to numerous Bible reading plans. Leverage these assets to make your personal Bible reading more consistent.

Through Bible apps on smart phones and online Bible study platforms, we can now access the Scriptures without carrying a leather-bound copy with us everywhere.

Notes That Go Everywhere

I have numerous physical notebooks on my shelves in which, in the past, I’ve written Bible studies and sermons, outlined passages, and recorded lessons I’ve learned from the Scriptures. Now, I can record them digitally and sync these lessons across every digital device I own. Platforms such as Google Docs and Evernote allow me to find them with a simple search rather than scouring through the pages of several Moleskine notebooks. Even though I still carry a notebook everywhere–because writing helps me think, recording these lessons digitally allows me to revisit them more easily in times of need, reflection, and thankfulness.

Journal as You Go

Digital resources also offer an instant way to record what we’re experiencing, learning, and discerning from God in the moment. With a smart phone or a laptop, we are able to immediately journal so that lessons are not lost on inconsistent memory. Instead, we can jot it down and expand on it over time. Physical notebooks have done the same for a long time, and now we have new tools to help us.

Reminders

I often grow weary of the dings and buzzes from my smart phone, but we can use them to our advantage rather than be abused by them. Set up your calendar with a daily or weekly reminder about a study to accomplish or person to encourage. If you’re seeking to memorize a passage of Scripture, your devices can alert you to the verse(s) multiple times a week or a day. Use your devices to remind you of what is most important rather than just allowing it to push random news alerts to you.

Magnify Your Voice

Social media platforms can make you either incredibly sympathetic or a huge jerk. They can help you be active for the sake of others or a hacktivist who just posts the latest hashtag related to a tragedy. Technology like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs (like the one you are reading) helps to magnify your voice. It helps you not cloister your spiritual journey, but share it with others. Make the decision that technology will be leveraged to benefit others rather than just a megaphone to shout at others.

Use technology to connect in the real world.

Connect the Spiritual to…Everything

The world is spiritual. We too often lose that truth. It becomes easy to segregate our spiritual growth into categories that really do not include work, recreation, entertainment, politics, and a myriad of other issues. But, we are spiritual beings in a world created by God for the purposes of serving His spiritual kingdom. Technology should link everything together, because everything has a spiritual implication.

For instance, as you see news alerts, it should drive you to prayer. As you encounter worldviews, it should help you to think about culture in a biblical manner. Facebook posts of a person’s bad news should drive you to serve the one in need. And on the list can go. We should be reminded that people are more than the avatars they use and the pixels of their posts.

Bridges That Create Relationships

In the end, use technology to connect in the real world. Share your stories of growth in such a way that it leads to face-to-face meetings to share burdens. As you encounter disagreements with people online, seek to know their stories and share your hope. As you discover needs and the biblical truth that meets the need, get out from behind the screen and do something.

The use of technology in the digital age holds the same temptations as those who write in notebooks and sit in their personal libraries. We can hide behind the screen or the page. Don’t do it. Instead, recognize that your spiritual life is for the benefit of others. Go and live it out in the real world.


Philip Nation is a pastor, author, and professor. He wrote Habits for Our Holiness to help people focus the spiritual disciplines needed for missional living.