Recently I read Tim Challies' excellent book The Next Story. Tim helpfully navigates us through the impact technology is having on us and the world around us, and helps us to think about how we live faithfully in a world that has been shaped by the digital explosion. It has greatly helped me think biblically about the technology that is increasingly becoming part of our everyday lives, and has challenged me to be more discerning and deliberate about how I use technology and guard against 'being owned' by technology.
Mike Wittmer has written a short post on what technology is doing to us, how it is affecting and changing us. If we are not careful, technology could have a serious effect on our Christian lives without us realising it. Mike's article is worth reading as a spur to getting down to some serious thinking about technology and the Christian life. You can read his article by clicking here. He lists five big things he's learnt from the reading and thinking he's done on what technology is doing to us:
1) It does not connect us as much as we thinkImmediately we can see that this has major implications for our Christian lives. Think about it. If the internet affetcs our attention, distractedness and memories, then surely this will have serious problems for as as we try to seriously and thoughtfully meditate on and memorise Scripture. If technology does not connect us as much as we think, but disconnects us, shurely this will have serious implications for building Christian community in our local churches.
2) The internet is giving us Attention Deficit Disorder3) Google encourages distraction rather than reflection4) The internet is destroying our memories5) The internet never forgets
