“If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions,
and give money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." (Matthew 19:21)
This past Sunday in our “American Idol” sermon series I shared a message about the dangers of technology. Those of you who know me well know that this was a difficult sermon not only to deliver but also to prepare, as I myself am a great lover of technology of all sorts. Yet, as I shared in the message, I’ve also come to realize how dangerous technology can be when we (like the man in the Matthew 19 passage) allow it to get in the way of our relationships with God and others. When that happens, technology (like any “possession” in the scripture) has become an “idol” in our life, and we may need to take some drastic steps to get out from under its control.
While many of you were present and heard how I believe Jesus’ words help us avoid (or break free from) this idol, I wanted to share my main three points again for the benefit of those who weren’t present, and just to reinforce it for those of you who were! (Note that these are in reverse order from the sermon):
1) Learn to SET LIMITS on the technology that you absolutely must have -- manage it in such a way that it doesn’t create barriers to your relationships with others or with God. That may mean limiting the time you spend on email, the internet, texting, on Facebook or Twitter, etc. If this doesn’t help you get control of your use of technology, you may need take a second, more difficult step…
2) CUT BACK and learn to live with simpler types/pieces of technology. “Sell” your “attitude of possessiveness” that makes you think you have to have all the newest, coolest stuff that’s out on the market when in fact you could live with something simpler than that. In spiritual terms, surrender your wants to God and trust that He’ll provide you with what you need.
3) Finally, there are times when we may need to GIVE UP our use of some pieces of technology altogether. This is obviously the most radical solution, but if setting limits and cutting back don’t help you get control over your use of some types/pieces of technology (like TV, the internet, texting, or social media), then you may need to seriously consider not using them at all!
Obviously there is much more that can be said about each of these suggestions (and in fact I did say much more in the full text of my sermon found in my sermon archive here). However, I hope that even this short posting has challenged you to prayerfully consider this further. The key is that God wants each of us to be free of the idolization of technology so that we have more time to devote to our families, friends, and the work of His kingdom on earth! Remember, God loves you and I do, too!
While many of you were present and heard how I believe Jesus’ words help us avoid (or break free from) this idol, I wanted to share my main three points again for the benefit of those who weren’t present, and just to reinforce it for those of you who were! (Note that these are in reverse order from the sermon):
1) Learn to SET LIMITS on the technology that you absolutely must have -- manage it in such a way that it doesn’t create barriers to your relationships with others or with God. That may mean limiting the time you spend on email, the internet, texting, on Facebook or Twitter, etc. If this doesn’t help you get control of your use of technology, you may need take a second, more difficult step…
2) CUT BACK and learn to live with simpler types/pieces of technology. “Sell” your “attitude of possessiveness” that makes you think you have to have all the newest, coolest stuff that’s out on the market when in fact you could live with something simpler than that. In spiritual terms, surrender your wants to God and trust that He’ll provide you with what you need.
3) Finally, there are times when we may need to GIVE UP our use of some pieces of technology altogether. This is obviously the most radical solution, but if setting limits and cutting back don’t help you get control over your use of some types/pieces of technology (like TV, the internet, texting, or social media), then you may need to seriously consider not using them at all!
Obviously there is much more that can be said about each of these suggestions (and in fact I did say much more in the full text of my sermon found in my sermon archive here). However, I hope that even this short posting has challenged you to prayerfully consider this further. The key is that God wants each of us to be free of the idolization of technology so that we have more time to devote to our families, friends, and the work of His kingdom on earth! Remember, God loves you and I do, too!
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