Technology: A Brave New World

We live in a world of technology. One way man seems to be made in the image of God is our propensity and desire to create--and create we have. Some technological advances prove to be great blessings to mankind (advanced Roman roadways "paved the way" for the gospel), while some curse our existence (remember the technological advance of Babel's tower?). Most technological advances are a mixture of both blessing and curse. In this article we will examine the blessings and curses of three technologies of our age.

(1) The Internet.

Our world has become much easier because of the ease of access to information thanks to the World Wide Web. From a spiritual standpoint, churches can communicate with members, church leaders with missionaries, and teachers with students evangelistically in ways never before possible.

With all of its blessings, the Internet has simultaneously created significant spiritual curses. Perhaps the one of the largest dangers is the widespread access and availability of pornography on the net. Statistics show that use of pornography even among Christians is alarmingly frequent. Let us make a "covenant with our eyes" and not let sexual immorality and impurity even be named among those who are Christians (Job 31:1; Eph. 5:3).

(2) Facebook.

The social networking giant, Facebook, has been one of the greatest advances in communication technologies. Christians are able to network and communicate in much more efficient ways. Church announcements, prayers requests, connectivity with other Christians, and opportunities for evangelism and teaching are almost limitless on Facebook.

With the blessing also comes the curse. Perhaps one of the greatest dangers (and also blessings) of Facebook is the ability to renew old acquaintances. This is a danger to married people who may be tempted to innocently (at first) catch up with old romantic interests. What first begins as a "friend request" can easily escalate into running a series of relational red-lights and accelerating into an extramarital affair. This danger is very real. Christian couples who use Facebook should adopt a policy of full disclosure about their social networking use.

3. Smartphones. You can do almost anything technologically from a phone these days. This allows you to be connected and perpetually "available" (both a blessing and a curse!). Also, one can access the Internet, email, texting, games, and even books directly from your phone. One of the great blessings is the ability to have an electronic Bible directly on your phone.

The danger of such "connectivity" on our phones is the distraction it can be to spiritual focus. It can become increasingly difficult to find time to "unplug from the cloud" for quiet time with God in prayer and study. Also, it can be very tempting to text during worship services (or check email or sports scores) when we should be focusing our attention on worship to God.

We do live in a "brave new world" of technology. But it has always been this way (cf. Ecclesiastes 1:9). Man has always had to exercise personal discipline and use the blessings of technology of the age and resist its potential curses.