With kids going back to school and the rest of us starting to settle into a fall routine, it’s a great time of year to reconsider our relationship to our phones.

It’s funny: a phone is just an object, a powerful tool. You can use it to check in to a flight, send money to a family member, communicate around the world, or even follow a plan to memorize Scripture.

But not everything we do with our phones is good, is it? In fact, even the innocent or innocuous activities associated with our phones tend—over time—to siphon off our precious moments and rot our brains.

According to Tony Reinke’s fantastic book Twelve Ways Your Phone Is Changing You, the average person checks his phone every 4.3 minutes (Reinke’s book was written several years ago; I’d guess that it’s much worse today than it was back then). I truly believe that we’re going to look back on the early years of smartphone usage the way we look at cigarettes today: “How did we let such a corrosive habit become normal?”

Smart phones really are addictive. They comfort us in times of anxiety, stimulate our senses when we’re bored, capitalize on the ebb and flow of human hormones designed to interact with a much more mundane world than the one we see on that tiny screen.

Think about how your phone is affecting the next generation. They see you scrolling endlessly; they tire of having to repeat their question or story when you remain glued to a screen rather than attentive to them. And when you give them their first phone, it’s like they are sitting ducks. Most people are beginning to realize just how damaging early and frequent exposure to smart phones can be to a developing brain.

But what will we do about it?

I want to challenge you to take a month to “detox” from your phone. Last year, we taught a brief Equipping Class on the impact of phones and social media and I realized that a kind of “fast” from my phone would do me some good.

Following the example of some very disciplined members of our church, I deleted every unnecessary app from my phone (this took a couple passes: I struggled at first to admit that YouTube isn’t exactly an essential app).

Three things surprised me. First, I was surprised to learn just how unnecessary those unnecessary apps were. I had told myself, “I need to keep up with current events.” Nope. Nearly all of these current events we believe we need to know about right away pertain to matters entirely outside our control. Think about it: Do you honestly think it matters whether you find out about the current status of the Strait of Hormuz multiple times a day? What can you actually do about it?

“It helps me know how to pray.”

OK, fine. But for most of us, we have enough to pray about regarding our family, our church, our community. And we can still pray for the world without knowing every detail of what is taking place. Be honest: you just want to know!

When I checked Twitter or other news sites on my laptop a couple times a week, I learned that I really wasn’t missing anything that outweighed the benefits of being free from phone addiction.

Another thing that surprised me was how irritable I felt the first few days of the “detox.” I didn’t think scrolling through social media or YouTube at lunch or in the evening was a big part of my life. But when I took away the option, it was obvious I had become at least a little dependent on the habit.

But there was a third surprise. Since that time, I’ve learned that many of our teenagers—people we proudly assume are “glued to their phones”—are often much more aware of the dangers of social media and smartphone addiction than we older folks.

The young people at Indian Creek are some of the best you’ll find. I’ve been so gratified to learn that many of them have a thoughtful, disciplined approach toward their phones. They want to fulfill their potential, and they realize that phones are in the way.

Well, I challenge you to join them! Take a month; delete all those apps, and do a “digital fast.” You’ll be glad you did.