Last week I wrote about a calculable crisis of spiritual formation. The average Christian in America spends less than an hour a week reading their Bible, praying, or attending church, while spending more than 80 hours a week consuming other content in the form of music, TV, social media, podcasts, books, etc. Which means that Netflix, Spotify, YouTube, and Facebook are the real disciple-makers of our day.

Could you imagine if you spent time with one person less than an hour a week, and another person 80 hours a week? Which person would have the biggest impact on you?

A Silver-Bullet

Here is one simple change that will, I think without exaggeration, transform your spiritual life: spend more time with God.

That’s it. Thank you, thank you, very much. I accept Visa and Mastercard.

But seriously, while there is much more to think about, this is the basic starting point. 

If you want to rekindle your relationship with someone you have become distant with, then the most basic, fundamental thing you must begin with is investing time with them. 

A Game Plan

Step One: Audit Your Spiritual Diet

Picture yourself with three conveyor belts flowing into your soul. 

Belt #1 has on it what is most spiritually edifying: your Bible reading, prayer, sermons, Bible studies, Christian books, etc. Without being too exacting, try to get a realistic idea of how much of this fills up your week. 

Belt #2 has on it the muck and garbage of what is spiritually destructive: music, podcasts, movies, etc. that actively deadens your faith, that promotes worldliness in you. Worldliness is an ideology that strengthens our fallen flesh, that makes sin look normal and holiness look strange (1 John 2:15-17). What content are you consuming that inflames temptations, strengthens greed, foments anger, deadens joy, and glamorizes self-centeredness? Maybe these are guilty pleasures of yours that seem trivial, but add it up—how much content like this are you regularly consuming? (Check your screen time on your phone and laptop here to get a picture of what apps and websites you are frequenting)

Belt #3 has it on the empty calories of what is neither positive nor negative: YouTube videos on cooking recipes, books on WWII history, the oldies radio station, playing video games with your kids, etc. My guess is that there is a good amount of your content consumption in this realm—more on this in step four.

Step Two: Rank Their Influence

Jim Davis and Michael Graham, in their very helpful book The Great Dechurching, write:

Every one of us constantly makes assessments of the content and people with whom we interact. The way in which we assign an amount of influence to the ideas or person is largely subconscious. That subconscious assessment will magnify, diminish, or negate the influence of the content or person. For example, let’s say you take a particular thought leader very seriously. You might subconcioulsy afford that person several times more influence than an average person. Another person or set of ideas you might not take very seriously, and you afford that person or set of ideas little to no influence. Finally, there are people whom you distrust, and when they try to influence you, their actions have the opposite of their intended affect. (p. 187)

Davis and Graham then create five categories of subconscious influence multiplies:

1. Very influential
2. Influential
3. Average influence
4. Below average influence
5. Negative influence

As you reflect on the information diet you are taking in, consider what and who falls into the most influential categories in your mind. Remember, this classification tends to be a subconscious ranking, so it may not appear obvious at first. But after you give it some thought, ask yourself two questions: (1) Am I happy with what has the most influence over me? (2) Is the volume of the best, most influential content (Belt #1) enough to outweigh the volume of negative or indifferent content (Belt #2 and #3)?

Step Three: Increase Good, Decrease Bad

If you realize that there is more on Belt #2 than Belt #1, then it is time to make a change. John exhorts us: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him,” (1 John 2:15). Love of God actively pushes out a love of the world—and vice versa. 

So increase good: top of the heap is Bible reading, prayer, and church. At a bare minimum, commit to reading your Bible and praying everyday—even if only for a few minutes—and attend church every week. This is baseline, keep-you-alive spiritual nutrition. To really thrive, however, you need more. If your church offers Bible studies, small groups, Sunday schools, etc. take advantage of them. Pray with other Christians. Read edifying books; listen to Scripture-based music; spend time in conversations with other believers who will stimulate deeper thought and love for the Lord. If you find that what is most spiritually edifying is low on your influence list, strive to raise it.

Also decrease bad: obviously, the ideal is for this belt to be totally empty. But drawing sharp lines on what content constitutes worldliness can be hard to discern sometimes, so evaluate your soul afterwards. Did scrolling through that feed leave you closer or further from the Lord? Did watching that show make holiness—or sin—seem more attractive? Heed your conscience—if you cannot receive this with thanksgiving (1 Tim 4:4-5), glorify God (1 Cor 10:31), or practice faith (Rom 14:23) then it is sinful and should be avoided. If you find that what is most spiritually destructive is high on your influence list, strive to push it down.

At a bare minimum the volume on Belt #1 must be higher than Belt #2—either by increasing #1, or decreasing #2.

Step Four: Take Advantage of Belt #3

If there was a “hack” hiding somewhere in this article, a secret step to really turn the tide, this would be it. The trick is simple: realize that there is no such thing as spiritually neutral content. But, this article is already long enough, so we will explore that next time.