The Grip of Technology

Revelation 14:8

"And another, a second angel, followed, saying, “It has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen. She made all the nations drink the wine of her sexual immorality, which brings wrath.”"

We have much to be thankful for in our rich prosperous first-world countries. We have conveniences at our fingertips that even kings of old do not have access to. I am not saying technology ipso facto is evil. However, there is a kind of love of comfort and ease that can easily fall into idolatry.

One of the lessons from the Tower of Babel is that they put faith in what they could do with technology. That is why it mentions them and their wise way of making brick and building and building up to heaven. But we know that this was against the will of God. In much the same way, our global economy is big and prosperous. We want to connect anything and everything--especially people and money, fine goods and commodities.

Yet we also see that technology is not all good. After all, it should be well apparent that social media and the digital age have produced a generation who are more depressed and anxious than nearly every other society that has ever existed. Why? Because the sin is tying our connections to people to dopamine hits to the brain. This short circuits critical thinking and makes people, well, hopeless.

So there is nothing inherently wrong with technology. But what technologies are we developing and why? Facebook literally hid information knowing that Facebook and Instagram were bad for people's mental health. Why is it bad for your health? Because when you spend far more of your time worrying about how many more followers Jimmy down the street has than you it creates envy. And envy is the antithesis of happiness. In fact, if you are envious, it is the opposite of being thankful. You cannot be both thankful and envious at the same time. Jesus said something very similar if you recall... "You cannot serve both God and money." This is the grip of technology.

In my use of social media, I would never say my use is perfect. But at the same time, I am not here to please a large audience. I don't think about growing my platform. I don't take the necessary steps to increase my follower count. I talk about my day sometimes, which might have a bit of vanity about it. But my mission is to be an online evangelist. I view that, more or less, as my job. I want to remind people of the goodness of God. And part of that is debating with atheists and skeptics about my faith. I will almost never resort to name-calling when I do this. I try my hardest to stick to the arguments. But I only have a short time with them. I cannot get to the root cause of their unbelief (or suppression of the truth, if I wanted to use Biblical language). But I want to plant seeds. I want to be that light. There is this quote I think is pretty good. It goes, "Be careful how you live. You may be the only Bible someone reads." Will I "debate" with atheists? Yes, I totally will. But I always want to be loving when I do it. That means asking questions and not assuming that this atheist is exactly like all the other atheists I have met. There is a person behind that account. I want to treat them as if they are made in the image of God.

Now, as imperfect as social media is, and its impact on people in the Western world (largely for the worst) it can be used to glorify God if that is your aim.

Always keep in mind that worshiping the beast will come with a love for the latest and greatest. It will come with lots of comfort, ease, convenience, goods, pleasure, and all that. So make sure you are not worshipping the god of this age. Make sure technology is not your god. Because pride comes before the fall, and at some point, we will hear, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great."

God bless you! Until next time!