Andy Crouch - The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place

Text 2017 by Andy Crouch

Research 2017 by Barna Group

Published by Baker Books

a division of Baker Publishing Group

PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.bakerbooks.com

Ebook edition created 2017

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

ISBN 978-1-4934-0655-5

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture quotations labeled NLT are from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Andy Crouch is represented by Creative Trust, Inc., 210 Jamestown Park Drive, Suite 200, Brentwood, TN 37027, www.creativetrust.com.

Getting tech wise starts with downloading Gods wisdom on what it means to be human. Andy gives families the tools they need to decide together who they want to be and how technology can help rather than hinder. If you arent sure how to put technology in its proper place in your home, Andy will guide you and challenge your thinking.

Mark Batterson , New York Times best-selling author of The Circle Maker ; lead pastor, National Community Church

To be honest, before I opened this book, I expected to be challenged on the topic of screen time for my kids. I was, certainly. What I did not expect was to be offered a vision for family life and faith and character so compelling and inspiring that it made me weep, made me reconsider many aspects of our home, made me profoundly thankful for this beautiful and important book. Ill give away a case, at least.

Shauna Niequist , New York Times best-selling author of Present over Perfect and Bread & Wine

Every day my husband and I face questions about how to handle technology with our three kids. No parent today can leave their kids to their own devices (pun intended). Andys message and model have strengthened our commitment to use technology to uniteand not divideour family.

Kara Powell , executive director, Fuller Youth Institute; coauthor of Growing Young

I dont know many people who can prophetically speak into culture with more freshness and certain insight than Andy Crouch. His voice is a gift to the church and is needed more than ever right now. As a new parent who is asking all kinds of questions about raising kids in todays technological world, I couldnt have found this resource at a better time.

Jefferson Bethke , New York Times best-selling author of Jesus > Religion and Its Not What You Think

In a tech-wise world, tech is a lot easier to come by than wise. Andy Crouch has written a humane, deeply thoughtful book that will be a blessing in the best sense of that grand old word.

John Ortberg , senior pastor, Menlo Church; author of All The Places to Go... How Will You Know?

If your familys devices and gadgets seem to have staged a hostile takeover in your home, Andy Crouch can help. With winsome humor and down-to-earth advice, Andy will show you how to nurture a thriving home life through a wise and balanced use of technology.

Jim Daly , president, Focus on the Family

We have never done this before: the human race has never parented with tech devices in every corner of our homes. For parents who battle the screen time, the password management, the filtering, and the begging, we finally have the book weve been waiting for. The Tech-Wise Family offers practical, positive approaches for parents to manage technology in the family and the biblical framework for why those approaches are appropriate and healthy. Modern parenting often feels like sprinting a marathon blindfolded, but voices like Andy Crouchs add light to our journey and remind us of our end goal. Read The Tech-Wise Family , implement the principles, and watch your family thrive as a result.

Alexandra Kuykendall , mother of four; author of Loving My Actual Life ; cohostess of The Open Door Sisterhood podcast.

Micro practices have macro implications for our lives. The rituals we adopt around the tiny computers in our pockets can either eat us alive or release us for relationship. The Tech-Wise Family is profoundly insightful and immediately practical. Crouch invites us into habits and rhythms in which technology serves our calling to be human and helps us to resist the temptation to serve the gods that glitter. Its a book I wish our family had read ten years ago.

James K. A. Smith , Calvin College; author of You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit

Families need this book. Churches need this book. I need this book. One of the most important questions of discipleship in this digital era is how we relate to our technologies. The habits formed now could have even more important implications for the yet-unseen future. Andy Crouch guides us with brilliance, wisdom, humility, and authority.

Russell Moore , president, The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention; author of Onward: Engaging Culture without Losing the Gospel

As parents of two young boys and pastors of a church with hundreds of millennials, we found ourselves repeatedly shouting Yes! to Andy Crouchs call to unplug. In The Tech-Wise Family we are reminded that there is fullness of life beyond the encroachments of the cybernetic revolution.

Revs. Gabriel and Jeanette Salguero , cofounders, National Latino Evangelical Coalition; pastors, Calvario City Church

The Tech-Wise Family is one of the most important things Ive read this year. Most of us have a sinking feeling that our children (and ourselves!) have slipped into a technology haze. Andys book has helped organize my thinking and provided practical ways to put boundaries around technologys influence. And as an educator, this book includes great lessons to ensure technology has a proper, meaningful role in our nations classrooms.

Nicole Baker Fulgham , founder of The Expectations Project; author of Educating All Gods Children

Contents

Foreword

AMY CROUCH

As the authors daughter, Ive been living with tech-wise parenting for sixteen years. Some might say my older brother, whos had it for nineteen years, would be even better qualified to write this foreword. I, however, would argue that as test subject number two, Ive enjoyed an even more refined approach. So if you are wondering how tech-wise parenting actually works out, I might be able to help you.

I think the best part of tech-wise parenting, for me, has been its focus on something older and better than the newest thing. The key word is better . Tech-wise parenting isnt simply intended to eliminate technology but to put better things in its place. Technology promises that it can provide wonder. Take a picture with the proper filters and youll be awestruckit will look better than real life! But this promise is deceptive. My iPhones wonder generators, from Instagram to Temple Run, turn out to be only distractions from the things that really spark wonder. Thanks to tech-wise parenting, Ive discovered a world out there that is better than anything technology can offeras close as our front lawn.