The pervasive and all-embracing nature of technology ensures that technology itself is not value-neutral. The power and familiarity of technology, especially the internet, grants it an "all-access pass" to our lives that is rarely examined with critical eyes. Although the internet, specifically, and technology, generally, can be a helpful resource and tool for ministry, its strength, ability to morph, and the ample opportunities it provides for misuse, should cause us to pause. While technology holds great promises for congregations and ministries, it should not be whole-heartedly embraced without first being examined for its practicality, opportunities, and potential downfalls.
Jacques Ellul believes that "people deify the technical device. [A technological device is] universal and spectacular; it defies my attempts to master it; it performs that would usually be called miracles; to a large extent it is incomprehensible. It is thus God. We are justified to give up any attempts to control it and simply ask for its services". He seems to have resigned himself to the overwhelming power of technology and his seeming inability to properly control it. Van Der Laan, in his article "Internet and Religious Life" goes on from Ellul's comment to argue that the presence of the internet and technology threatens to lure Christians into worshiping "two masters" (277), which, of course, we are told in Scripture is impossible. Both Ellul and van der Laan seem to believe that the ways in which technology can be, and often is, misused, negate all of the possibilities and opportunities technology presents, and therefore strongly warn Christians, especially Christian leaders, from playing with the "fire" that is the internet.
I believe that both Ellul and van der Laan fail to properly engage the possibilities offered by technology, or consider it's advantages. While the internet can be a scary, and threatening, place, technology (in all its forms) is, and always has been, the way in which the gospel is communicated to God's people. The internet and technologies available today are certainly different from those used historically, but their purpose (reaching God's people) remain the same. Technology is a very powerful medium, that can be used either for good or for bad; like all technologies that have been used to communicate God's word throughout history, it deserves to be critically examined, and not merely either accepted in all ways, or rejected in all ways.
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You've pointed out a lot of good things here, Caitlin. I think that before using the internet, however, one must have a theological base from which to work. I think that for the uninitiated there is more danger in using the internet simply because it is so powerful, and can be very persuasive, and therein lies the danger. Its power to persuade is I think what I am cautious of, and for that reason I think that it is a great tool to use in conjunction with others, but because of the vast availability of material and resources available throught the internet, there is the temptation for the time-pressed pastor to rely too heavily on it without engaging a good dose of common sense and study.
ReplyDeleteGreat thoughts, Caitlin! I like how you look back at the use of technology many years ago (stone tablets, quills, pencils, paper, etc.). Oh, the times they are a changing!
ReplyDeleteWell said. I have often been suspicious of technology (specifically the internet) but I agree that we can't simply run away from or devalue the possibilities it presents either. If we don't utilize the tools that are currently a natural part of society, not to mention potentially helpful, we risk becoming irrelevant and ineffective.
ReplyDeleteKaren, I definitely agree with you that it is necessary to have some familiarity with technology before one can use it adequately, and I think that is van der Laan's hang-up. It appears to me that he's afraid of ANY use of technology because of what his "google search" for resources yielded. I think it is unfaithful to the changing world in which we live to just completely ignore this new venue of communication and information. We are called to be part of this world, and, in our context, that entails a call to participate in technology.
ReplyDeleteWe live in the world and like you said we need to use the means we have to preach the gospel. We can not do it the way our church fathers did it, for example the missionaries in old times walked long way to preach the gospel and we today have internate which reaches the places we couldn't, so I believe that it is a good and easier way for evangelism though it has risks as well.
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