Is Technology Bad? (part 2)

God’s church has been using technology since God’s church has existed. Technology has taken the form of writing on parchment, Guttenburg’s printing press, modes of transportation to spread the good news, television to bring that good news into thousands of households, even computer software to afford better accounting methods and communication for a church staff. Today technology continues to grant us greater accessibility but there is at the same time other motivations for using technology that can be dangerous. More and more of the church is becoming addicted to technology. As it turns out the problem goes deeper than the dilemma of whether to read hymns from a book or to read them off of a wall.

Is Technology The New “Works”?

As technology becomes more and more a part of our worship experiences the danger is

that we somehow may become dependant on that technology. The arguments being made for increased media-based technology usage (projectors, high-end sound systems, video) include:

“Media helps make it easier for people to pay attention”

“Members of the clergy have begun competing with MTV, video games, and the Internet by jazzing up their sermons”

“Technology can inspire your congregation in new ways”

“We live in a media-driven world”

source: Is Jesus the Next Killer App? CNET Networks, Inc. [http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-6066157.html]. 4/28/2006.

While the statements above are true statements the point is that they are not necessarily good. In fact, statements like these might be reworded like this:

“The news that we are condemned creatures being redeemed to an all-powerful, perfect, and just being by his own grace simply isn’t good enough to be interesting in and of itself.”

In other words, these statements are nice ways of saying that the good news simply is not good enough. There must be something more to this because if not then why am I not all that impressed on Sunday mornings? Why do I find my mind wandering during a sermon? There must be more to the message otherwise it wouldn’t be so boring, right?

The belief that our works makes us sort of righteous and that God’s grace makes up the difference means God’s grace is not all sufficient and that He is all-powerful, except for this one area in which we have control of the wheel. In a practical sense today’s church faces a danger very similar to this works-based salvation. According to many congregations it is not the good news in and of itself that warrants our attention and is found “inspiring” but rather the presentation of that good news. It’s the technology. Sure the grace saves us, but only after all that technology can do to get us there. This reminds me of a similar passage from the Book of Mormon that reads, “It is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do”. Technology is in danger of being the next “Works”; the fallback for those of us that fail to see the power and sufficiency in God’s grace alone.

Is Technology The Problem Or The Symptom?

This observation is not at all meant to be a slam on the congregation member who tends to feel this way. Are they so wrong for admitting boredom? Are they wrong for admitting to feeling uninspired? As called ministers it is clearly our biblical mandate to bring the gospel and all of its truths to the congregation. If the message is stale or boring then using technology to do what the power of the message of the gospel was intended to do (excite/terrify/awaken/impassion/etc) is terribly wrong. In fact it sounds similar to teaching a works-based salvation.

Why is it we have become so dependant on technology that those driving home Sunday afternoon tend to reflect more on its use in a service than on the truth that was proclaimed in it? Could it be that we are not bringing the truth that our congregations need? If a sermon lacks biblical teaching; if people do not leave better knowing the creator of this universe then they will go home feeling something was missing. Filling that void with technology aids is essentially admitting to God that either he cannot impress himself upon the people adequately or that he cannot work through your teaching of the bible. I like how Kim Riddlebarger, speaking about informal Christianity on the weekly radio show, “The Whitehorse Inn”, put it when he said, "If you are preaching to consumers rather than disciples then you gotta keep their attention [with technological innovation] or you're gonna lose 'em." If you preach to consumers then by all means, use technology to it full extent. However, to peach to disciples the good news of Christ should suffice.

Game On! With so many video games being played online over the Internet should I be concerned?

The New Video Game Trend

When I was a boy I loved watching movies. I loved the smell of the popcorn, the taste of candy mixed with butter on my fingers, the larger-than-life sound of a high-budget film, crowding into a dark theater with lots of other anxious patrons, and of course there was the big screen! Watching movies on TV was okay, but what every kid really wanted was to experience the movies the way they were meant to be experienced: in the movie theater. Watching movies was one of the most entertaining things I did growing up.

Then very abruptly things changed. Sure I still went to the movies and still enjoyed the experience. Only I started going for different reasons. The new blockbuster wasn’t the only draw anymore. In fact what movie was playing became of little consequence. As adolescence crept in I became more interested in who I was meeting at the movies more than how a plot would unfold and anticipated who I would get to sit next to more than what the upcoming previews would be.

Just as I grew up being entertained by movies, many of you have students that have grown up being entertained playing video games. More recently the popularity and accessibility of the Internet has changed video games in almost every aspect. Regardless of what modern gaming console your students may have (even a computer) the games they play online look much different than video games did just a few years ago. Instead of playing against a computer whose responses can be anticipated and have an artificial feel to them, students now have the ability to play with other students that are just as real, just as smart, and just as unpredictable as themselves. While this online trend has changed the face of video games there is another, more fundamental, change occurring. The Internet has not only changed what video games look like, it has changed why your children play video games in the first place!

