Mark Driscoll has brought to light a major issue that so many of us take for granted: the control of technology in our lives. He writes:
I know in years past I too have been guilty of these same digital sins against God, my family, and my own well-being. Now that I see it as a sin that destroys silence, solitude, fellowship, prayerful listening, and meaningfully and attentive friendship, I am deeply convicted that there is a new spiritual discipline of fasting from technology to be mastered. In this way, we can enjoy the life and people that God puts in front of us rather than ignoring them while we peck away with our thumbs and chat about nothing, which in the end is rarely as important as the people we are ignoring all around us. [Read his full article here]
I find it ironic (and somewhat convicting) that I am creating this post on my computer, with the television blaring on one side of me, and my son sleeping on the other. I appreciate Mark's honesty in addressing what has become an epidemic in our culture. For fifty years or more, technology has replaced the dinner table as our primary means of entertainment and community in the home. Christian men and women alike, often to the neglect of their God-given responsibilities to family, have become addicted to these "sleeping pills" (as John Piper calls them), and are pulled into a fantasy world of crime dramas, reality television, and sports. As the pressures of high-paced American life push down on our shoulders, we run to find an escape in television and internet. All day, people require and request things from us. Always taking...and then taking more -- until we have nothing left to give. The friendly confines of HDTV and high speed internet offer a place where we can "check out", so that nothing more is required of us. Not from our bosses...our employees...our church...or our family. We are left alone, with endless options to feed our insatiable appetites for solace and spectacle, while numbing us to the mission for which God has redeemed us.
I understand this feeling well. I am a recovering techno-holic. Rarely was there a time when my television or radio was not on. I often would not be watching or listening to anything in particular. They served as background noise, because the thought of sitting in silence is unbearable. All day long, our ears and minds are polluted by noises and voices. Maybe we become dependent on them because it relieves us from our fear of loneliness. There is comfort in background noise, since it assures us that we are not alone. Perhaps there is truth in the old cliche, "silence is deafening". If we were to fast from our technology, we would be left alone with the one thing that requires the most of us: our conscience. It will indict us and force us to deal with reality. They tell us of our shortcomings, faults and sins, and consequently our need for God. And God will require something of us.
The last thing we need in our hectic life is more requirements.
