For most of my life I’ve been a fanatical devotee of technology. I believed there was no problem that a well-crafted technological solution couldn’t obviate. I believed in this so fervently that it extended into my faith. I believed that technology could reach the teeming masses for Christ.
And it has flourished. TV ministries have exploded in size, scope, prevalence, and popularity. There is a problem though. To date, they have failed in what I see as the primary purpose of the medium. The current and historical extrapolations of TV ministries have amassed prominence and power to the head of the ministry, but have done little to advance the cause of Christ. These ministries typically reach the already reached and as such end up in a preaching to the choir mode.
They end up taking the kingdom where it already is and as such the best if can do is function as an adjunct to what is already going on. The down side to these ministries relates to the numerous character flaws of the people who’ve lead them. When the medium builds up someone it also magnifies their failures as well. From Jimmy Swaggart to Jim Baker and beyond the character failures of these few have harmed the cause of Christ greatly. These failures have hardened the hearts of those these ministries should have focused on reaching in the first place.
The failures of this medium didn’t deter me from my belief on this subject. Rather, I believed it was implementation and the people behind it that were responsible for the failure. I still ardently believed in the efficacy of technology to advance the gospel. I simply transferred my preferred implementation of technology as the vehicle.
Next, I believed that radio could serve as the next vehicle. Radio as a technology was mature. It was cheap to obtain and it was everywhere. So much so, that it is hard to find a place anywhere on the planet that isn’t served by radio in some form. However it suffered from the same weaknesses as TV. It elevated men with serious character defects and their fall was just as disastrous with the same down side as TV.
After two colossal candidate failures, I should have been deterred from continuing this quest, but I wasn’t. The next candidate to enter the fray was the internet. In this day and age, the connection divide at least in industrialized nations has largely been erased. The medium erases transmissional barriers. It allows for instant dissemination to anyone with a connection to it.
Much to my chagrin, it has failed also. In part, because the developing world largely has more pressing needs than surfing the web. In part, this is true because the developed world is more interest in using the internet as a porn delivery system. And in part it’s true, because the character of those attempting to lead such movements always comes up short.
Recently, I was forced to accept that technology can’t ever revolutionize the way the gospel reaches the world. Technology is about an engineered solution that transmits the exact message of the sender. It is about the movement of ones and zeroes from point A to point B. The gospel is about sharing the heart of God with the world.
It’s spiritual. It’s relational. It’s intimate. It’s done best in the context of one life touching another as directed by the divine. No implementation of a protocol can replicate that, regardless of how well intentioned or engineered.
Simply put, I had to accept that my overall premise was flawed. Any technological solution will only serve as an adjunct to what already exists. What I should have learned are the lessons the Bible teaches from the Tower of Babel narrative found in Genesis. The story tells of the desire to build a great tower that reaches the heavens. And so a united humanity decides to undertake this mission. God then steps in and confuses their language, thus preventing its completion.
The text points out that God was concerned that a single unified humanity was a threat, because nothing would be impossible for them. I have often been troubled by this narrative. It doesn’t fit the mold we have for God. God steps in to deny them the completion of their tower. It seems petty of God. It seems capricious. It’s not logical for God to intervene in this matter in this fashion.
My problems with the narrative were resolved when I realized a few simple things. The builders of the tower were operating in defiance of God’s command to scatter across the globe, multiply, and subdue the earth. Their building of the tower was to avoid being scattered and to amass a name for themselves. They attempted to use their technology to thwart God’s will. God responded by insisting on his will and denying them the power of their technology by creating communication barriers.
God wasn’t concerned with just the tower. He was concerned with what a united people might be capable of next. If they could build a technological marvel in defiance of God’s desire for them to the contrary, then what else was possible for these humans? What need would these people have for God?
The answer is simple. They wouldn’t need God at all. They could place themselves on God’s throne and do as they pleased. Subsequently, God moved to prevent this, and every time since, when man has developed his dependence on a better mouse trap for him that cuts his dependence on the divine. God has moved in to show his creation how little he really knows and understands.
How does this impact technology and God you ask? Is God really calling us to a Luddite existence? Should we all become Amish? In a word, no. What God is seeking of us in this venue is to seek him first. We should set aside technology and live within the context in which we are planted. Technology shouldn’t seek to revolutionize how the gospel is disseminated. Rather it should be an adjunct to its flow. It should be subservient to the spirit of God.
In other words, I learned that technology will always fail when it isn’t the servant in the relationship or when it is implemented by those seeking anything other than God’s will for this lives and those they are in relationship with. The flow should be from God to his servants and from his servants to those God deemed it necessary to be reached. In this flow God is sovereign and we serve him and any technology we use serves that end. Anything else perverts this flow and makes a mockery of the proper process.
Writer Clark D. Goble started this blog as a means to chronicle his imperfect walk with a Perfect Savior and invites you to join in on the conversation. He also invites you to check out the links to his work. Most often, Clark writes about Jesus and theology. He also enjoys writing fiction in a variety of genres.
Todd French is an information technology professional and a resident of Columbus, Ohio; where he shares a humble abode with his darling wife and beautiful daughters. His interests run the gambit from reading voraciously all forms of fiction to rooting for the Cleveland Browns.
I believe you’ve uncovered another solemn truth about our God, and that is, He’s not pleased when we use His name in establishing yet another ministry that we can pursue in the name of God! We continue to create what we think are necessary ministries to use our talents and technology, but we forget that God has already told us what those ministries should be. While we continue to be creative in starting new ministies, we tend to forget what God has already reinforced in His Word about how and where we should be spending our time and effort.
The bottom line is to reach those that are lost, unchurched so to speak. But the majority of our collective effort still seems to be preaching to the choir as you have said. While christians still need positive reinforcement as we do God’s work, the ultimate role model has already been provided in Jesus Christ. While buildings and church administration is almost a requirement today in our churches, you will find little of it in the early church.
We must stay focused on the mission at hand while we continue to strive for perfection in our daily walk with the master. Anything less and we’re but victims of satans folly that strives to overcome us daily. Put on your christian hat and step into the ring. Continue to look forward and forget about having an emergency escape plan to retreat. Stay focused on God’s plan for us and forget about building anymore towers of Babel.
Todd … you’ve hit on one of the classic plots in history. Those things that are intended for good are often twisted into something harmful either by the enemy or by our own sinful natures. Radio, television and the internet are all powerful weapons for the cause of the Kingdom when Christ remains the focus. The moment we elevate man rather than Christ we’re doomed … regardless of our efforts.
In The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard points out that Christians as a whole have lost focus on Christ. We no longer regard Him as the ultimate teacher …. or even someone to emulate. Rather, he should be forever and always at the core of everything we do or else we should expect failure.
Well said my friend! I liked this one. Personally, I think christian media has failed because it rarely captures the imagination in the way secular media (film, music, tv, radio, internet, what have you) does. Reminds me of a quote from NT Wright, in Simply Christian; “The arts are not the pretty but irrelevant bits around the border of reality. They are highways into the center of a reality which cannot be glimpsed, let alone grasped, any other way.” Writers like CS Lewis and GK Chesterton had a good grasp on this idea, and their fiction was brilliantly subversive to the secular mind. We need more of that! Thanks for the food for thought, Steve