The Search for Calm Waters in a Sea of Technology

In recent years, Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation has sparked a much-needed conversation about the mental health of young people growing up in a world saturated with smartphones and social media. His research has prompted schools, families, and policymakers to reconsider technology’s role in childhood. Yet for the church, the conversation must go deeper. The issue is not merely psychological or cultural—it is profoundly spiritual. We are shepherding a generation whose formation is being shaped, in large measure, by a digital environment that rarely slows, seldom rests, and often distorts reality.

Haidt’s work is important. But for Christian families and the churches that serve them, the data points are merely the doorway. The deeper questions are not merely statistical—they are formational. What kind of people are our children becoming in this digital environment? What is happening not only to their mental health but also to their souls? And what is the church’s responsibility in helping families navigate this terrain?

The question before us is not whether technology is good or bad. It is how followers of Christ can cultivate calm waters—spaces of clarity, presence, and formation—in the midst of a restless, noisy digital sea.

A Generation Formed in Motion

Today’s young people live in a world of constant connection. Information is immediate, communication is continuous, and identity is increasingly mediated through screens. In many ways, this is an unprecedented opportunity. Access to knowledge, community, and creative tools has never been greater.

And yet, something is deeply unsettled.

Rates of anxiety, depression, loneliness, and at-risk behaviors among adolescents have risen sharply over the past decade. While multiple factors are at play, the correlation with the rise of smartphones and social media is difficult to ignore. What makes this particularly complex is that the digital world does not simply add to life—it forms it. It shapes how young people think, relate to others, compare themselves to others, and ultimately understand themselves.

Scripture reminds us that formation is always happening. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2, New International Version). The challenge today is that the “pattern of this world” is no longer confined to physical spaces. It is carried in our pockets, accessible at all hours, and designed to hold our attention.

Over-Protected and Under-Prepared

One of the most striking observations from current research is this: many parents today are overprotective in the physical world and underprotective in the digital one.

Children are often shielded from physical risks—less independent play, fewer opportunities to navigate conflict, and limited exposure to real-world challenges. At the same time, they are given relatively unrestricted access to complex, unfiltered, and often emotionally volatile digital environments.

In previous generations, formation occurred primarily through embodied experiences—family life, church community, school, and neighborhood interactions. Today, much of that formation has shifted online, where algorithms, peer comparison, and curated identities exert powerful influence.

The result is a generation that may feel safe in the physical world but is often overwhelmed in the digital world—lacking the tools to discern truth, manage emotional exposure, and anchor identity in something stable and enduring.

The Spiritual Consequences

While the mental health implications are significant, the spiritual consequences are equally pressing.

1. Fragmented Attention

The digital world trains the mind toward distraction. Notifications, scrolling, and constant stimulation make sustained attention increasingly difficult. Yet discipleship requires attentiveness—to God, to Scripture, and to others.

Psalm 46:10 calls us to “Be still, and know that I am God.” Stillness is not merely the absence of noise; it is the presence of attentiveness. Without it, God’s voice is easily crowded out.

2. Distorted Identity

Social media platforms encourage comparison and performance. Identity becomes something to be curated, edited, and validated by others. Young people learn to ask, “How am I perceived?” rather than “Who am I in Christ?”

The gospel offers a radically different foundation: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Identity is not achieved; it is received. It is grounded not in approval but in belonging.

3. Shallow Community

Digital connection can mimic a real relationship but often lacks its depth. Presence is replaced by proximity, and communication becomes transactional rather than relational.

The New Testament vision of community is deeply embodied: sharing meals, bearing burdens, confessing sins, and encouraging one another (Acts 2:42–47; Galatians 6:2). These practices cannot be fully replicated through screens.

4. Disordered Desires

Algorithms are designed to amplify what captures attention, not what cultivates holiness. Over time, this can subtly but powerfully shape desires—toward consumption, comparison, and self-centeredness.

Discipleship, by contrast, is the reordering of desires—learning to love what God loves and to seek first his kingdom (Matthew 6:33).

The Role of the Church

In the face of these challenges, the church is uniquely positioned to offer what the digital world cannot: formation rooted in truth, community grounded in presence, and identity anchored in Christ. Many parents feel alone in their concerns about their children’s digital lives. They suspect something is wrong but don’t know what to do, and the surrounding culture often signals that any restrictions on technology are unreasonable or even harmful to their child’s social development. Churches can host honest, non-alarmist conversations that give parents permission to take the issue seriously and equip them with practical information and community support. Small-group discussions, parent forums, and guest speakers in adolescent mental health are accessible starting points.

