The allure of technology and the power of control
I originally submitted this post for another blog, but after a few days it hasn’t been posted so no reason to let it lay to waste, hope you enjoy!
There is no doubt in my mind, and probably none in yours, that our culture and society have been changed, and will continue to change due to technology. Technology, by definition, is simply the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes; and can be found in machinery and equipment like cell phones, computers, cars, video cameras, etc. I think we are all in agreement that technology is something we think we couldn’t live without. Most of us own computers (or have access to one), most of us have cell phones, most of us drive a car, most of us listen to music (with any of the hundreds of music playing devices) and all of us are reading this blog which is communicated through technology (gotcha!). The popularity of technology and its billion-dollar industry in our culture makes me scratch my head and ponder, why are we so interested in technology, and what about technology is so appealing to humans, at the root of it what is it about technology that has got us going nuts over it? I think Mike Pohlman, writer and editor of The Gospel Coalition blog site, sums it up real nicely in his article on technology and its shortcomings when he says “humans don’t do well when not in control”. Technology, amongst many other enticing features, gives humans the mirage of being in control, and we like that.
Now a disclaimer, I love technology, and I suppose I always will. At its fundamental level, technology is like everything else God has gifted us with, great. As fallen beings we are especially inept at taking something that should, in its essence, glorify God and speak of His amazing creativity and beauty in the world, and turn it into its own god. We take something that is only a shadow of the real true thing (which is God) and worship it, instead of looking for what is creating the shadow, God. Technologies, and the various instruments of it, are easily some of the most worshipped items on our planet, besides our selves of course. Why do we love technology so much? Well I would argue, and Pohlman would probably agree, it’s because technology can give us so much control, and we love that!
Technology is just one of many things in our lives that we can manipulate and control however we want. We can’t change the weather, we can’t change politics, we can’t change how fast our vegetables grow, we can’t change the color of the sky and we can’t change the way meat tastes. These things are just out of our hands, and should be, because if we got a hold of the power to do these things, we would screw it up! Oh but technology gives us that power, it gives us that ability to change our background picture, to decide who are friends really are (thanks Facebook), it gives us the ability to tell the whole world what we are doing (though you only have 78 followers!?) and it gives us the ability to take a picture of the sky and then change the color of it to our liking, lets say red.
I was amazed at the pictures and videos I was seeing on June 24th, I couldn’t believe it. I was reading tweets, Facebook messages and statuses, blog posts, newspaper articles and television news pieces all just raving about the big event of the day. For those of you who don’t know what happened that day, it was the illustrious release of the iPhone 4. The ultimate tool to control your life, it does everything you want to do and more! Now most of you know I have an iPhone and I love it, and thank God for Steve Jobs because it has been a great tool in many ways, but I think things have gotten a bit out of control. Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets everywhere in America to get their hands on this new gadget, the gadget that will make everything easier and rule our lives. I know there are some people out there, who can wisely use the new iPhone and other great gadgets, but it seems to me like our culture and society has decided to put technology on a pedestal where it doesn’t belong.
I know that this isn’t new to any of you, you know just as much as I do that there are always going to be things that we misuse and that we idolize, but lets not conform to culture. This becomes an issue of the heart, we no longer take technology for what it is, a great gift from God, but we turn it into something that controls our lives and becomes our God. I just look at people who have all these gadgets, iPod’s, iPhone’s, iPads, laptops, desktops, projectors, blue-ray dvd players, 3-D tv’s and wonder if they will ever realize that these gadgets, these plastic and metal devices that were created to aid is in life, not take over our lives, will never fill them up. We have fallen in love with technology because we can control it, but what we aren’t looking at is how much technology and gadgets are actually controlling our lives.
So what then do we put ourselves in, what then do we focus on, what should be controlling our life? I think that Paul here helps us realize what it is we need to be doing, and where we need to be putting our hope and focus.
[3:1] If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. [2] Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. [3] For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. [4] When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. [5] Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
(Colossians 3:1-5; ESV)
And be thankful that we don’t have to control or don’t get to control many things. Just look at what we have done already with that control, and trust me you don’t have to look far to see what it has done to us, BP oil spill is just one example of hundreds. If we were in control, mankind as we know it would be in peril, but God has thought this through and thankfully he is in control.
Don’t Waste Your Cancer
Do you ever come across a story that tears you apart inside? I am an emotional person, which leads me to believe that our God is emotional, and if this video and story doesn’t make you emotional, then I will be left speechless and confused (but still confident in God). The story of Zac Smith is remarkable, but not for the reason you would think. Watch this short clip, I promise its worth it and then stay tuned for some discussion thoughts.
The Story of Zac Smith from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.