In the same way that I began going to the movie theater more to see my friends than to be entertained by the actors on the screen, the entertainment-factor of online video games is being replaced with social interaction that modern video games offer.

Parents of boys have been concerned about video games for some time now. Parents of only girls however have been able to largely ignore video game trends. However, according to recent reports⁽¹⁾ socializing is the most popular reason girls use the Internet. Since more and more video games and other technologies are moving to the Internet and offering interaction between peers, it makes sense that that same report also tells us that girls are now using the Internet at a slightly higher percentage than boys. Do not be surprised if you daughter begins showing interest in playing online video games more and more.

The Consequences Of This Online Trend

I didn’t exactly grow up in the stone ages, but when I started playing games online the technology was very different. It only enabled me to play against those I already knew. It just wasn’t possible to play against strangers. With the advent of the Internet, most online games allow and in fact encourage players to play with strangers. If you grew up near a neighborhood basketball court then you can understand how this works. Even when you met friends at the court perhaps you only had an odd number of players. Or you had 4 players and really wanted to play 3-on-3. Other times you just walked down to the court and tried to play a pick-up game with whoever was there. Whatever the specific situation is, you can see the position your parents would have put you in if they allowed you to play at the basketball court but only with people they knew. They would have put you in awkward situations that would have been very difficult to obey their wishes.

The same is true for playing online video games. Allowing your children to play modern online video games equates to allowing them to play online with strangers at least on occasion. While this is a concern, it’s probably for different reasons than you think. When we think about the dangers of meeting strangers on the Internet we immediately think about “chat rooms”. These are locations on the Internet designed to be where strangers go and communicate with each other, typically by typing back and forth. The dangers this presents our children seem obvious and it would seem the dangers for playing online video games with strangers are the same. As it turns out the more likely dangers are very different.

The more likely danger children will face when playing online games is the unbridled tongues of those they play against. The established video game rating system (ESRB) does not account for foul language that other players might use, only the language the game itself uses. Disrespectful attitudes and foul language run rampant in many online video games. Many games employ microphones so that language flows much more free than if players had to type all communication. A child chatting online with adult strangers is a concern all parents can appreciate. Alternatively, when it comes to playing online, your children are at risk of being exposed to foul language and attitudes regardless of the age of the strangers they play against. In fact a good rule of thumb is that the younger the adolescent your teen is playing with, the worse the language they hear.

While much of the language and attitudes students hear playing online games is offensive to most parents, it is probably no different than what they hear at a typical public or private school. The key deference there is those offensive remarks are no longer being left at the doorstep of the school but rather getting blasted into your home. Big difference! David was a man after God’s own heart. However he did not protect his home properly. He allowed his home to be in view of women bathing so that when he was relaxed with his guard down in his home, Satan was able to ensnare him. We must protect our homes if we are to be expected to protect anywhere.

So should children never be allowed to play online games? Perhaps. Many students will not be interested anyway. For those already playing or those very interested in playing online, perhaps you can offer to play with her or him. Once you see the game she plays you may find that online chatter is not an aspect of that particular game. Or your student, being hypersensitive because you are playing also, may realize how much foul language is present and actually see your point of view. If that does not work, try catching a flick together. Or better yet, take her to the neighborhood basketball court and try to play some pick-up games. Maybe I’ll see you there!

⁽¹⁾ Smart & Safe: Research and Guidelines for Children's Use of the Internet. Report funded by the Children's Television Workshop, National School Board Foundation, and Microsoft. Research conducted by Grunwald Associates and The Dieringer Research Group. 2000. [http://www.nsbf.org/safe-smart/full-report.htm].

On Using Technology to Enhance Student Ministry

Today’s technologies can provide us many ways to more efficiently and effectively minister to our students. What looks like just the latest gadget could be tomorrow’s ministry tool. What today’s….

Wait, what’s that noise? Is that mine? Yeah, that’s my Simpsons-theme-song ring tone. Let me get that real quick…

“Yeah it turned mine green too!”

“Well gotta go. Bye-bye”

… Okay, where was I? Oh yeah, ministry tools! Like I was saying, technology can become an effective ministry tool on 2 fronts. First there is a respect factor. What student can’t help but be impressed with a Bluetooth-enabled ear piece that makes you look more and more like that cyborg from the newest sci-fi movie? And what parent can’t help but notice your commitment to their students, knowing that the always-worn ear piece stands as a symbol of availability, ready to be used at a second’s notice to lend a listening eat to a troubled teen. Plus your other staff members will sure to be…

That beep… Where’s that beep coming from?...

