All Unreferenced Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible 1995 Ed. (NASB95)
One of the church fathers (Irenaeus) famously said, “the glory of God is man fully alive”. The Lord Jesus promised that He would give His sheep “life, have it abundantly” (Jn. 10:10 ESV). One of the glorious promises of the gospel is that God will transform humanity into more than He originally made them – perfect image-bearers of Himself, through the image of His Son, the Lord Jesus. In the beginning, this meant ruling and subduing the earth, serving as God’s vice-rulers over it, which was showcased in the Garden. In the next world of the new creation, it will mean that we will rule a perfected earth, with perfect wisdom, for perfect purposes, through the power and authority of Jesus.
However, the believer’s fullness of life begins here and now, in this present creation. We have the Holy Spirit living inside us, the love of God poured into our hearts, and renewed hearts that love righteousness and hate wickedness. Nevertheless, we still live in “this present evil age,” which is dominated by Satan, sin, suffering, and futility. One of the current manifestations of the evil of this age is the corrupting influence of the highly advanced technology at our finger-tips.
The devil has not been idle while human beings allow themselves to be increasingly controlled and ruled by the creations of their Internet, phones, computers, and entertainment. And believers are not immune to the degrading influences of our hyper-advanced technology. The countless opportunities and resources at our disposal are so prevalent and integral to the fabric of everyday life that there has recently been popularized a philosophy and religion often called “trans-humanism”. This is the belief that human beings can evolve into a more advanced and happy race through the integration of computers and other technology into their brain activities and thought processes. The tech elites of our society have been regularly lauding the potential and goals of implanting computers into our brains (or at least connecting them), so that we can have instant access to every available piece of information, and use the Internet and social media simply by thinking.
However far off we may be from seeing this come to fruition, most of our lives are absolutely consumed by the Internet and other media forms. We have data and information assaulting our brains at rates that exceed the limits of human perception. The results of our Internet-based, social media-obsessed, lifestyles have been devastating to critical thinking, social skills, self-contemplation, and even physical health. The human brain wasn’t designed to operate at the level to which it must in order to process the incessant data that comes to it from the Internet and so on. Most of our brains are so constantly stimulated, that they are like regularly over-heating computers filled to the brim with files, with only short respites from their labors, which only serve to manifest the imminent danger they’re in of permanently shutting down.
But the Christian is called to a life of self-control, sensibility, committed relationships, deep thinking, and diligent prayer. Such a life is incompatible with letting social media and Internet use consume our thoughts and time. And as we’ve recently entered even greater dangers from the widespread use and promotion of AI technology, it’s imperative that we take drastic measures to ensure we aren’t taken in by the world system’s ploy to control our thinking and behavior through the Internet and digital media. We’ve come to a point where soon, unless we’re committed to living lives dependent on the holy Scriptures rather than coding script, we’ll be in extreme danger of being captured by the world’s powerful tendrils through the universal integration of AI and Internet technology in every facet of living.
What am I suggesting? I’m urging that we take a stand against the evil manipulation advanced by the Internet media of the world, and do our best to take hold of the “abundant life” that is ours in Jesus. As I began this article, the life on which our eternal life finds its prototype is the life of the garden of Eden. This life was free from the constant vanity, follies, and lies, that are promoted by the Internet, and was truly in harmony with the creation. This will be the case with the new creation – believers in Jesus will be perfectly integrated in the purposes and activities of the new earth, and be able to flawlessly harness its limitless potential to put God on display in all His majesty, wonder, and glory. And this is our task even now.
As Paul laments in Romans 8, the present creation is subject to futility, is passing away, and bears thorns, thistles, and calamities to prevent us from utilizing it without constant hindrances. Yet we must realize that we still need to steward the world in the service of Jesus. Hence, I want to suggest to you that one of the answers for protecting ourselves against the corruptions of our digitally-oppressed lifestyles is to lessen our use of digital media, and seek to return to a more harmonious relationship to the physical world. I’m not advocating for living like a Luddite, or like the Amish, but I am urging you to consider the ways you’re harming yourself with your technology, and consider the rich benefits of living a life that is less Internet-driven, and more physically and materially-driven.
Let me give you a few areas in our living in which we could pull back from the Internet-obsessed culture that is mostly perishing, and realign ourselves with the patterns of the physical creation, so as to use it to benefit our brains, bodies, and souls.
Seek More Personal Encounters, Rather than Social Media Relationships
One of the most twisted areas of living in this technological society is that of our friendships, family lives, and co-worker relationships. It’s well-documented that the constant use of social media to communicate with our peers has had exceedingly detrimental effects on the ways we view people in general, and our relationships with them. You must understand this unpleasant fact – you simply cannot have a full-orbed and satisfying relationship with a person through social media, no matter how often you use it with them.
