[Music] for for for tonight I will not be preaching but teaching instead of preaching a text from the Bible I want to try to show what the whole Bible tells us about one subject and that's the subject of Technology especially these new digital technologies that are all over our world today we can all see that the world has changed in the last few years all these new technologies have become a a close part of our lives and so Christians were learning to live in what's in many ways a new world in the last 2,000 years
the world has been changed again and again by technology and today we're just at the edge of a new transformation it's a digital transformation and it affects every single one of us so I want to begin by asking what's new what are some of the things that have changed in the past few years we'll begin with a few numbers here's a number for you 7 hours and 30 8 minutes just think for a moment what do you think the significance is of 7 hours and 38 minutes 7 hours and 38 minutes represents the average amount
of time that a child sits in front of a screen today so every day the average child is in front of a screen for 7 hours and 38 minutes if we go back just 60 or 70 years that average was zero so in a very short period of time we've gone from not looking at screens at all to looking at them for onethird of our day that must mean something right here's another number 3,364 just think for a moment about what 3,364 might represent that's the average number of text messages a teenager sends every month
just 10 years ago that was Zero now it's 3,364 again something has changed okay here's another number 70% 70% represents the amount of pornography that people look at on mobile devices and that matters because as parents most of our effort has gone into protecting our children on their desktop computers and yet today the majority of pornography is viewed on mobile phones here's one more number the number 11 number 11 represents the average age that a child is exposed to pornography so the average child the average boy at least is first seeing pornography at the age
of just 11 so we take numbers like this and we we look at them and we know something in the world has changed these new technologies have come our way and they've they've changed the world around us so what do we do how do we respond to this there are a few different options available to us the first option is what we might call enthusiastic embrace which means we as Christians just Embrace every new technology as soon as it comes along we think that if a technology is new it must be good there's another option
which is separation that's where we think if it's new it must be bad if it's new it must be worse than the technology that came before it and so we deliberately separate ourselves from whatever is new between these those two approaches I think there's a better way which we could call disciplined discernment that's using our well-trained Christian Minds to think about new technologies we think about them and we accept what is virtuous and we reject what is dangerous we do what the Bible calls us to in Romans 12:2 it sayso not be conformed to this
world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind when it comes to our relationship with technology we need our minds to be renewed by the word of God as Christians we have access to the mind of God Through the Bible and that means we should be thinking better about these things than non-christians but unfortunately I don't think that's true I don't think Christians are modeling good thinking about technology so what I want to do tonight then is to help us think about technology in a couple of different ways but as we do this I
want to make sure we understand something important that's happening in society today there is a divide in society today and it falls right around the Year 1980 people who were born before 1980 we might say that they are digital immigrants they've had to immigrate into the digital world those people remember A World Before computers they remember what it was like when you didn't have a mobile phone with you at all times but if you were born after 1980 we could say that you're a digital native you were born into a world where computers were very
very common you have trouble remembering the world before everybody had a mobile phone or the world before most people had access to a computer so we need to be aware that at this point in history there are two different groups of people in the world and they think very differently about technology so in these few minutes together I want you to come away with two big lessons you can think about and you can apply these are things you can apply in your own life in your family in your church and the first thing is this
all technology is God's technology and what I mean is that there is a distinctly Christian way for us to think about technology which means if we want to think well about technology we need to start at the Bible we need to begin at the beginning just like Dr reiken showed us last night in Genesis chapter 1 God said let us make man in our image according to our likeness that means we are created in the image of God what does it mean that we are created created in the image of God how were we created
in the image of God we are created in the image of God socially we were made to Fellowship just think about all of these new technologies our mobile phones and Facebook and text messaging what is it that we're doing with these Technologies so much of it is socializing we're communicating with one another we have this deep need this deep longing for fellowship and that's because we were made in the image of a God who has been in Eternal Fellowship Father Son and Holy Spirit and we were made to be in fellowship with God and with
one another so we're made in the image of God socially we're also made in the image of God morally we are moral creatures were able to choose right or wrong then we're also made in the image of God mentally we're rational reasoning thinking beings put it all together we can see that we are created in the image of a creative God God has given us his creative desire his creative ability and only human beings do this animals don't do this animals don't create animals don't invent they operate out of instinct but we think and we
solve problems and we do this because we're made in the image of God okay so God made us in His image but he also gave us a job to do the Bible says God blessed them then God said to them be fruitful and multiply fill the Earth and subdue it have dominion over the fish of the sea over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth God gave Humanity a two-part job description the first part was procreation he said be fruitful and multiply so he meant to populate the
Earth to build families and churches and schools and cities and then to exercise Dominion to subdue the Earth that means to harness the natural world to plant crops and build Bridges and design computers all of this falls under the job that God gave us to do so think about this we have a mandate from God to use our creativity to invent new technologies this isn't just something we can do it's something we must do to be obedient to God so this must mean then that technology is good we need to understand that technology is not
