How do we handle the wave of technology rushing our way? What should be our response to the many electronic gadgets; computers, smartphones, printers, and on and on, and to top it all off, the Internet? Would appreciate responses.
How do we handle the wave of technology rushing our way? What should be our response to the many electronic gadgets; computers, smartphones, printers, and on and on, and to top it all off, the Internet? Would appreciate responses.
This is one of the topmost issues in the church today; one that we seemingly can't get over. We conquered the TV; we conquered the radio. But issues like the Internet we just can't resolve. Or can we?
One resource that I have found incredibly helpful on this topic is Gary Miller's book Surviving the Tech Tsunami. It can be found at tgsinternational.com/product/surviving-the-tech-tsunami/.
I don't know why it did not create a link, but you should be able to find it if you search the book title.
How should we use the Internet? Or should it just not be allowed at all? I know of churches that would not allow their members to use the Internet at all-and it is becoming harder and harder to run a business without it.
Are places like Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and a host of other programs like these fit for the Christian to use?
Does anyone else have any links or contributions?
Some are utilizing the technology for the gospel and that can be a good thing. I just think we have to be careful of getting too much sucked in to the shifting culture.
Even this platform that we are using to learn about the early Christians and to communicate with and share with one another in faith is an example of technology and the internet being able to be a good thing and able to help us in following Jesus. Believers from all over the world are connecting and sharing deeply with one another in faith and are coming together and working together to support one another through technology and that is powerful and it is helping many all over the world.
But we have to be cautious and on guard with technology because it can certainly be used by satan to pull us away from sincere devotion to Christ and it can corrupt us. I don't need to mention the ways it can. There are many clear ways.
We also have to be mindful that one day we will not be able to buy or sell unless we have the mark of the beast and it is very possible that technology will be a major factor for that type of lifestyle. In those days it will really help believers to know how to live off of the land that God has given us, the way He intended us to, and for us not to rely upon the government and their systems.
Many city people nowadays do not know how to grow their own food and they could not survive if they did not have access to grocery stores cell phones etc...
Technology is definitely making people more and more totally dependent on the government and its systems and that is problematic. Believers definitely should maintain a healthy guard with technology. We should flow with it only as much as is righteous to do so.
If we use technology we should use it if it is necessary for our work or school lives, We should use it to help teach us and train ourselves in faith, we should encourage one another with it, preach the gospel with it and help those in need with it. We should always be on guard against sin with it though because satan does use it against us. And we should not get so immersed in the tech world that we are unable to live the normal way that God designed and intended for humans to live.
We should still know how to enjoy nature and learn from and enjoy God out of nature, and know how to use nature the way God intended such as growing healthy food to live, we should still know how to be sociable and desire to interact face with people, our lives definitely should not consist more of engaging a computer screen that man made rather than the world that God made.
As much as possible we should try to stay rooted in living by God's original design for human living on the earth and not get too immersed, sucked in and engulfed by man's reshaping of the world.
I do believe the least technology is used the easier it is to walk in righteousness. An ideal life to me is a life using technology as least as possible and devoting that time to personal interaction with the Lord and with people. There is really so much to this topic. It is a very complicated topic and so much goes into being able to answer it. This is my attempt at giving a simple answer. But i'll end with this, as technology increases in the world, "to the pure all things are pure."
Titus 1:15. It is important to be pure while handling technology and if we keep ourselves pure we can handle technology purely. If it in any way hinders our purity we ought to cut it off lest we perish with it. (Matthew 5:29-30)
Yes, bro. Justin. There is so much more on this topic... which is really the reason I started this string.
So you believe that the least technology is used, the easier it is to walk in righteousness? Great, I admire your thinking there; we really must devote all our time and resources to Christ and his kingdom. But I think that if technology is used in the way that it should be, it can actually bring us closer to Him. Take this platform again, for example. It has piles of courses that Christians can use to strengthen their beliefs and to learn more;
in other words, bringing themselves closer to Christ.
And yes, I do heartily agree with you on those last few sentences there. We must always strive to keep our minds and bodies pure and be alert especially when on the Internet- there is so much out there that is so defiling to both mind and body.
Absolutely. It definitely can help bring us closer to the Lord. Many of the resources I have found online for learning the faith have been great and have helped take me so much deeper with God from learning good wisdom from believers all over the world that have different key pieces of spiritual wisdom for our faith just as this website is doing. So it definitely can help us. We just for sure need to be very careful with it though, as many people are falling into the many traps set up on it.
The internet as a whole is run by people of the world with agenda's for us and not godly agenda's. They do use sly tactics to snare us with technology too that people do not see.
They utilize psychologists who study the human brain to create systems and patters on our phones, apps and social media platforms that addict us and tailor our thoughts and actions in specific ways, often for their own gains, that make us keep coming to the platforms and systems and that make it very hard to stay away from or to give them up if we wanted to.
I noticed some of those things with Facebook back when I had it, but I deleted my Facebook because I noticed it was taking away from my attention to the Lord. If you can't handle something without it tempting you or throwing off your faith it is best to stay away from it. Every individual has to consider that in themselves with the things they handle whether they can handle it righteously or not.
There is definitely a lot to it. It is something to be on guard with. This is a conversation that believers do need to think about and speak honestly about with one another according to the Word as our society becomes more technological. Believers should definitely be aware of the dangers of it and be aware of how to keep a safe guard against the traps so they don't get pulled into sin. It is a good thing you bring this up to talk about it.
Has anyone who was a frequent Youtuber been able to permanently stop using it? It seems as though at this point in my Christian Walk That I don't see Youtube as something that is neutral anymore. I went on Youtube today to see that in the recommendations they are now recommending contemporary Christian music, and when I came across an Esh song today someone posted a spam link to Sexual immorality.
The following greatly saddened me, and because of that, I don't want to support anything that causes sin. On the other hand, I understand other accounts such as this one use it as a tool of Evangelism. But I don't want to support it anymore.
Yeah, we really have to start maintaining a balancing act between what is good and what's bad... I mean, Youtube is a wonderful resource for reaching others who are on there every day, but it can also quickly become a trap for us. There is just so much evil out there that it's hard to be on Youtube on a regular basis and yet stay away from it, even if you do have a personalized account.