You might ask, how is this story remarkable, you are sadistic, he still has cancer and might not live till next year! But thats what is remarkable to me, that this man, this mere man is much more with Christ. That he is so confident in his Savior that he can still praise God even though he may never be able to walk his daughter down the aisle, or see his sons turn into men. How strong is your faith? Would you react the same way Zac did when faced with a life changing event such as this? How would you glorify God in your suffering? Do you even have a theology for suffering? This video is so great because it just reminds me of how much we all need Christ and how much He really did for us.
I challenge you to take a moment and pray for Zac, but don’t pray out of pity or some selfish desire to say ‘see God I pray too, I help people’. But pray out of thankfulness for men like Zac, men who help us remember why we truly live day in and day out, to glorify God in all that we do. Pray also for Zac’s family, and that they would know that their comfort comes in Christ just as Zac’s does, that of course things are going to be hard when Zac dies, but that Christ is our foundation and that He is theirs as well. So pray for Zac and his family and pray for yourself, pray that you would know the love of Christ like Zac does.
Silence and Solitude part 5 of 5
This has been a wonderful tool for me to read, this has been just a joy and helpful blog series by Pastor Mark Driscoll. After reading through this last one you will understand why the man is so godly, and why he seems to have it together (as much as we can as broken, sinful humans). This last section is about Journaling, he lays out his way of doing it and gives some examples. Its brilliant. I like to journal, but I don’t do it quite like he does. At the beginning of December I am going to take a day of silence, I am going to practice what Mark has been teaching us through this blog, and I am going to adapt his questions and journaling for that day. It is wonderful and there is no way one couldnt learn and grow by doing this. Enjoy the last of this series.
“This the last post in a series by Pastor Mark where he helpfully lays out the importance of silence and solitude, as well as how he approaches and utilizes the time. We hope it has been helpful for you as you grow in your faith in Jesus.
Journaling
The following is a copy of the template I created for myself to organize my days of silence and solitude for the purpose of journaling. I offer it knowing that you can and should change it to fit your life. This is not Scripture, it’s not perfect, and I don’t claim it is. Rather, it is a simple tool for you to adapt as you need. For me, I keep notes in my Moleskine throughout the week, and sit down to answer these questions on my laptop in a Word document. This keeps it simple for me and allows me to see God’s work in my life over time.
Ideally, every Christian would do a modified version of this plan every week as an act of worship, taking around an hour to answer a few of the questions that are most pressing for them. In addition, it is wise to take at least one full day a month in silence and solitude to answer all the questions without being rushed, leaving time to open your Bible, pray, repent, worship, and ponder.
Silence and Solitude Journaling Template
“. . . the report about him [Jesus] went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.” — Luke 5:15–16
Date:
Modified or Full Plan:
Note: Here I am making note if it’s one hour or one day for silence and solitude.
Place and Conditions:
Note: I am someone for whom space deeply matters. On a nice day I sit outside by a river or at the beach in a beautiful spot. I don’t like coffee shops (too noisy and crowded) or the office (too much distraction). I like to be up high with a view, crave fresh air, love the sun, and cannot relax where it’s loud, busy, ugly, stinky, disorganized, poorly designed, uncomfortable, or too hot or cold, and yes, I am picky. So, I note where I was and that helps me keep a record of nice spots for silence and solitude days. I borrow friends’ vacation homes, have spots I like outside of town in the mountains, and so forth.
Part 1 – Recent Evidences of God’s Grace
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” — 2 Thess. 2:16–17
Note: To have good words and works, we need hope and comfort by seeing and savoring evidences of God’s grace. I start with this topic to get me into a mode of worship. I can be quite a gloomy and moody person, so this gets me going in the right direction for my time with God. I often take an hour on this topic alone and make a long list, thanking God and praying as I go.
Part 2 – Deep Questions
“The purpose in a man’s mind is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.” — Prov. 20:5 (RSV)
Note: These are my questions and you can make your own or change mine. I don’t include Bible reading and study because they are like breathing to me, but you may want to add them. In question four I’m talking about my wife, Grace. I list each of my kids in question five because with a big family it’s too easy to treat the kids as a herd rather than knowing and pastoring each one. I put my work last, figuring that if the rest of my life is in order, work will go well. I rate every question on a scale so that I can be honest about how I’m doing and track progress over time. The prayer points are things I pray about as I’m journaling and things to put on my prayer list that week. The action items go on my calendar. Lastly, I share a lot of this with my wife, kids, friends, and others, and a lot of my blogs and ministry training are simply sharing what comes out of my journaling on days of silence and solitude.