only mobile phones not only only computers technology is also the wheel it's writing it's the book all of things all of these things were invented by human beings think about the way God created Humanity God created two people naked in a garden they had nothing and God told them to spread out over the entire Earth and to subdue it the only way they could obey God was to invent new technologies today we still have that command from God but we also have the Great Commission so we to carry out the the mission that God has
given us we need technology so what is technology then how can we Define it we might say technology is the create creative activity of using tools to shape God's creation for practical purposes really it's just this it's making stuff that makes our lives better or even better making stuff that makes other people's lives better creating things that makes people safer or more comfortable as Christians it's creating stuff that allows us to carry out our god-given mission okay so let's think for just a moment God made us creative and God told us to create as part
of our job description so shouldn't it be true then that technology only ever makes our lives better just think about it is that your experience of Technology does it only ever make your life better no of course not why is that why does technology not only make our lives better that's because sin broke everything sin intruded into this world and it broke everything and unfortunately technology ology did not Escape technology is something that exists in this world and therefore it's covered by sin so here's where this leaves us in this world technology can be used
for good and Technology can be used for evil so how do you use your technology how do you use your mobile phone how do you use Facebook Faceook every time you use it the choice is before you will I use it to do good or will I use it to do evil will I use it to bless people or will I use it to harm people that choice is before us every single day I want to show you something that's very very important for Christians to think about I want to show you another way that
only Christians can think rightly about technology and I think you already know this that we are all worshippers we all worship something now because technology is so important for our comfort and for our survival it's exactly the kind of thing that we can make into an idol we can give it far too much prominence in our lives let me try to show you how this works Romans chapter 1:22 says professing to be wise they became fools I as sinle human beings we are all idolatrous in our hearts so again professing to be wise they became
fools and they changed the glory of The Incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man and they exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshiped and served the creature rather rather than the Creator this is what we will do we will serve what has been created rather than serving the Creator could you say that again here's how Matt papa says it an idol simply put is anything that is more important to you than God it is anything that has outweighed God in your life it is anything that you love or trust or
obey more than God it is anything that has replaced God as essential to your happiness so we need to think each one of us for a moment what do I consider essential for my happiness what is it that if it was taken away I would consider life not worth living what is it if it was taken away I would say I can no longer be happy that may be different for each one of us but the answer is where our Idol lies now we tend to think that we are too sophisticated for Idols because when
we think about Idols we think about wood and stone but Tim ker says everything can be and everything has been an idol John Calvin says We Gather that man's nature so to speak is a factory of Idols that includes technology even technology can be an idol now sometimes technology really is what we are worshiping and I don't mean that we bow down to it but I mean that we put our hope in it I want to read you an example from a magazine it's a bit of a long quote but I think as you listen
you understand you don't have okay [Music] mon that's a lot of words but here's the important stuff they talk about Universal Prosperity they talk about Financial Security they talk about eradicating poverty and they talk about ushering in a golden age for all of humanity let me ask does that does that sound familiar does that sound like something we know as Christians they've just described heaven right and how will we get there is it through the return of Jesus Christ no it's through technology so these people think if we just invent the right technology it will
address the problems of humanity so according to these people all our happiness will come through inventing the right technologies that sounds ridiculous right but talk to your teenager when they want their first mobile phone and you'll see that they too think that technology can answer their deepest problem that technology will will fill the emptiness inside that technology will bring them true Joy so that's one way people think about technology or make an idol out of Technology some people do have their hope in technology but probably not us but that there there's still a way that
technology can be tricky for us technology can magnify the power of other Idols in our lives so let me ask this what do you love more than you love God in those moments when you're not satisfied in God in those moments where your heart is discont content what is it that promises Joy what promises fulfillment or satisfaction for many people it's money if I just had a little bit more money then I would be happy or popularity if I just had a few more followers on Facebook then I'd be happy or for pastors it's it's
numbers if there were just a few more people in my church then I'd be happy for many people it's sexuality if I just had her then I would be happy so just think about yourself in those moments when you're not satisfied in God and in that moment what role does technology play if your idol is sexuality then you'll use that good technology of your phone and that good technology of the internet and you'll use it to look at pornography or if your idol is money then you'll use the good technology of your phone and of
the internet to go online and to gamble so even as Christians even as pastors we can use technology to further the power of our Idols no wonder then that we love our technology it gives us what we want if we want to honor God we can use it to honor God if we want to to love other people we can use it to love other people if we want to pursue Idols it will help us pursue Idols no wonder than it's such a good friend to us so there's the first thing I want us to
see all technology is God's technology there's a Christian way to think about technology only Christians can see technology as it really is and that's because we have the Bible the Bible is like a a pair of glasses we put on I'm colorblind I cannot see red red or green so I don't really see the world as it is but recently I got some glasses and I can put those glasses on and now I see red and green see we as as sinful humans we don't see the world as it really is but the Bible is
