I recently asked a group of students to list their top 5 must-have technologies. What are the five things you just don't want to go without. They named things like microwave ovens, computers, cars, medicine, cell phones, instruments and mp3 players. These answers were not all that surprising. We know that many of us love our gadgets and tend to see them as an integral part of our life. But what about the technology of indoor plumbing and the flushing toilet? That is something I wouldn't want to go without! And wouldn't you have to say electricity? So much of what we view as technology wouldn't be here without it. Our view of technology and the impact it has on our lives can depend on the era in which we are born. Tim Challies in his book The Next Story, Life and Faith After the Digital Explosion writes, "The generation that spans these technological transformations may recognize that such changes are happening, but those who are born into them are blinded to them." We don't notice how things like an indoor flushing toilet affect our lives if we are born into a world where they exist.
All this to say that we do need to step back every now and then and take a look at the things that shape our lives because it's to easy to miss how we are affected by the technology we have. How does technology impact us? How do we use it? Romans 12:2 calls us to "be transformed by the renewing of [our] mind[s], that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect". We want to be people who can discern what pleases God, so that we can use all of the technology He allowed us to create in a way that pleases Him.
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