This is the second post considering the impact of the cell phone on the Christian life.  Tony Reinke’s insightful book, 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You, has stirred my thoughts on how the advent of the cell phone has changed life as we know it, and much of the change is not good to nurturing a heart of worship.

This past week, I came across an article by Ben Renner entitled, “3 In 5 Millennials Say Life Is More Stressful Now Than Ever Before.”  Renner presented research that many of the stressors are directly related to cell phones, “from slow WiFi, to broken phone screens, to zero ‘likes’ on social media.”  Other included loss of phone, dying battery, and forgetting phone charger. Renner noted that researchers have discovered that these fixations brought substantial disruption to sleep patterns.

I think it is important to note that millennials are not the only segment of our culture who have increased stress because of cell phones.  The pervasive and invasive thrust of these devices has changed life for everyone of us who uses them (and even for the few who don’t). But, as we mentioned in the last post, the benefit of Reinke’s work is that it is not a pharisaical treatment of technology, but a genuine challenge for healthy engagement with technology.

In this post, I would like to offer a couple more “take-aways” from Reinke’s book to build on the three offered last time. (more…)