“Hi, my name is Micah Warren and I'm addicted to technology.” I feel like I need to join a support group. I'm willing to admit it. I'm addicted to technology. Whether it be my cell phone, I-pod, Facebook, Twitter, Instant Messaging, Texting, Emails, or my Blackberry Messenger I am just plain addicted to all this stuff! How did I ever get along without it? I’d rather text than talk. I'd rather read an an email from you than listening to one of your voice mail messages. I send text messages while driving, and I never turn off my phone. When I'm with others, I pull my phone out as soon as the conversation hits a lull, and I send text messages just to pass the time. This morning, I found myself checking my phone to see what emails, texts, Twitter, and Facebook notices I received before I had even rolled out the bed.
I don't think I am alone in this addiction. I know there are more of us out there. How do I know this? Because you are the people that are sending me all these messages! And because some of you will have read this within an hour of the time that it hits the Internet! It's kinda crazy and kinda awesome at the same time.
Technology is playing a greater role in our life than ever before. I can send and receive emails from anywhere, surf the web, listen to music/podcast, and even watch a movie. Never before has it been possible for me to be so productive or so entertained regardless of where I am.
Thousands of people are constantly typing away at their blackberries Hundreds of thousands are using social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. And there is no telling who all is texting these days. Listen to this, according to a recent study by Nationwide Insurance, “1 in 5 people send text messages while driving.” I must admit, this stat was not at all surprising to me because I do this myself (despite constant objections from my wife). The study goes on to say that “the percentage of users between the ages of 18-34 is even more at 1 in 3 people who will send a text while driving.” It is just insane that some of us (and yes, I am included in the “us” category) are so addicted that we cannot even drive down the road and enjoy ten minutes of solitude without pulling out some sort of device so that we may connect to our friends, listen to music, or post a status. Yet, I am guilty.
I like all these tools at our disposal, I think they are a tremendous asset. I have found them to be a great source of encouragement and a lot of good things have happened as a result. I love the fact that information is constantly at our fingertips. I really do. I think this information age in which we live is simply incredible. However, there are some draw backs to said technology.
Unlike face-to-face communication, electronic forms of communication often force us to make more assumptions about the sender’s intent, since messages must be interpreted with limited knowledge. Not to mention that an email or message or status sent at midnight can violate various unspoken boundaries than that of a face-to-face meeting. Furthermore, without the accompaniment of body language and facial expressions, electronic communication leaves the door open for many misinterpretations.
Now, I hope you do not get the idea that I am against all this technology. I love it. You should see my blog post from June 10, 2009 entitled, “Taking the Plunge.” I have no problem with this technology; but I would like to pose a question.
What about God?
I must admit to you that in my devotions this morning, I was interrupted (so to speak) by eight different messages, and I became convicted about my addiction. I had to force myself to put my phone on silent just so I could have a private moment with the Lord. The crazy thing is – it was difficult to even do. It's like my blackberry had become my crackberry!!!
If we are not careful, our prayer life and walk with the Lord can suffer because of all this technology. We must make sure that we do not find ourselves trying to multi-task our time with God believing that God understands. After all, we are extremely busy. God understands if I only take time to pray to Him during the commercials of my television show, right? I think not. By only giving God the brief moments or leftovers in our life, we exchange our intimate times with God for a quick email devotional and trade study and meditation for something we can grab on our way out the door. And just as our messages and posts can be misperceived, we can misinterpret God’s voice when we don’t allow ourselves to wait and hear what He has to say. Why do we not hear His voice? Because every moment of our day is spent with our mind constantly being pushed from one direction to another without any time to meditate on God.
Yes, it's true. Emails, texts, instant messaging, and other such technologies make it all too easy to fill in the dead parts of our day by cranking out another email or responding to someone's question or turning to my device for my next instruction. I think we need to heed the psalmist instruction when he said, “Be still and know that I am God.” When was the last time that you took time out of your hectic schedule just to “be still”?
Technology makes our lives much easier, but we must be careful not to let time with technology take the place of a daily private time with God. We need to seek direction from God, not from the email in the inbox. We need to take the time to worship Jesus Christ, and not the latest technology. We need to give Christ what is right and not what is left.In a world that calls us to be “on,” let us take time to turn off. Turn off the phone to spend time in prayer. Turn off the computer in order to study the Bible. Today, let us forsake the addiction to technology in an effort to pursue a direct and personal relationship with God!