Truly satisfying and mutually enriching relationships must be cultivated through real-life means. At the very least, you need to be able to see a person’s face while they talk to you, or hear their voice. Therefore, it’s incumbent on us who value friendships and family relationships, that we seek to interact with our loved ones, not only through social media and messaging, but also through either phone calls, video calls, or physical meetings. With reference to our relationships with the brethren in Christ, the family of God was never meant to stay at a distance from each other, and rely on digital media to build up one another.
How are you regularly cultivating your closest relationships outside of the Internet?
Make Time for Going Outside, Rather than Keeping Yourself Indoors
Essential to us harnessing the potential of the physical world is our understanding and enjoyment of it. If you’re usually confined to an office, warehouse, or any other man-made environment, then you especially need to heed my advice to do something immersed in the natural creation. It’s just a fact that our brains and bodies function better when they’re regularly exposed to outside light, and to the elements of the natural world, such as trees, water-ways, and animals.
Trust me – doing something as simple as taking a walk in a small park for a short time every day will make you appreciate God’s glory more, and improve your thinking. As the Psalmist does in Psalm 19, you need to regularly observe that “the heavens [and earth] declare the glory of God”. By occasionally immersing yourself in the physical creation of God, you’ll be able to more greatly recognize His sovereign hand in all of life, and your dependence on Him for everything you have.
Read More, and Watch Less
The last aspect of living that I would recommend to you is using your privilege of knowing how to read more often, rather than choosing to watch or listen to a digital work. It’s another documented fact that reading allows you to think more carefully, deeply, and logically, than either listening to or watching a recorded presentation from someone. The time and effort it takes to analyze one complete idea at a time gives your brain the opportunity to more effectively gather information, and connect that to the knowledge you already have, than using your hearing to take in information at the rate that the speaker chooses.
Plus, if you choose to read, then you can also integrate writing and marking in your reading, which further interacts with the information, and connects it not only to the knowledge you have, but to the sense perception involved in the use of your fingers and hands. This also helps with memorization, which is extremely important if you’re trying to learn something.
Going even further than simply reading rather than watching, I also encourage you to attempt to read print material, rather than digital, whenever it’s expedient. Much like our interactions with other, the physical connections involved with reading print contribute to a deeper and more engaged learning experience. When you have a book or magazine in hand, your brain records the relationship between your hands touching the page, and the words on the page, so that you’re more able to remember the information on that page. Further, the physical act of turning a page gives you a greater sense of control over your learning experience, and enables you to better remember where certain information is in the document. Finally, using a print document makes it easier to hand down that writing, and any notes or marks you may have made, to another person, so they can benefit from the experience as well.
Besides these psychological benefits, it’s also the case that throughout history, the best thinkers, doers, and leaders, have mostly been diligent readers. But of course, I’m not saying that you should devote all your reading to just writings in general. Most importantly, you must devote your reading, learning, and studying to the sacred writings of the holy Scriptures. Make them the bread and meat of your intellectual endeavors, to which you turn again and again for instruction, encouragement, comfort, wisdom, correction, and supremely, the messages of your Father and Lord.
A Heavenly Vision Rather than a Digital One
One of our responsibilities and privileges as believers is to view every facet of life in its relationship with the heavenly and spiritual realities that underlie it. This is part of what it means to “keep seeking the things above, where Christ is” (Col. 3:1). Since we’ve been born again, our minds have been enlightened to the fact that Jesus rules over all, and His kingdom is ultimately dominant over all the kingdoms of this world. Also, this world is simply a preparation for the ultimate and eternal reality that He will reveal at the last time.
In spite of these facts, we need to recognize that the Internet and the digital network of modern society is mostly an attempt to create a new world of mankind’s making. And natural mankind is “hostile toward God,” worshiping “the creature rather than the Creator,” and blinded to the truth about reality and purpose. This is mainly why the Internet and technological grid is so dangerous – it’s designed and used mostly by people who are enemies of God, and slaves of the devil. Therefore, at every possible opportunity, the devil and his forces use the sinful desires and actions of people to promote godless and wicked ideas, beliefs, and behaviors through the communication allowed by the Internet. In sum, the Internet and social media is largely an anti-Christ world that assaults us with temptations at every turn to distract, deceive, and discourage us about the truths of God’s Word.
Thus, I think it’s imperative that we take deliberate steps to wean ourselves from some of the corrupting influences and entanglements of digital technology, and seek to become more integrated with the physical realm of God’s creation. In this article, I’ve only scratched the surface of the strategies we can employ to live more thoughtfully, wisely, and godly in this present age. I hope to elaborate on this topic in the future, and teach you more about how we need to seek to be more faithful students of the Lord, and servants of our neighbors, in the light of the dark shadows of technology that cast themselves over us at every turn.
In the meantime, please consider checking out my new book, The New Testament Revival of Western Christianity, for an overview of how you can think and live more consistently with the teachings of the Lord Jesus and His apostles:
BEARING CHRIST CRUCIFIED AND RISEN 