Technology and Change and How it Never Changes

As an information professional, I live in the world of change. The denizens of the library/information world are always abuzz about the latest new web 2.0 (or 3.0, by now) technology. Blogging? Who doesn't. Twitter? So old hat. It's always about making life easier, more integrated, and more interesting.

On the other hand, as a youth pastor, I war against the tide of apathy that technology brings. Teens who are inundated with images and action from every corner come to church and youth group and look blankly at us when we bring out a board game. What, no video games? No high-definition, professionally mastered, entertaining worship videos? Puh-lease!

The apathy and inertia that the technology brings can seem like the proverbial (or very literal) road to hell. It will never get better and the more technology changes and evolves, the more and more our youth will stagnate.

Would it make you feel better to know that this feeling is not new? That the fear of technological change is age-old? Imagine my surprise when I pulled a dusty book off my shelf for some light-reading, and I found this: "The Cybernetics Revolution" and its subsequent detriment on preaching. My favorite Christian author, John Stott, wrote this section in his book, Between Two Worlds: The Art of Preaching in the Twentieth-Century way back in 1982. 1982!!! That's way back when the internet was nothing more than a geeky hobby for uber-nerds. Or academics.

Stott was, granted, primarily speaking about television (or "the box"), and it's desensitizing effect on parishioners and how preachers need to understand how television affects their congregations so they can tailor their sermons. In trying to understand how this rate of technological change would affect us by the year 2000, Stott had this to say:

"In such a dehumanized society, the fellowship of the local church will become increasingly important, whose members meet one another, and talk and listen to one another in person rather than on screen. In this human context of mutual love, the speaking and hearing of the Word of God is also likely to become more necessary for the preservation of our humanness, not less." (ch 2)

What Stott realized, and ministers today are still realizing, is that yes, technology can facilitate ministry. And yes, as servants of Christ it is our duty to use every tool at our disposal to propagate the Good News of salvation. And finally yes, it does behoove us to know our generation and how we can best reach them (even if it be through technology). However, Stott reminds us of the lesser-known companion to the great commission: The Great Caveat. Do this, he says, but beware!

Yes, we should use these tools, but we need to be aware that the historical method of preaching the Good News has always been face to face. There is something inside, something that makes us human, that craves human contact. And what better medium for the best news of all time than to fulfill the fundamental human need to known and be known.

I am a technology junky by profession and choice, but I am human by design. And no matter how many friends I have on Facebook, how high my Technorati rating is, how many "igadgets" I have, or even whether I am open source or proprietary, I am made in the image of God; and it is through humans that God works. And is still working.

So yes, technology can impact ministry, but it is our duty as the human images of God to retain that fundamental humanness and not get so caught up in keeping up with secular technology that we lose the message. Let's be counter-cultural for a moment and have a station of silent prayer. Of meditation on a scripture passage. Of silent, sober reflection on our actions the past year. Let's be low-tech for a while (or even, gasp, no-tech at all) and become fully human. Because the danger is always present for us to replace the message with the method. And this Message would be a terrible thing to lose.