We live in an amazing time technologically. Our i Phones, i Pads, and MacBook Pro lap
tops, Netflix, Amazon shopping, Facetime, Skype, Facebook, texting and Twitter
are right at our finger tips putting us in contact with the world. It is a world that through technology is both
bigger than ever and yet smaller in access.
It is a brave new world with seemingly unlimited possibilities. We find ourselves in a new age.
What will historians call the present age? In my lifetime I’ve heard we were in the industrial age, the nuclear age, the space age, the post-nuclear age, the age of technology, and now the age of social media. I have my own label for what we
are now experiencing. I call it the age
of unprecedented attractions and distractions.
We are in a time when high tech, and social media in particular,
generates a tsunami of remarkable gizmos, gadgets, apps and all manner of ways and
means by which we may be entertained, preoccupied, and mesmerized. Some of it is behaviorally addictive. Teen and pre-teen texting comes to mind along with video games on line, on the laptop, and on
the phone. I am most
concerned about the epidemic of texting while driving. It’s crazy out there. But it’s crazy in here.
What I mean by “It’s crazy in here” is how the heart and soul is impacted by all the
attractions and distractions, made possible by technology. I am not making a case that these amazing
tools are evil and sinful. They make
possible a quality of life that is unprecedented in history. My concern is that they make it easy to be
too engaged in the entertainment attractions and distractions of the
culture. By this I mean all those good
things that steal our time and attention from the excellent things in
life. The excellent is all the key daily experiences
most important to our social/spiritual development and the inner life of the
heart and soul.
It comes down to how we use technology, what we do with
it. We have choices. Watching a Netflix movie is a good thing,
depending on the movie. Watching NCAA
Final Four basketball, or the cooking channel are good things too. Staying in touch with friends on Facebook and
texting to say happy birthday are all good.
Doing it so much that there is no balance to life, no pursuit of those
things that are spiritually excellent, is the challenge.
My i Phone has an app that for months I did not notice and
did not use. It’s a Bible, scripture at
my fingertips. One morning, I realized I
was slacking-off reading my Bible. I was
sacrificing having a personal time of reflection on scripture and a quiet time
with the Lord. My fault. I can’t blame my i Phone. I must face the music of my own poor time
management. The reality is that I spend
too much time on the Facebook app not enough in activity that feeds my soul
and moves my heart.
Yes. The culture has attractions and distractions
accessible through the technology. But
the real battle is an inner one of consecration. It calls for me to manage my time in ways
that are pleasing to God. It’s a call to
use technology in ways that feed my soul and grows my heart after the likeness
of my Lord. The enemy of excellence is
not the bad. It’s too much of all the
good that steals time and attention from a more excellent way. Technology can help or hinder depending on
what we value and how we mange our time.
Help us, O God, to seek first the Kingdom and your excellence and to use technology accordingly!
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