Current Events Monday: Analog Christianity
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by digital technology? The ways and means of digital lifestyles today can get dizzying. In fact, those of us with smartphones hold more power in our hands than that which got the first human beings to the moon and back in 1969. The technological progress of the past fifty-plus years creates some fantastically creative thoughts about what life may be like in the next fifty.
But when is progress truly progress? More progress seems to create more problems, so we find ourselves living in the tension between the benefits of new technology and the inherent risks. For example, many people do their banking on their phones. Yet, think of how many newer forms of fraud and identity theft have come about because of this “progress.” Consider also the sweatshop brand of labor being used by big tech. Back in 2013, ABC News reported that Apple employees in China made about $2 an hour, some of whom were poisoned by chemicals. The investigative report also revealed the existence of a “suicide net,” a protective barrier created to prevent workers from jumping to their deaths from the factory building. Apple has since claimed to have amended their work environments, but one can see how progress can become perverted for profits.
I’m not suggesting that we throw away our cell phones and live as hermits in the desert. Christians have tried such things before often to the detriment of making disciples! Perhaps it is time however that we hold less tightly to our possessions. Jesus’ instructions about evangelism and missions in Luke 10 is especially helpful. Our Lord essentially proposes that we travel lightly in this life. In other words, it’s not necessary to “keep up with the Jones’s,” and we can therefore turn our attention to loving our neighbors by being less dependent on our stuff. If God provides for the birds, will he not provide for us—with or without a smartphone (Matthew 6:25-34)?
If you find yourself becoming more and more anxious about technology—or jealous of those who have better, shinier things than you—perhaps it’s time to slow down and switch off the phone for a while. In fact, there are two quite helpful settings on an IPhone: one of which is called “Airplane Mode,” and the other is called “Do Not Disturb.” These settings may be necessary for you to get away and pray. Perhaps you may even need what is called a “Digital Detox” in which you fast from your technology for a period of time as led by the Holy Spirit. Or you could “go analog” by using one of those old wooden things called a pencil or reading a book prepared on paper with printed ink. You could even get really crazy and spend a day outside in nature or have a face-to-face conversation with someone instead of texting!
Let’s take some time to consider our priorities and live in the tension between more progress and more problems. Let’s travel light and follow Jesus, even when that means going analog.