The truth be told, digital technology has made us live longer, healthier, cleaner, and more comfortable lives than did our ancestors.
Digital technology has its values in realizing the good by fulfilling the moral obligations that Jesus taught. This plays an important role in helping people to know more about God. But the same technologies are used to mislead and draw people away from Him. On balance, it is very difficult to judge the net value of technology -- technology is both good and bad. It has a more subtle negative effect: to distract us from the highest good, God and His kingdom. It does this by making us busy, then by drawing our attention to activities related to the lower good.
Technology creates many opportunities for us to realize the good things, like being efficiency, productivity, and speedy. It creates many activities to occupy our attention. Which tend to draw our attention away from the highest good towards activities directed to things of lesser value. Perhaps the greatest danger of technology is its capacity to distract us from God and His kingdom.
The same technology has given Christianity a voice to reach a world-wide audience, most especially when there was total lockdown and amidst COVID-19 pandemic in the whole world. Such benefits include:
1. Communication
Through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter or through a church blog, in which we can easily communicate remotely with the people in our churches, throughout the day and week.
2. Community
Technology has allowed a greater sense of fellowship or community or forum or group that doesn’t demand proximity. Christian fellowship has increased rather than decreased with the advent of the Internet. Through blogs and websites, “ordinary” Christians are sharing their faith and their spiritual experiences in ways that bless and encourage hundreds and sometimes thousands of other Christians – and non-Christians too.
3. Discipleship
Our church has an app and group on social media where people can actually access the sermon outline, daily devotions, etc where people in that community can use their phones or iPads to follow along, take notes and remotely participate in the discipleship.
One of the richest aspects of online life is learning about other Christians from other backgrounds and cultures.But as I read their blogs, listen to their sermons, and interact with them on Twitter and Facebook, etc.
4. Increase in productivity.
Truth be told, there are a lot of distractions that come with this technological advancement, but productivity has increased the lives of many. Such has discipleship training, tithe and offerings
5. Greater accessibility for all.
From those who don’t have a huge library full of resources, to those who have never had a solid education, technology has opened up new realms of knowledge to many.
if there was some moral crisis or worrying spiritual development in the church or nation, it would take a month or two for Christian periodicals to cover it and publish on it with comment and guidance.
6. Affordable resources
There are affordable ebooks, magazines, journals with clarity of words on blogs, websites, online sermons and videos, podcasts, and it’s almost too much of a good thing.
It’s incredible how easy and inexpensive it now is to produce ministry resources and send them around the world at the click of a mouse. Churches and seminaries in third world countries are better equipped and educated than they’ve ever been. Classes and lectures are beamed into deserts, slums, and jungles. Missionaries connect with their families and churches at home via Skype, Meet and Zoom. The Christian message is reaching countries and places no Christian can.
In conclusion christians have used the new digital technologies of the time to further God’s kingdom. I’m a technological and digital enthusiast. I still love analog, but technology is truly a life-giving arena of the world. Digital technology is here to stay. And there is much good that it brings. But if we’re to become faithful digital disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, we need to use that technology for God’s glory (1 Cor 10:31).
Samuel Akanni - System Administrator @BUTH Ogbomoso
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