like the pair of glasses we put on and now we see the world through God's eyes we see the world as it really is we see the world as God sees the world second thing I want us to see about technology is that there is always risk and and opportunity every technology brings us something good but every technology also brings us something bad I'll give you an example sometimes that risk and opportuni sometimes it's very easy to see think about a technology like nuclear Vision that one technology can be used to power a city that's
a very good way to use that technology but that same technology can be used to blow up a city through a nuclear explosion so it's very easy to look at a technology like that and say Here's how to use it well here's how to use it poorly but sometimes it's much harder to see you buy a new mobile phone or you buy your your first mobile phone and you're just using it and it's quietly changing you the good things and the bad things they just happen as you use it I think television makes an interesting
example of this before Tech before television came along people used to be entertained together as a community but then people started to buy televisions and put them in their home and then instead of families being entertained together outside the home families would gather inside the home and be entertained alone and then eventually families started to get two or three televisions and now Mom could watch her show and Dad could watch his show and the kids could watch their show nobody knew this was going to happen nobody planned for this to happen but that technology just
changed us so instead of community spending time together individuals sat and watch TV so our Technologies change us but here's the trick or here's the thing we tend to believe that our new technologies are primarily helpful beneficial we're very very good at seeing all the opportunity in a new technology we're very very poor at seeing the risk in a new technology when you first got your mobile phone did you imagine that one day you would carry with carry it with you absolutely everywhere did you imagine You' be checking email while you're eating dinner did you
imagine you would take it to the bathroom with you of course not but it changed us when you got Facebook you probably thought about how it might link you up with friends but did you know that Facebook is now mentioned in many many divorce proceedings because it didn't just link people with old friends but with old boyfriends and old girlfriends we're very very good at seeing the opportunity very very poor at seeing the risk with new technology for there was a time when churches used hm books but most churches switched to PowerPoint and in many
cases that made a lot of sense that was an okay decision but did you think that you can't take the hbook home with you anymore so families would no longer sing together we no longer sing from our hm books in our devotions we changed our Technologies but didn't think about all the ways it would change us so again we tend to believe our new technologies are primarily beneficial now why is that because the benefit of a technology is usually immediately apparent the risks only come out over time I'll give you an example in the 1980s
everybody began to say you need a computer people are telling parents you need to have a computer in your home for the sake of your children so parents started to run out and buy their children computers and then beginning in the 90s everybody said you need the Internet so parents ran out and they got the internet hooked up to the computer they handed this computer and this internet to their teenage boys they said learn to use this this is the future and what happened an entire generation of boys got addicted to pornography looking back it's
so so obvious if you give all the boys in the world computers and internet and cameras what's going to happen obviously there will be pornography but nobody saw it coming everybody saw the opportunity but nobody saw the risk because the benefits of the computer and the the internet were so clear but the risks took a long long time to show themselves so here's what we've seen there's a Christian way to think about technology and as part of that we need to understand there's always risk and there's always opportunity in any new technology and we are
very likely to see the opportunity but not to see the risk I've got just a short time left so let me give you just three practical pointers let's think about three challenges that have come in this Digital World the first is a challenge of mediation here's what I mean there's so many things we used to do face to face that now we do through a screen instead things like banking or paying our bills what's the first One banking okay things like talking communicating with one another things like education or for many people even Church these
are all things we used to do face to face that now we do through a screen that's not necessarily bad but it is new it is different well just think about this you imagine a young man who's sitting alone and typing a letter to his wife wife so he's typing a letter to her and he's saying we're so far apart I can't wait to be with you again that's normal right that's good he wants to be close to her what would be weird is if he looked her in the eye and said I can't wait
to be aart so I can write you letters we all know that it's better to be together face to face and that's the great hope of the Gospel we get to be face to face with Jesus Christ so in this world where more and more we do everything through screens as Christians let's continue to emphasize being together one thing we as Christians have to offer to the world is our church services where people come together to worship together as a community so the first challenge is mediation the Second Challenge is distraction over time our devices
become more and more distracting it's important that we learn to own our devices instead of letting our devices own us I'm concerned that we're losing our ability to focus here's how I think about it distraction leads to shallow thinking and shallow thinking leads to shallow living if we want to be people who live well we need to be people who think well and to be people who think well when we need to have times where we're not distracted so learn to have time away from your devices stop responding every time your phone buzzes or beeps
when you're with your friends put your phones away and especially when you're with the Lord put your phone away learn to be undistracted again the third challenge is overload in a world like this the information just never ever stops there's always new emails new text messages new blog posts I think there's a strange cost to all of this information I think what happens is that information becomes a goal in and of itself see information used to serve a purpose information led us to knowledge and knowledge led us to wisdom information is meant to serve that
purpose to make us wise so if you're encountering information that's making you foolish put it aside allow information to draw you closer and closer to the Lord allow information to to give you wisdom so you can better serve people and honor God and through it all be confident think about what 1 Corinthians 10:31 one says to us therefore whether you eat or drink or whatever you do do all to the glory of God whether you eat or drink whether you Facebook or tweet whether you text or whether you email do it all to the glory
of God amen amen
