Ada Herald "Pastor's Pen" for July 3, 2014

Questioning Tech's Triumph

   A few years ago, my mother proposed getting us altogether at a lodge that could house my family (no small task) along with my siblings and their families.  We enjoyed being in each other’s physical presence, but I couldn’t help noticing that something else had stolen into the center of our family—devices that took us away from each other:  cell phones, iPods, and laptops.  It seemed that we were checking out as much as we were checking in.

   Some years ago, cultural critic Neil Postman observed that “technology does not invite a close examination of its own consequences.”  And therein lies its greatest danger—we have so quickly fallen into this world of constant connectivity, that we haven’t taken the time to ask questions, set boundaries, or think about whether the changes are themselves changing who we are in some profound way.

   Thankfully some folks are starting to ask questions.  One question I heard came in a proactively titled article by Nicholas Carr, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” which ran in the Atlantic a few years ago.  Another question came when my wife showed me a book called iRules by Janell Burley Hofmann, who seeks to answer the question, how do I wisely put an iPhone in the hands of my young teen? 

   Her book got me thinking about how I wanted my own children to use and interact with their various devices, and so my wife and I developed a guide that I have shared with my own children as part of our technology expectations as a family. The foundational part, in particular, is written from our family’s Christian identity:  “Since I am an ambassador for Jesus Christ and desire to glorify God, I desire to let my Christian faith inform my use of technology.”

   It may surprise you to know that technology actually plays an important role in the Bible.  Adam and Eve were put in a garden to work it and care for it for the glory of God.   Christian discipleship, in part, seeks to honor what it means to live and work in this world under God’s lead.  We certainly have an interest then in technology, the tools that manage and make the world God has created.  We should be asking questions about technology and its impact on our lives in God’s created order.  In the next week weeks, I’ll share with you more specifics from our family’s technology agreement to continue that conversation.