Westside Church

June 10, 2010
by Pastor Jeremiah

I celebrate advances in technology as much as the next person (will work for Ipad), however, over the last few weeks I’ve been taking a closer look at some of the negative side effects that come along with our beloved progress.  Technology, just like anything else, can be used for good, or evil.  For example, consider the age-old debate about whether or not there is such a thing as Christian music.  The answer – music is amoral and just like binary code it can be used to express something beautiful, or something debase and sinful (to see what I mean check out the imbedded video below).  Sure they’re singing about Jesus, but I question whether or not he still wants to be their friend after they released that song on youtube.

Last week I pointed out some of the negative side effects that come with frequent cell phone use, including rude social behavior and regular disruptions.  I asked the question, do we need to start an anti technology revolt to put a stop to the insanity?  This week I want to take a closer look at the Internet.  No other invention in human history has so rapidly transformed the way people across the world live than the Internet.  It is a global revolution.  I guess we could say that the goal of the Internet was to make information more readily available to the masses.  That certainly has proved to be the case.  However, this access to unlimited information has not made us more intelligent, or less ignorant. If anything, it has been responsible for spreading an epidemic of information obesity. 

Like trying to drink water from a fire hydrant, we are a “TMI” generation.  We have too much information and it seems to be producing an odd effect.  We may not be able to list all of the presidents of the United States, but we can tell you what Homer Simpson got for his birthday in episode #300. We may not know the names of our neighbors kids, but we know the names, ages and birthdays of Brad and Angelina’s children.  Rather than bringing us clarity, all of this information has brought confusion.  Rather than teaching us wisdom, it has fueled our imbecility.  One has only to take a quick peek at the latest uploads to youtube to know what I mean.  Not to mention the fact that while we possess the most powerful tool mankind has ever created for sharing and collaborating as a human race, we have decided to share pornography more than anything else.  (To read more about technology overload and its affects on our society check out this New York Times article on “distracted parenting.”)

Now, obviously I’m communicating all of this via a blog designed to share information on the Internet, so you’ve already called my bluff by now.  I feel the same way about the Internet as I do about guns.  Guns aren’t evil, so much as the people that use them to commit crimes and harm others are.  The tricky thing is to know when this thing, that has the potential to do so much good, has reversed and is causing harm.  The pace at which technology is progressing today can be blinding and I think it’s imperative that we all take a step back every so often and evaluate how it is affecting our lifestyle.  Is it a good thing that people can reach me 24 hours a day through text, phone, or email? Should I be checking the top stories of the day every couple of hours on the internet?  Am I addicted to Facebook?  Is it healthy for me to be watching that much television on a weekly basis?  How are all of these new activities affecting me and are they really making my life better?

The chances are that all of us have some major lifestyle adjustments to make if we are to honestly address all of these questions.