Technology -vs- Simplicity (Part One)

Media technology has deeply impacted Christian discipleship. Sure, there are all the negative, worldly influences channeled through modern media, but ignore that for a moment. Right now, I’m talking about worthwhile devotional technologies; stuff that we’ve harnessed to improve our walk with God; authentically helpful, modern add-ons to spiritual practice; media that we can warmly embrace as Christians...

A century ago, the first religious broadcasts hit the airwaves. The average person could now be blessed by speakers they might otherwise never hear, and shut-ins could vicariously enjoy the church services they’d been missing. What a blessing! But then healthy individuals began to stay home as well, amputating themselves from the Body of Christ. Many others started neglecting the voice of the Spirit, in favor of the voices of syndicated “experts” who would interpret Scripture for them, inspire them, and script their prayers for them. Christian media was already proving to be a mixed blessing.

When the Gospel made the jump to celluloid media, people actually started finding the Lord through movies! But it was, of necessity, a Gospel that had been edited, adjusted, directed and theatrically interpreted... omitting some aspects of the truth and frequently misrepresenting others. Meanwhile, the viewer was still left isolated from the Body of Christ.

In the 90's, the Bible began making it’s appearance via Power Point in many church services, and visitors could now, literally, read the writing on the wall. It was one less uncomfortable moment for the uninitiated, but it also made it easy for the already-saved to stop interacting with their personal Bibles, and easy for the returning visitor to never learn to do so in the first place.

Today, the explosion of Bible software is making Scripture more accessible than ever. We can compare translations, read trusted commentaries, and search for key verses and biblical answers to questions in just a few seconds. Nice, huh? But access to the text is not the same as familiarity with the text, and we’re becoming increasingly apathetic to that fact.

I won’t touch on Podcasts and downloads, CD’s, Tapes, or the proliferation of Christian books - the impact of each shares something in common with other categories already mentioned - yet there is still one more product of media technology we need to review. It’s the printed Bible. We are deeply indebted to Gutenberg’s printing press: through it’s advent, literate persons gained personal access to the Record of God’s works and Word across all of human history! But the more the Word of God became linked to the medium of the printed page, the more it became severed from the prior medium by which it had been communicated: people.

Process the implications a bit! I’ll post my follow-up within the next couple of weeks...