Someone just logged in and wants to instant message with me! Be right back…

…10 minutes…

… Man that Hillary, she just never stops typing about those shoes! For now though, back to the issue at hand. Aside from the subconscious signals new technologies and gadgets give off to those around you, new technologies also saves time and money, enabling more student ministry dollars to go towards mission work and allowing us to better and more efficiently manage the time the Lord has given us. Take visitors for example. We are all called to be good stewards and what better way than to replace time-consuming and inefficient house visits by instead following-up by adding them to your Facebook friends and by going online and ordering them a Star Bucks gift card to be mailed to their house. It’s cheaper than the gas it would take to drive, saves lots of time, and the kids will probably think you are more thoughtful for giving them the gift card than dropping by unannounced anyway, right?

Before I get to that let it be said that I am an efficiency addict. The self-deprecating side of me might be tempted to call it laziness since efficiency essentially makes some function in ministry easier and easier. Technology does not take productive, hard-workers and by virtue of making their jobs easier, make them essentially lazy people providing them with an abundance of free time. Rather, it takes lazy people (me) and makes them productive. It means that I can do more and more by exerting the same amount of energy. Unfortunately, the do-more-with-less-work never seems to materialize – when was the last time you were so efficient with your work day that you cut out at 10am and had the rest of your day to yourself? So if technology enables us to do more (communicate more, communicate better, manage financial resources better, etc) then that makes technology good, right?

Not necessarily. Take your phone out of your ear, unplug your Internet connection, turn off that ipod, and shutdown that Final Cut Pro clip you are editing because we are going to instead use the single most important technology of the last 1,000 years: the printed word! Make sure other technological distractions are obliterated because we are about to see what the Bible has to say on the subject of technology in terms of being more efficient in our ministry.

John’s gospel describes a very touching moment between Mary Magdalene and Jesus. What makes it interesting for us is Judas’ commentary on the interaction and Jesus’ subsequent response to Judas. In John 12 Mary begins to wash Jesus’ feet with a very expensive amount of perfume. When the disciples present observe this act of love, Judas makes a very valid point. He claimed the perfume was roughly worth about a year's wages for a common worker and wonders then why this perfume was not sold and the proceeds given to the poor.

Good question! The efficiency addict in me wonders the same thing as I read the narrative. What is a more efficient use of the perfume: Cleaning feet or giving a good meal to hundreds of hungry people? While the text teaches us that there was a selfish motive under the surface of Judas’ question, Jesus did not disagree with Judas on those grounds. Rather He said, “you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.” In other words, efficient use of the resources I have provided you is no substitute for genuine acts of love and affection toward those God has placed in your path. Genuine acts of love often times are terribly inefficient and often extremely low-tech.

Should we use technology to minister to our students? Absolutely. Should technology in any way take the place of or interfere with genuine, uninterrupted time and attention given to individual students in a way that speaks God’s love to them? Never. Using technology for any other reason than to enrich the relationships your students possess is distracting and harmful to your ministry.

Gotta go. There goes that Simpson’s theme music again…

What Hath God Wrought?

The first long-distance telegraph message was sent over 150 years ago. The message quoted Numbers 23:23 and read, “What hath God wrought?” As new technologies become available to our family, we instinctively continue to question “What hath God wrought now?”

We are accustom to physically protecting our homes from would-be criminals. Children using new technologies like the Internet at an earlier and earlier age are afforded many opportunities. At the same time the Internet also presents many serious concerns for parents. The Internet has become the new doorway into our homes.

Understanding the consequences that an Internet doorway presents is critical for any parent. Relax! None of us have to all become high-tech cyber geeks to protect our children. We only need to focus our energies on what potential risks present themselves and then find the simplest ways to remove those risks.

Kids online will inevitably run into strongly objectionable material if they use the Internet unsupervised. The pornography industry is a predatory industry that will push its content to everyone they can whether we want it or not. The easiest, most effective way to protect your home’s Internet doorway is to use an Internet content filtering service such as bsafe.com. This critical tool blocks objectionable Internet content such as pornography, gambling, and chat rooms. Content blocking software is the single most powerful thing a parent can do to protect their family.

The apostle Paul implored fathers not to exasperate their children but rather for parents to encourage their children in 1 Thessalonians 5:11 and Colossians 3:21. The Internet is a powerful tool that most children eventually entering the job market will need to use. Those one day going into college will have to use the Internet on an almost daily basis. A freshmen dorm is not the place you want your son or daughter to first experience all the Internet has to offer. With pornography and gambling in abundance, guiding our children to use the Internet properly is becoming more and more critical. Doorways into our homes are important. Equally important is how we protect those doors!