Talk to Your Smart Phone
You’ll notice that in our Biblical Anthropology series, I haven’t given detailed answers on each topic – this would be a much, much longer series if I attempted that. Instead, I’ve touched on a lot of topics to start us thinking – hopefully applying God’s Word to our situation.
And we need to keep going back to the basics. As we discuss technology, including that device you may have in your pocket, we start at the beginning.
We recognize that truth comes from God. We recognize that we depend on Him. We know that our purpose comes from Him.
We also know that we live in a fallen world, and that Satan is active here. We know that there is salvation in Jesus Christ alone, and that He is our true hope. We also know that we must share this truth with those around us. As we have said, we have a purpose in this life.
As we get down to practical application, I have appreciated what Tim Challies has written on this topic in his book The Next Story. Although a few years old now, it has some great principles that apply to all our modern times.
One of the useful tips in the book is that we “talk to” our devices and ask questions. These are questions designed to help us accept (or not) new technology with open eyes, and guard our hearts while we use it.
I encourage you to get the book for yourself, but here’s a brief summary of some questions to meditate on in the mean time. (These are paraphrases, since I’m translating my notes from Spanish.)
- Why were you created? In other words, what was the original purpose of this device/application/etc? For example, PowerPoint was created for businesses. How might this affect its use in religious contexts?
- What is the problem you are trying to solve? Whose problem is it? Maybe the manufacturer believes we have a problem that we don’t really have. Or maybe this device solves a problem that the manufacturer has, but not a problem we have!
- What new problems do you bring with you? Remember, we’re talking to our devices here. Even if the technology solves one problem, it may create several other problems. We need to think about that before we adopt it in everyday life.
- What are you doing to my heart? Why do I really want this device (keep in mind that there may be many reasons, both good and bad)? Is this a potential idol in my life? Or does it increase the power of an idol in my life?
There’s a lot more that we could talk about, and Lord willing we will talk about more related to technology in future posts. But these questions leave us with a lot to ponder before we go on.
As you think about technology over the next few days, I would encourage you to read (or re-read) the account of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-9. And meditate on your personal purpose, as a human being, and as a Christian. How do you focus your life? Why do you spend time and money on that which you spend time and money on? Think about what you actually did each hour for the last few days, and take a look at what’s going out of your bank account.
And may we learn to glorify the Lord, fulfilling our true purpose, with all of the devices and apps and everything else that we use – instead of trying to build our own towers to “make a name for ourselves”.