THE TECH-WISE FAMILY BY ANDY CROUCH, CHAPTER 4

THE TECH-WISE FAMILY BY ANDY CROUCH, CHAPTER 4

The Tech-Wise Family, Chapter 4 “Waking and Sleeping” – Riley Gilmore

Technology is not just “easy everywhere,” it is also “whenever.” This can be a great gift. When our son was five months old, my wife and I were thanking God for this “whenever” technology as my phone navigated us to the emergency room at 2:00am. As Brian Bergeron pointed out earlier this month, we have experienced technology as a great gift; however, sinful people have a talent for turning God’s good gifts into idols.

 
In Chapter 4 of The Tech-Wise Family, Andy Crouch asks us to consider how technology is affecting our sleep. Data from the Barna Group show that many Americans spend their last hour of the night and first hour of the day with technology. Additionally, 70% of parents and 82% of teenagers sleep next to their phone. Crouch warns, “under the covers, as alerts light up the night, anxieties and fantasies are fed as often as they are allayed.” Technology is not only stealing our jobs, it’s stealing our physical and spiritual health. Our devices can serve as our late-night accusers – reminding us of our unfinished or inadequate work through email alerts late into the night. Or they can be the forbidden woman speaking smooth words to our tired and disinhibited minds. They invite us to forsake real relationships for shallow connections on social media and the empty consumption of pornography.
 
Crouch encourages us to reclaim our sleep by putting our devices “to bed” before we go to bed. My prayer for our community of St. Stephen’s Academy is that we will think deeply about sleep and technology as we seek to offer every part of our lives to “the One who knows our needs and who alone can protect us through the dangers and sorrows of any night.”