iThink, therefore iAm

Everything is lawful, but not everything is beneficial. 1 Corinthians 10:23

When I was in 4^th grade, every Thursday night I used to beg my parents to let me watch "Kung Fu." My father, not an especially strong Christian, nonetheless sensed that there was something hypocritical and corrupting about David Carradine's character on the show. Whether or not his assessment was correct, we had one television in the family room and my father had the controls. For the most part, we watched the show with my father's running commentary. My Dad cracked jokes about how a pacifist could possibly fight as much as Kwai Chang Caine. He scoffed at his seemingly superhuman powers such as knocking away arrows with his forearms. Most of all, my Dad hated the flashbacks that referred to oversimplified Eastern philosophy that accompanied each episode. My father had an advantage that many of today's parents do not. Today's Christian parents only wish they could be as annoying as my Dad.

If contemporary kids want to view something of questionable value, many of them simply set the DVR, watch online, download onto X-box, or watch at a friend's. They are no longer tied down to school nights. Furthermore, for many of today's youth, passive viewing is not stimulating enough. They consume their entertainment via the internet, cell-phones, and gaming systems. In the face of all this technology, Christian parents can find monitoring their children's cultural influences to be a daunting task. In the face of this challenge, Christian parents seem to take one of two approaches as follows: either they greatly curtail their children's use of technology or they allow a free-flowing access.

The problem is not new. In the 19^th Century, America spawned numerous traditionalist communities that resisted modern technology. Most of them--such as the Shakers and the Harmonites--are now defunct, but a few of these societies--such as the Amish and Mennonites--have survived to this day. The Amish people have concluded that the only way to be close to God is to remain isolated from modern culture. Perhaps that is so. They have very strong families and values. Nonetheless, their isolationist approach to modern life is not for everyone. Indeed, if everyone on the planet suddenly adopted Amish standards of technology, the farmers would not be able to produce as much food and there would be world-wide famine.

The progressive approach to technology is not new, either. The 17^th and 18^th Century Enlightenment foretold a future in which all the world's problems would be solved by knowledge and technology. Most of today's descendants from the enlightenment school of thought are scientists and atheists, but a few are to be found in progressive churches. One example of this modern approach to religion is the Westwinds Community Church, where they suggest that their members follow them on Twitter. Certainly, their pews are full and the congregation receives a message that is relevant to contemporary society. Nonetheless, this modern approach to religious services comes across as very materialistic and distracting. With the congregation following along on twitter, one has to wonder if they are listening for the voice of the Holy Spirit or to the chatter of the congregation.

The deeper and more troubling aspect of technology is whether the technology itself changes the way people act or think. The best example of the influence of technology on human behavior is the automobile. Before the car, people walked a lot more than they do today. As a result, people then were on average much thinner and modern society is experiencing an epidemic of obesity. Prior to the automobile, people had a much different concept of space. A thirty mile trip took a whole day, while today 30 miles takes a half an hour. This problem becomes more pronounced as technology progresses. The airplane shortened the subjective distances even more. The internet often eliminates the necessity of travel at all.

As all this technology progresses, people become even more dependent on their technologies to the point where they don't know how to survive without them. Recently, a woman, on the advice of her GPS, got lost in Death Valley. She was so confident in her GPS device that she neglected to bring enough water, failed to acknowledge her own sense of direction or look at a map, and refused to ask for directions. The result of her overconfidence in technology was that, when search and rescue found her, her 11 year-old son was dead from dehydration and exposure. People can become so over-reliant on their technologies that they fail to exercise common sense.

Generally speaking, modern technology is an excellent thing. Christians, however, won't be able to find specific directions regarding technology in the Scripture. What they will find there, instead, are God's instructions regarding Christians' relationship with Him and with the rest of mankind. God never commanded, "Thou shalt not ride in a car." But He did charge man to love Him and also each other. Christians, then, can measure the benefits and pitfalls of technology in light of their relationships. In other words, how does technology affect one's relationship with God and with other people? The effect of technology on one's relationship with God is deeply individual, but the main concern is time. What happens when a person's use of technology is so time consuming that it leaves no space for an internal dialogue with the Creator? Does morning e-mail replace morning prayers? Because one's relationship with God is personal, Christian parents may have only indirect influence on their children in this area. Christian parents, though, do have an impact on their children's relations with others.

Each generation of young people is more technologically savvy than their parents. For example, I went to college around the time personal computers were beginning to make an impact. Though only a small percentage of college students at that time had their own PCs, I observed that those students who owned a PC had a marked advantage. Five years later, PCs were much cheaper and a college student without his or her own PC was unable to compete. In a similar fashion, many of today's parents are slipping out of touch with the changing times. It is vital for Christian parents to avoid this pitfall. Christian parents who fail to remain current with technological advances often leave their children vulnerable. Children who do not have modern options available to them often turn to their school or peers, essentially separating themselves from their parents' knowledge and direction. Sometimes Christian parents do not realize what their children are doing and, if they do, they are ill-equipped to fully understand it. How devastating would it be to discover a daughter sending nude photos of herself via her cell-phone? By contrast, there are those parents who strive to be technologically progressive. They may not realize that living through electronics can prevent them from having meaningful relationships with their children. Even though technology can be quite useful, there are many things that cannot be said in a text message or an e-mail. There is no substitute for the family dinner. No Christian parent wants to lose that human connection with his or her child.

One of the most confusing aspects of technology is whether a child is attracted to it for the cool factor or for the utility. Christian parents who want to have a proper and balanced use of technology must be able to separate the two. This distinction is often difficult because modern technology has social significance. Items that appear to be cool or trendy may actually have an underlying social usefulness. Is there any practical reason for an 8 year-old to have a cell-phone? Maybe an iPod is the perfect gift for a teenager. Perhaps there are good reasons not to have an X-Box Live account. Whatever the device, parents can ask similar questions. Regardless of their children's wish list, the most important consideration for parents may well be budgetary limits. No Christian parent should bankrupt themselves to provide their children with the latest gadgets. Nor should parents feel obligated to indulge their children simply because their finances allow. The consequences for both parents and children can be paramount. Lavish the children with too much and the children are prone to become spoiled and superficial. Withhold access to modern conveniences and the children may lag behind. Modern children will live in a future quite unlike the world of today. The appropriate exposure to modern technology can make or break how they thrive in that world.

--Steve Willmot