1. How accurate is my view of God lately?
• Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Prayer Points
• Action Items
2. How are my joy in the Holy Spirit and corresponding hope?
• Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Prayer Points
• Action Items
3. What temptations and sins are most ensnaring?
• Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Prayer Points
• Action Items
4. How is my connection with my wife?
• Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Prayer Points
• Action Items
5. How is my connection with each of my children?
• Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Prayer Points
• Action Items
6. How is my health (e.g., weight, diet, exercise)?
• Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Prayer Points
• Action Items
7. How is my sleep (e.g., bed time, quality of sleep, length of sleep)?
• Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Prayer Points
• Action Items
8. How is my energy level?
• Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Prayer Points
• Action Items
9. How is my dominion over my technology (e.g., cell phone, laptop, email, text)?
• Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Prayer Points
• Action Items
10. How is the stewardship of my wealth (e.g., finances, possessions, property, investments)?
• Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Prayer Points
• Action Items
11. How is my social life with friends and extended family?
• Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Prayer Points
• Action Items
12. Who or what is filling my tank lately?
• Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Prayer Points
• Action Items
13. Who or what is draining my tank lately?
• Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Prayer Points
• Action Items
14. Who has sinned against me and how am I responding?
• Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Prayer Points
• Action Items
15. Who do I need to confide in and where should I seek wisdom?
• Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Prayer Points
• Action Items
16. Are there any warning signs that I am burning out?
• Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Prayer Points
• Action Items
17. Am I successfully getting out of the river onto the bank enough through silence, solitude, study, and Sabbath?
• Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Prayer Points
• Action Items
18. What do I need to stop doing, do less of, or hand off to someone else?
• Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Prayer Points
• Action Items
19. How are my self-deception and truth suppression?
• Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Prayer Points
• Action Items
20. How is my writing (e.g., books, blogs, papers)?
• Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Prayer Points
• Action Items
21. How is my preaching (preparation and results, in and out of Mars Hill)?
• Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Prayer Points
• Action Items”
Solitude and silence part 2
I said I would follow this series from Pastor Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill Church, so here is the second part from their blog. It’s a good section of what comes next, conviction and heart change and some good practical ways to go about it. Enjoy.
“Four Ways to Change Your Life
Heart change – conviction from God and repentance from you
Study – research and fact-finding for how to change your life, which includes reading the Bible and other books, speaking with people you know who have wisdom, etc.
Plan – ongoing, detailed, and prayerful life organization
Action – working your plan and making changes as life requires:
Moleskine – always keep a journal like this nearby to jot notes, thoughts, and convictions in
Journaling – use your laptop to gather the scattered ideas in your Moleskine and prayerfully and carefully add to and consider them
Calendar – take action items from your silence and solitude day and put them on the calendar, as without being officially planned, nothing ever gets done to completion
Most people are good at one or two of these steps. Some have a heart change and do their homework but do not make a plan and take action to change their life. Others have plans and action but are religiously just doing duties because they have not experienced heart change from God. Others move from heart change to action without research and a plan; they mean well but make their life (e.g., health, finances, relationships) worse.
Take some time and be honest with yourself. List each of these steps in order from the one you are strongest at to the one you are weakest at.
Where is your life getting stuck and what can you do to grow where you are weak? Who do you need to talk to and learn from? What do you need to repent of?”
Solitude and silence from Pastor Mark
So as most of you know I love to read blogs, and recently I have been reading more blogs than writing. I’m sorry, but I have the type of personality that would rather listen and learn than to speak up and teach. That doesn’t mean I don’t like teaching or writing but I would rather read and listen. So here is a blog post that I truely loved. It’s from Mars Hill blog and Mark Driscoll wrote this one. It’s great and I will be following up with his posts on this series withy own thoughts. This first one is great, I fall into the reaction and independence side of how I am livingy life. This post excites me, it should be great enjoy.
“Organizing a Silence and Solitude Day (Part 1 of 5)
– by Pastor Mark Driscoll on Thursday, November 12th, 2009 9:06 am
This is the first post of a five-part series. Stay tuned via RSS, Twitter, or Facebook for the rest.
I am an introvert who is contemplative. This means I crave and desperately need silence, solitude, study, prayer, and journaling because the Holy Spirit uses these moments to connect me to Jesus that I might be more like him. For those like me, organizing days for silence and solitude may come rather naturally. But for those who are extroverted and active, the people and tasks in their mind and life can keep them from having regular and productive times to fast from noise and people and to hear from God, speak to God, and be with God.
So, this blog is the first in a series that will help you organize a silence and solitude day. The series of blogs will culminate in a lengthy template I use to organize my own silence and solitude days. I shared this document with the Mars Hill staff and so many friends on Facebook and Twitter asked for it after hearing about it that I decided to write it up in brief form and give it away in hopes of being helpful.
Four Ways to Live Your Life
In his book Leading On Empty, Wayne Cordeiro says that there are only four ways to live your life:
Reaction – passively dominated by urgencies and pushy people
Conformity – succumbing to the fear of man and just being and doing what everyone else wants, which is not necessarily following God’s will for you personally
Independence – nonconforming rebellion in the name of freedom, marked by doing only what you want and ignoring godly authority over you
Intentionality – reverse-engineering your life and living it prayerfully and purposefully, journaling your thoughts throughout the day, and using silence and solitude to hear from God and organize your life
Which one of these four most typifies you? Is your life a frazzled mess because you are in perpetual reaction mode? Have you not really even deeply pondered God’s will for your life but just done what you were told by other people?
