Podcast Summary:

Life.Church with Craig Groeschel
Episode: When Social Media Steals Your Joy | The Connected Life: Part 1
Date: October 26, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Pastor Craig Groeschel launches a new series titled The Connected Life, addressing the impact of social media and digital technology on personal joy, relationships, and spiritual well-being. Using biblical teaching and real-life examples, he challenges listeners to move from shallow online connections toward deep, Christ-centered community and offers practical steps to reclaim meaningful presence in a distracted age.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Power and Loss of Face-to-Face Connection

• Scriptural Foundation: Second John 12

  • John values face-to-face connection, writing: “I have much more to say... but I don’t want to do it with paper and ink. I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face. Then our joy will be complete.” (01:24)
  • Pastor Craig relates this to how some things are “too intimate for a text or too sacred for a screen.” (02:14)

• Personal Story:

  • Craig recounts the loss of his father and how, though he received many texts and emojis, only one friend (Scott Streller) actually showed up in person. This highlighted what he calls “the power of presence”—something becoming rare in today’s culture. (03:10 – 04:19)

• Cultural Shift:

  • Contrast between previous generations (bringing a casserole in person) vs. today ("We order DoorDash...the power isn’t Applebee’s delivered. We’ve forgotten the power is giving them you."). (05:14 – 05:26)

2. Technology: Blessing and Temptation

• Balanced Perspective:

  • Craig affirms the positives: Life.Church pioneered online church, features global online groups, and built the YouVersion Bible App.
  • “We are very, very much for the power of technology to connect people...but tech should always be a supplement and never a replacement for human interaction.” (06:17 – 06:33)

• The Incarnation Example:

  • “God didn’t just send His written word, His word became flesh...Some things are just too intimate to be done in the written word. Some things have to be face to face.” (06:35 – 07:24)

3. Social Media’s Impact: A Full Feed and Empty Soul

• The Doomscroll Trap:

  • Many turn to their phones when bored, anxious, or lonely: “We just start scrolling. And scrolling. And scrolling.” (07:26 – 07:52)

• Comparison Culture:

  • Observing others’ “highlight reels” leads to dissatisfaction. “Your feed is full, but your soul feels empty.” (08:23 – 08:57)

• Startling Statistics:

  • Adults average 7+ hours/day on screens; teens 7–9 hours. (09:37 – 09:41)
  • 68% experience anxiety when separated from their phone (nomophobia). (10:20)
  • 40% of adults say phones make them lonelier; 1 in 3 have no confidant. (10:35 – 10:45)

4. Overprotection in Physical vs. Digital Worlds

• Jonathan Haidt's Insight (from "The Anxious Generation"):

  • Parents overprotect kids physically but “vastly under protect them in the digital world.” (10:45 – 11:47)

• Parental Contradiction:

  • Physical world: “We bubble wrap them…”
  • Digital world: Give 10-year-olds “a device with unlimited access to pornography…a digital stream of dopamine that drives comparison and anxiety and depression.” (12:45 – 13:35)

• Adults Model the Habit:

  • “We didn't just hand them the problem—we modeled it for them.” (13:56)

5. Series Goals & The Path Forward

• 3 Series Goals (14:51):

  1. “Confront the habits that drain your peace and quietly destroy relationships.”
  2. “Find practical tools to guard your family from digital distraction and destruction.”
  3. “Come out of shallow screen-based connection and back into deep, life-giving, Christ-centered community.” (15:52)

• Warning:

  • “If you feel like something’s missing in your life, it’s because it is...it’s not what’s on the screen—it’s what’s in front of you.” (16:00 – 16:07)

6. Biblical Vision for Community

• Acts 2 Church:

  • Early Christians “studied the Bible together, shared meals, prayed together, served others—together.” (18:34 – 18:47)
  • The ancient world was divided; the early church “shattered that division.” (19:16 – 20:01)
  • Community was “not just unusual, it was revolutionary.” (20:47 – 20:55)

• Application Today:

