Navigating the Digital Frontier: A Christian Perspective

"Even though we're people who have new technologies in our hands and new technologies in our pockets, we're still the same people who have indwelling sin in our hearts. We're still people living in this world created by God and under the sovereignty of God. The French, those skeptical French, they've got a saying I love. They say “Plus les choses, plus me la chose” – the more things change, the more things really just stay the same.” And I think they're on to something here because so much has changed in this world around us, but we're still living as God's people in God's world, we're still charged with the same creation mandate, we're still called to the same great commission, we're still battling against sin, we're still fighting to put on holiness, we're still wishing and praying for Christ's return." [00:11:11]

"Technology in the big picture, capital ‘T’ technology is good. It's one of the ways we obey God. It's one of the ways we carry out our creation mandate, one of the ways we carry out the great commission is through technology. We cannot exercise dominion over this earth. We cannot subdue creation, we cannot take the gospel to the farthest corners of the world without technology. So, in the big picture, technology is a good gift of God, but again, it exists in this world. Like everything else, it too is subject to the fall and so we need to see how every technology can be used for good and how it can be used for evil, and I believe the Bible calls us to do this." [00:42:09]

"When the Bible calls us to live as Christians, it always talks in terms of putting off and putting on. You know this from when you read the New Testament. There's always putting off, putting off old habits and patterns and behaviors and then putting on new habits and new patterns and new behaviors, and I just want to follow that kind of pattern this morning. I want to look at some things in this world we'll be tempted to do, we need to put those things off, and I want to look at the much better alternative, the way we can honor God by putting on better behaviors." [00:50:06]

"So, our devices, they evolve toward distraction, and here's my concern is that over time, we actually become people who enjoy that distraction. We start to long for that kind of distraction, we almost come to depend upon it. Every time we're bored, we want to be distracted. Every time our thoughts come to the end of a flow, we want to be distracted, we want something to jump in there, and over time we're finding it harder and harder to focus. More and more difficult to do one thing at a time and to do that one thing with all of our strength, with all of our focus and energy we just love to be distracted, and there's a cost to this." [00:08:07]

"You know that as Christians, we are called by God to continually grow in wisdom, but you cannot grow in wisdom without putting in effort. Wisdom requires effort. Now, information is easy, right? We all have information around us. We have more access to information now than anyone ever before has had. Information is easy, but wisdom, wisdom comes only through concentration, only through meditation. Wisdom comes when people ponder information, when they apply God's word to the information around them, they let that sink deep down into their hearts and into their souls and into their lives. But, how can we meditate, how can we concentrate if we're always distracted?" [00:08:51]

"One of the very first Christian books I ever read was a book on character. Simply that, character, and it shaped me deeply because the author's point that he came to again and again is this: character is who you are when no one is looking. It's that simple. Do you want to know who you really are? Do you want to know what you really love? Do you want to know your spiritual maturity? Then, take an accounting of what you do when no one else is looking, when the night's dark, everyone else has gone to bed, you're all alone – that right there, that is who you are. You reveal far more of your character in isolation than in community." [00:12:18]

"So Christian, you need to reject the isolation that comes so easily in this world. It is so, so easy in this world to be invisible, to be anonymous, to have two personalities, who you are when people are looking, who you are when nobody's looking. You need to live the same life online and offline, be the same person behind your screen as away from your screen. Put off, put off that anonymity, that invisibility and put on accountability, put on community." [00:16:06]

"I believe in this world, self-control is a lost virtue or a misplaced virtue at any case, and that may be especially true for people who hold to reformed theology because it seems someone's always close to playing the legalism card, that putting self-control in place might just be legalism putting rules in place, but you know what? The Bible calls for self-control many times in many different ways. It says it's an undeniable fruit of the holy spirit, because the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." [00:19:20]

"So, reject indulgence and instead display self-control. Put to death those compulsive behaviors and bring to life the fruit of the spirit. Take ownership of your devices, of your technology before they take ownership of you. Again, there's so many ways in this world that we can use these things for good. There are so many ways we can use these new devices to carry out that creation mandate and that great commission, so many ways you can use your phone or your Facebook account to do good to others and bring glory to God, but we're always surrounded by these temptations and we must, we must battle against them." [00:20:34]

"So, I want to call upon you parents, to reject ignorance and to choose education. As new technologies come along, as existing technologies evolve, you need to remain educated about them. Before you hand your child that shiny new gadget or before you allow them to join whatever the next big social network is, you need to investigate. You need to educate yourself. You're here today, so you're off to a good start. You're starting, but it's only a start. You need to make it a point to understand what your children are doing, how they're using these things." [00:24:22]

"Parents, you have no business handing your children a mobile phone or signing them up on Facebook or anything else without first teaching them and guiding them. If the Bible says anything about children, it says that folly is bound up in the heart of a child, right? It's the consistent message of Proverbs. Young people are lacking in wisdom, and they desperately need you, you their parents need to guide them. So, when you give your child that computer, that mobile phone, that social media account, you are giving them something that has immense power." [00:28:56]

"So instead of fear, instead of fearing these new things, get familiar with them. Instead of fearing with them, investigate them and look, how can we use these things for God's glory? How can we use these things to advance God's cause? As Christians, lets carefully evaluate and investigate the benefits and the risks. Let's learn how we can use all of these things to carry out God's calling. Let's use them all for the good of others, and the glory of God." [00:34:46]