Listen to the silence

The sermon text that morning was from 1 Peter 1:13–16: “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. … [A]s he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.”

What does it mean to “be holy”? It’s not an easy concept, but the root meaning is to be set apart; different; called away from “the passions of your former ignorance.” It doesn’t mean isolating ourselves—rather the opposite. It means being present: first to the Lord, then to close family and friends, and finally even to strangers in the checkout line or waiting room.

Here’s where our pastor got very practical. How present are we, to anyone, if we’re staring at our phones half the time?

In the privacy of his own home, he caught himself scrolling, scrolling, scrolling instead of paying attention. Screens were “sucking the life out of relationships,” he told me later: “Stealing me away.” The internet was handy for looking up a useful quote or application or finding a helpful exposition. But once captured, his mind easily wandered into trivialities that nibbled away at his time, minute by minute.

Even useful content had its limits. In conversations with Christian friends, our pastor would often be struck by a particular insight he hadn’t heard before, only to learn that the friend had heard it on a podcast. What if Christians were beginning to let their phones do their thinking for them? Rather than wrestling with a difficult or painful passage for themselves or with an in-person brother, they were letting John MacArthur do all of it. Or name your favorite theology guy. The point is, holiness takes work. Peter talks about preparing minds for action, not passive reception.

Sermon applications are often where the rubber meets the road, but this application mashed our congregation into the asphalt. After expositing on Peter’s view of holy living, our pastor asked us to give up screens for a whole month.

Whoa.

Social media? Not a problem. My social media presence is practically nil. But web surfing (aside from necessary reference) might be more of a struggle. Streaming movies and shows? I could probably live with that; just do more reading. Podcasting? Well, let’s think about that one.

Podcasts were my brain candy. Walking, shopping, driving, cooking, doing household chores, I needed a voice in my ear, even if I was only halfway interested in the subject matter. I was beginning to wonder why I couldn’t just be quiet. And was this the best use of my mind?

Motivated by such questions, I made a mental pledge and persevered through the fast, though not perfectly. So did most of the congregation, if not perfectly: Our pastor estimated at least 70% participated. The young adults seemed willing, even eager. Some of them formed accountability partnerships to lock down each others’ phones. Many admitted it was hard at first, but after it was over they said things like:

“I didn’t realize how much time I was wasting, like spending an hour looking at Instagram reels but couldn’t remember anything about them five seconds later.”

“We found other ways to use the time—took more walks with the kids or called friends to meet us at the park.”

“We started having people over to play board games or just hang out.”

“I read three books in a month.”

Surprisingly, most of those with misgivings or outright refusals were older members, aged 60 and up. Some didn’t think their screen use was a problem. Others felt they needed social media to keep up with family and friends. Perhaps they felt isolated without that window on the world. We know too well the negative effect of unlimited screen time on young brains, but there may be an unexamined effect on older brains, too.

Now that it’s over, have we changed?

Personally, I’m more selective about podcasts, and I try to shelve the phone during weekends (still working on that). Other church members say they’re sleeping better, or reading more, or walking unplugged. God willing, we’re paying more attention to the beauties and the duties that surround us. And God willing, we’ll learn to listen to the silence, because that’s where His still small voice is heard.