  • Modern believers often “value our privacy more than we crave community.”
  • We hide our real stories, forgetting our shared neediness and the call to true fellowship. (21:28 – 22:05)

7. Pastor Craig’s Transparency

• Personal Confession:
  • He missed real-life moments (his son's soccer goals) because distracted by his phone. (23:18 – 23:41)
  • Even fulfilling ministry responsibilities, he sometimes neglects time with his wife, leading to missed opportunities for real presence. (25:03 – 25:34)
  • “Now when we get into an argument about that, she can argue back in Spanish…” (25:34 – 25:38)

8. Practical Assignment for Listeners

Awareness Challenge

• Take notice of:
  • How often you're with loved ones but focused on screens.
  • Whether notifications disrupt face-to-face conversation.
  • Nighttime habits: journaling & reflection vs. endless scrolling. (26:40 – 27:45)
  • “Remind yourself you’re reaching for something that fills the moment but can’t fill your soul.” (27:45 – 27:51)

Three Action Steps

1. Don’t just text—call.
   “Let them hear your voice and listen to theirs. It genuinely is another level of intimacy.” (28:02 – 28:12)
2. Don’t just pray for someone—pray with them.
   “Push yourself out of your comfort zone…do you mind if I pray for you right now?” (28:30 – 28:36)
3. Don’t just say you care—show up and be present.
   “Let the Holy Spirit prompt you when you can go and make a difference.” (28:36 – 29:09)

“How will the world know?”

• “By this, everyone will know that you’re my disciples: if you love one another. It won’t be by what we post...but how we love.” (29:09 – 29:17)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Presence vs. Screens:

  • "We’ve forgotten the power is giving them you." (05:26, Pastor Craig)

• On Social Media’s Impact:

  • "Your feed is full, but your soul feels empty." (08:47, Pastor Craig)

• On Parenting in the Digital Age:

  • "We overprotect them in the physical world and vastly underprotect them in the digital world." (11:47, Pastor Craig quoting Jonathan Haidt)

• On Modeling Behavior:

  • "We didn’t just hand them the problem. We modeled it for them." (13:56)

• On Christian Community:

  • "They didn’t look at a screen and observe someone else’s life, they were together." (18:47)

• On Modern Isolation:

  • "Too many of us value our privacy more than we crave community." (21:28)

• Practical Reminder:

  • “…you're reaching for something that fills the moment but can't fill your soul.” (27:51)

• On Love in Action:

  • “By this, everyone will know that you’re my disciples: if you love one another. It won’t be by what we post, but how we love.” (29:09 – 29:17)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Scriptural Foundation: Second John and face-to-face connection (01:24–02:26)
• Personal Story: Power of presence and grief (03:10–04:27)
• Tech as a supplement, not a replacement: (05:47–06:33)
• Incarnation and importance of presence: (06:35–07:24)
• Social media scrolling and loneliness: (07:26–08:57)
• Screen time statistics and effects: (09:37–10:45)
• Parental digital oversight vs. modeling habits: (11:47–13:59)
• Series’ three goals: (14:51–15:53)
• Acts 2 community: (16:19–20:55)
• Pastor Craig’s personal struggle with distraction: (23:18–25:38)
• Awareness and three practical action steps: (26:40–29:09)
• Assignment and encouragement: (30:00–30:59)
• How love is shown to the world: (29:09–29:17)
• Closing prayer and spiritual invitation: (32:27–34:51)

Closing Encouragement

Pastor Craig urges listeners to recognize the deep longing for authentic connection that screens cannot satisfy. The assignment: be present, be intentional, and restore the lost art of loving, Christlike, face-to-face community. “God has something so much better for you, and you’re not going to get there accidentally.” (29:18–30:00)

Practical Next Steps:

• This week: Notice your habits, pick up the phone, pray with someone, and show up in person.
• “Choose presence. Look someone in the eye and communicate: you matter more than anything on a screen.” (30:13–30:29)

Series Continues:
Next episode will dive deeper into practical tools for protecting families from digital distraction and building authentic connection.