Meat? Chocolate? Swearing? Giving up these sorts of things for Lent are so 20th century. These days, Christians fasting for Lent often are giving up something far more central to our day-to-day lives: technology.

According to a study by the Barna Group, giving up an aspect of technology is the most popular Lenten fast these days. Of Christians fasting for Lent, nearly a third—31 percent—say they’re giving up some form of technology (compared to the 30 percent who said they were abstaining from chocolate). About 16 percent said they were going to avoid social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, while 13 percent planned to cull their smartphone usage. Nearly one in 10 (9 percent) were giving up the Internet for Lent, and 21 percent said they were going to stop playing videogames. (Time)

Paul Asay has covered religion for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for Plugged In and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He lives in Colorado Springs with wife Wendy and his two children. Follow him on Twitter.