Are you the sort of person who is defiant, independent, and self-reliant? Or, do you regularly (e.g., at least one hour a week and one day a month) get silence and solitude with God to work on your life before you work in it?”
So how important is sound?
In a recent TED talk that i watched, Julian Treasure talks about the importance of sound and how it can affect our daily lives. I will give you a chance to watch it, its only about five minutes and very effective. So give it a watch, if you cant watch it, i will talk a bit about it later on this post.
Julian brings up some great points, sound has become noise to us. We hear things everyday, there isn’t one day that goes by (for the majority of us who can hear) that we do not hear something, its inevitable, its the nature of things like Julian says. However we have categorized some things as unavoidable noise, things like cars passing, people chatting in the halls, footsteps in a house, dishwashers running, etc. Some of these things are bad for or physiological and psychological well being, we are damaging ourselves in various ways and we dont even know it.
Something interesting that Julian prescribes as good for us is bird song. We, with out cognitively thinking about it, associate bird song with positive, comforting feelings. Julian says this is because when we hear a bird song we know that everything is alright, its when it stops when we need to worry. The interesting bit of what Julian was saying about bird song is that he prescribes at least five minutes a day of bird song to brighten our general feelings and attitudes. I saw that as a challenge, so for the next week i am going to listen to various intervals of bird song and see if it in any way correlates with how i am feeling or how i act towards people and situations.
I think we know that sound can be distracting, but what i bet something that you don’t think about, at least i didn’t till after this talk, is that sound can be inappropriate and damaging for productivity. As humans we are finite, inside of this finiteness we have a very small bandwidth for processing audio, which only allows for us to process one thing at a time. For instance, if i was talking to you twice, saying two different things at the same time, you would only be able to focus on one of them, or neither of them, but never both of them. Because of this limited ability to hear, working in, or studying in areas with open room chatting or talking or with lots of noise, actually lowers productivity by 66%! That’s unbelievable, to think that we are 66% less productive because the library is loud and there are lots of conversations makes me wish i would have been studying other places. Julian actually recommends listening to bird song when studying or working in a place like this.
Sound is fascinating, its a large part of our lives, and we should be more aware of the distractions and consequences of bad sound, and come to grips with what good sound is. So go out there, listen to some great soothing music, and get the ambiance app for your iPhone or iTouch, or if you dont have one of those get on Amazon and buy some natural music, it will help i promise.
Cover-alls…
This picture is many things when you look at it. Its funny, its sad, its insightful, thought-provoking and many other verbs can describe this picture. To me its ironic and illustrates a lot of what its like to live in todays world. Most of you know by now but i am a Christian, i profess my love for God and Christ everyday and worship my creator and thank Him for the many gifts He has given me. This picture reminds me of the christian life in many different ways. Many of which are probably not healthy and good, but are what come to my mind first. When thinking a little more on what this image means to me i was struck by a passage a few times that really helped me understand and pin point the meaning in this picture. In Ephesians Paul writes;
22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4: 22-24)
Paul explains here that we are to put off our old, to put off the sins that were given to us because of mans fall, and to put on a new skin, the new skin being in Christ, only in Christ and only because Christ was raised up and put to death on the cross are we even aloud to have a new identity. This goes for everyone, everyone was given a new start because of Christ. In Ephesians Paul was preaching to the Gentiles who were non-believing, non-worshiping humans.
Anyways, thats not my point about this picture, my point is the opposite. We are told we have a new skin, a skin and identity that leaves us pointing to Christ. But what if people use that as an excuse. What if we start covering our selves with things we want to be instead of the things we are. Hopefully i am clear, its clear in my head but that doesn’t mean i will always get it out right. What im trying to say is that i believe somethings, actually a lot of times, more times than not we put on a pseudo self. We think we have the right to believe and act and look the way we want to be instead of the way that God made us.
We all have been given a uniqueness, but when we try and cover that up with a trait from someone else’s uniqueness, we become false. Our lives are false, our thoughts are false, our look is false, our ways are false, our uniqueness is lost. Once we try and cover ourselves up with something other than our new skin that was promised to us from Christ and God, we loss who we really are. Once we try and fix something in our life, that God has placed there for a reason, we have misused our new self’s.
Hopefully that made sense, like i said it made sense in my head. We were promised something from God through Christ that is greater than anything, that is a new identity. Stop trying to cover up who really are, stop trying to make yourself something you are not, receive the gift of a new identity, stop putting on a cover up.
Attempted Elucidation 