But this requires intentionality.

1. Equipping Parents as Primary Disciplers

Parents are the primary spiritual influencers in a child’s life. Yet many feel unprepared to navigate the complexities of the digital world.

Churches can:

• Provide training and resources on digital discipleship.
• Offer practical guidance on boundaries, screen time, and content discernment.
• Create spaces for honest conversation among parents navigating similar challenges.

Deuteronomy 6:6–7 calls parents to impress God’s commands on their children “when you sit at home and when you walk along the road.” In today’s context, this includes the digital spaces children inhabit.

2. Creating Counter-Formational Environments

The church must intentionally cultivate environments that counter the patterns of digital formation:

• Unhurried worship that invites stillness and attentiveness.
• Intergenerational relationships that model mature faith.
• Practices of presence, such as shared meals and face-to-face conversation.

These are not merely activities; they are formative experiences that shape how young people understand God, themselves, and others.

3. Teaching a Theology of Technology

Young people need more than rules—they need a framework for understanding technology through a biblical lens.

This includes:

• Recognizing technology as a tool, not a master.
• Understanding the difference between use and dependence.
• Discernment about how digital habits shape the heart.

Such teaching equips students not just to avoid harm, but to pursue wisdom.

4. Modeling Healthy Engagement

Church leaders must also examine their own relationship with technology. Discipleship is often caught more than taught. When leaders model presence, attentiveness, and healthy boundaries, they provide a powerful witness.

Practices for Families

1. Establish Rhythms of Disconnection. Regular times without devices—during meals, before bed, or on designated “Sabbath” days—create space for rest and relationship.
2. Prioritize Embodied Experiences. Encourage activities that engage the physical world—sports, outdoor play, service, and shared experiences.
3. Foster Open Conversation. Create an environment where children can discuss what they encounter online without fear of immediate judgment.
4. Anchor Identity in Christ. Regularly remind children of who they are in Christ, not who they are perceived to be.

Practices for Churches

1. Integrate Digital Discipleship into Teaching. Address technology directly in sermons, classes, and youth ministry.
2. Create Spaces of Stillness. Incorporate silence, reflection, and prayer into corporate worship.
3. Develop Mentoring Relationships. Pair younger believers with mature Christians who can guide them in both faith and life.
4. Encourage Community Over Consumption. Shift the focus from attending events to participating in meaningful relationships.

A Hopeful Path Forward

It is easy to approach this topic with a sense of urgency that borders on fear. The challenges are real, and the stakes are high. Yet the church does not operate from fear—it operates from hope.

Christ remains the cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20). He is not overwhelmed by the digital age, nor is his ability to form disciples diminished by it. The same Spirit who shaped the early church continues to work in and through his people today.

The task before us is not to retreat from technology, but to engage it wisely—to help the next generation navigate its complexities while remaining rooted in Christ.

Guiding Toward Calm Waters

The image of “calm waters” is deeply biblical. Psalm 23 describes the Good Shepherd who “leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.” In a world of noise and distraction, this imagery resonates with renewed urgency.

Calm waters are not found by accident. They are cultivated through intentional practices that resist the currents of the surrounding culture.

The shepherd, the psalmist says, leads beside still waters—the Hebrew suggests not just physical rest, but the restoration of the soul itself. In a world of relentless stimulation and engineered distraction, the work of the church is not simply to manage the mental health crisis of the young and old, as important as that is. It is to be a community that knows where the still waters are, and that faithfully leads people—children, parents, and adults alike—toward them.

This requires churches to be clear-eyed about what they are up against. The forces driving adolescent digital consumption are not accidental. They are the product of deliberate design by companies whose financial interests are served by maximum engagement, regardless of the human cost. Christian communities need not be helpless in the face of that. But they do have to be intentional—more intentional, probably, than feels comfortable or natural.

The families in your congregation are not looking for perfect answers. They are looking for a community that takes the question seriously, walks alongside them without judgment, and offers something that the digital world genuinely cannot—belonging, formation, and the kind of presence that restores the soul.

In a sea that is often restless and overwhelming, the church is called to be a place of calm waters—a community where souls are refreshed, identities are restored, and lives are formed in the likeness of Jesus.

The search for calm waters is, at its heart, a search for Christ himself. And in him, we find not only refuge from the storm, but the steady presence of the One who leads us safely through it.

Author: Douglas A. Spears