From the book Pause for Pastors: Finding Still Waters in the Storm of Ministry.
I use modern technology. Actually, I depend upon it. For writing and speaking, for daily calendars, for communicating to others, for reading and studying, for news reports and sports scores, for medical reminders to maintain better health. I can hold facts in my hands and send them to my brain. I can send thoughts globally in this hi-tech world. But I can’t let that take the place of the need to touch, to feel, to see, to hear, to cry, to care.
Use the devices. But know why. And don’t become addicted.
Use the devices. For yourself. For others.
But be careful. And don’t be used by them.
To keep our hi-tech balanced, we must live the life of hi-touch. Community, unity, church as a family, open-ended questions, transparent confessions, laughter in person instead of just internet humor.
Modern gadgets are convenient and appropriate. But in our busyness with the devices we hold, let us be sure to be held by our Father. Depending on Him is better than depending on any other device.
Yes & amen!!
Chris- I’m going to message you.
This is a great point—there is so much technology that has become increasingly present in our daily lives, but for reasons that have made it necessary to many. It is easy to see the negative sides of the fact that we have a device with us at all times, but that should not take away from how helpful such devices have become to people. Just like everything else in our world, phones and technology/the mechanization of the world is something we should use to our advantage in moderation!
I agree. An addiction to the phone is a very dangerous. We become dependent on them and think we don’t have to rely on God. Sometimes it is good when we, myself included, take a break from our phone and take time to breathe, have community/fellowship, and be with God. God is our ultimate provision and satisfaction, not our phones.
I like the statement use the device but don’t be used by them. Everyday you can go out and see people being used bother smart devices. Going out to dinner if you sit back and truly take it in and see there is an overwhelming number of people being consumed by their devices when there is much more for them to gain from staying off their devices. Busy schedules combined with device time leaves little personal time and personal time with the Lord. We must find time for the Lord even if it means putting down the device.
This post reminds me thats while its not bad to enjoy the blessings God gave to us but we should never let ourselves become controlled by them or we might miss out on the good things right in front of us.
I agree with the content. I am currently dealing with four grandchildren that live with us. They are in my opinion too dependent on devices in their daily life. I try to explain to them, but I am not to successful. We need to instill in our children and grandchildren what is said it this message. Keep God close.
I love your heart behind this post pastor Chris. I think about this all the time. Technology is great and the advancement of it over the years has helped with a lot of things today, but it is so easy to become addicted and take our focus off of the people around us and the God that loves us. We need that quality time with people and with God, but sometimes in order to get that we have to lay down time with our devices.
These are some good points. Oftentimes technology is so crucial in our life to keep up with the modern flow, we can forget about the world outside of it. I think it’s important to find ourselves with regular reminders to step away to remember face to face interactions and the world that God has created for us. Overall, really enjoyed feeding this blog
It is important to remember that technology is a tool. Tools can be used to do many different things, but at the end of the day what they are used for is up to the user. There can be tools to fix things and tools to tear things apart. Having access to technology is not a bad thing. We are very blessed to be able to do all that we can. The key is to not become so immersed in it that we forget the world we live in.
Technology can be so weird sometimes because it will be working fine and then all of a sudden everything is out of whack. Even though it is a robot and is said to be really smart it is not always reliable. There are so many things that are on the internet that are not true. Also, phones tend to be unreliable because if you have no data or internet then you basically are holding a useless brick. How have we become so technology-reliant that we forget what our brains are wired to do?
This is addressing one of the core issues in development in the world today. The dominance of the phone, I believe, is the cause of a plethora of issues. I know that it has caused me to be unintentional and impatient. The constant stimulation has made stillness very difficult, and has exaggerated the pace of my life. Breaking this is incredibly incredibly difficult, but you have hit the nail on the head!