Who Stole My 8-Track?

With technology comes the promise of something new, something better than what we had before, each new technology replacing an old one. The advancement that it offers makes our lives easier. The car replaced the horse. The printing press replaced woodblock printing. The phone, the personal visit. Email, the letter. And so on.

Cultural prophet Neil Postman warns that before people start going gaga over the next great technological advancement, they should know "something about the costs of great technologies." He says that with each new technology, we get something and we lose something. We do something and undo something all at once.

If Postman's cautionary cry rings true, then we should consider what we give up and what we get as we go about our day using various forms of technology.

Could it be that as humans we are losing a little bit of the wonderful, dynamic, and truly personal aspects of life? Could it be that as Christian leaders we are losing the humble part of our faith, falling prey to the latest, greatest?

Deleting Existence
Computer technology lulls us into its constant flood of interaction, eroding our ability to engage in the elements that make up life. We doddle through our days distracted and anxious, pecking through emails and texts and voicemails and websites. We've all been in a conversation with a real person only to be preempted by the incoming text or the call that "I just have to take."

We may be gaining portability, efficiency and ways to "influence" but we also lose touch with one another, we become self-absorbed—there's always someone more important to talk to, someone who will validate us. At our core we know we were created from the Triune relationship as relational beings; but we seem content to ebb into impersonal beings, forgetting the richness of life.

"Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself," writes Paul. "When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! ... It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death."

Paul challenges us to empty ourselves the way Jesus emptied himself. As we empty ourselves we find fulfillment, but not the way the world does. We find a mysterious paradox of the body and blood of Christ—remembering that life comes through death, the greatest is the least, the poor inherit the earth.

To empty ourselves of the dreaded disease of "self" we need to consider our interaction with technological progress. We should steward the tools of technology with the "humble Christ" always at the forefront of our minds. And as Christ's workmanship, our lives should reflect the radiance of his glory and the fruits of the spirit, not the language the culture uses for self-glorification.

Weird Science
So, we have an experiment we want you to try. Let's try to follow one of the suggestions below—or, make up your own—and count what was gained (personally, relationally, spiritually) and what was lost throughout the day. Then, pop over to our Facebook page and report your findings.

Go analog. Old school is the new new school. Try to work out of notebooks—you know, those binders that hold "paper." Pick a day and don't log onto the Internet, at all. Do all your work with pen, paper and a cup of coffee. (If a pen is too new a technology you can go caveman and use a rock and a stone wall to record your notes.)

Spend your lunch hour on a park bench reading Beuchner or Tolstoy or Lewis or King David. Spend your coffee break talking to those around you. Call an old-friend instead of Facebooking them. Visit a person, at their house (gasp).

Power off. Your phone does have an "Off" button. Use it. When 5 o'clock rolls around power down and power up your smile and energy for your wife and kids. If you don't have a wife or kids, then power up your dating life. Keep powered off in the AM as well. Don't check your email or Twitter feed or Facbook while lying in bed. Go for a walk, French Press your coffee, make Ricotta pancakes.

Find the copier. If you're a church leader, try going a Sunday without a projection screen. Seems impossible, right? Maybe not. We recently attended an event with about 2,500 people (with screens) and they handed out photocopied sheets with printed song lyrics, readings, and prayers.

Allow congregants to unplug during your service. Give them a break from using a screen. Use the time to ask the congregants to interact with the service by reading a prayer together or a call and response reading. Ask them to write down their notes on the sermon based on what spoke to them, not the bullet points and outlines displayed on screen.

As you try one of these be intentional about reaching to the real. Pay attention to your surroundings, watch how people react, and record your thoughts.