I was having dinner with a friend recently, and she mentioned the book she’d just started reading. “It’s called The Anxious Generation. Have you heard of it?” 

Had I! The people around me were sick of hearing about it. If I said “screen time” once more, they were all going to ditch me. And yet that friend and I still had a lengthy conversation about how we were fighting an uphill battle against the pull of our phones.

Even when we’ve read books like Jonathan Haidt’s that reveal the addictive and dangerous qualities of smartphones (especially for young people), we all know it’s not so easy to give them up—or even to significantly curb our use. But as Christians, we have something more even compelling than sociological research to encourage us to change our habits. Kathryn Misenheimer wrote in an article last week about the greatest benefit of downgrading her smartphone: “The best part . . . was how it changed my relationship with Jesus.”

What I’m missing out on when my eyes are glued to a tiny screen isn’t just peace of mind or connection with others or the ability to focus on deeper pursuits. I’m missing out on a “fuller and richer relationship with the King of the whole universe.”

In what Misenheimer calls her “real-world summer,” she rejected dependence on her phone and found immense spiritual benefits. She could better hear from and engage with God when she went all in on the world around her, not the fake digital substitutes. We can all learn from her example, whether or not we adopt the exact practices she shares about.

Summer is ending soon, but the real world—and its Creator—still beckons. Will you heed its call?