Soulfood

Mike Emlet

A lover of fountain pens doing the technology talk…

Technology is ultimately directed by our sovereign God. Humans are designed to be makers and creators. Technological developments have eased the miseries of living in a fallen world. But there are questions worth asking about technology.

Digital technology impact our humanity in some unique ways compared to analog technologies. A digitally-shaped life often works against a God-shaped life.

The shaping effect of digital technologies. We are always being discipled; the only question is who or what is discipling us. Scripture warns us about negative influences. Mere exposure is not determinative. But over time, what we expose ourselves to and immersed in deforms us from or conforms us to Christ.

The overuse or misuse of digital technology is increasingly being noted in both secular and Christian circles. The negative effects on the psychological well-being of young people are varied, vast, and well-documented.

Digital content is specially designed to ensnare and captivate us. We must be aware of the water in which we are swimming.

Digital technology is deformative when it convinces us that the limitations of being human are obstacles to be overcome rather than gifts to be received.

Omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence are all offered to us in digital technologies. How do we defend ourselves against these false promises?

1. Forsake the false promise of omniscience and instead embrace wisdom. The obtaining of knowledge is exciting but it is not wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to discern good from evil and apply knowledge, skills, and experience in order to live according to God’s design. But the Internet is designed to transform us into information consumers who seek instant gratification, whose attention is scattered and distracted. Psalm 27:4 “One thing I seek…” We seek to limit our knowledge-seeking to that which is good, true, beautiful – that which points us to Christ. We can know many things and yet be foolish at the end of the day. What is leading my inquiries? Who is shaping my thoughts about what I am seeing, reading, hearing? Does it promote love for God and neighbor?
   • Before doing an internet search, pause and ask if it is something I really need to know.
   • Consider reducing the number of information sources I subscribe to. Trust that God will lead me to what is truly important to know.
   • Meditate on Scripture. Give focused attention to small bits of the Word. Slow down.
2. Choose embodied presences over digital counterfeits that are everywhere. Other people are not safe mirrors of ourselves but are messy and make us work to understand them. AI chatbots reflect people back to users to create shiny and safe “relationships” that are conflict free and ultimately destructive. Chatbots are not really there. They don’t wonder where we are when we aren’t “interacting” with them. They are neither needy nor needed. AI cannot truly help us with uniquely human struggles such as guilt, shame, fear. We have an embodied faith with an embodied Savior and an embodied hope. Human bodies are important. Human presence should be preferred over digital substitutes. Texting someone is not the same as having a conversation with them face to face. It is better to be physically together whenever we can. We shouldn’t accept substitutes so easily.
   • Make a phone call. Set up a coffee date. Use video calls. Write a note by hand.
   • Take phone sabbaths and have phone-free meals.
3. Forsake the false promise of omnipotence. The digital “life” holds out a promise of frictionless existence where everything around us conforms to our will. Friction and resistance are what polish and mature us – they are not nuisances to be done away with by a digitally-curated existence of self-gratification and ease. Frictionless, resistance-free living disciples us to be self-centered rather than God-centered – and it doesn’t work. There is only one salvation story and it doesn’t come from Apple or Anthropic. Those counterfeits leave people feeling anxious, restless, and despondent. If digital living could deliver happiness and satisfaction, we would see a lot of happy and satisfied people around us. Instead we see something very different.
   • Do things that take time, and learn to wait. Practice waiting. Embrace moments of waiting as opportunities to give thanks to God for our neediness. We don’t need to fill and control every minute. Instead we could use those times to cultivate gratitude and enter into prayer. If we fill them with scrolling we lose ourselves.
   • Don’t underestimate the value of the repeated practice of spiritual disciplines and the ordinary means of grace.

We are most human when we embrace the limitations of embodied living. Remember what John tells us – when we see Jesus we will be like him because we are in him.

Stand by the ancient paths and watch.

Accept the rest of the gentle and lowly Savior – who is both fully God and fully human.