Ron Aulbach

Michael Hopf in his postapocalyptic book Those Who Remain writes “Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And weak men create hard times.”  One could easily argue that today we are living in “good times.” We buy t-shirts that say, “The Good Life.” People retire and say to each other, “We are living the dream!” You might disagree that times are good. We are still coming out of the COVID pandemic, with reopening concerns and geopolitical upheaval. But interest rates are still historically low, jobs are effortless to find, and people are optimistic about the future. By contrast, people aren’t as optimistic about the Detroit Lions, Tigers, or Pistons. At least not people in Michigan. 

Part of what has created all these “good times” is technology. Think of the comforts you enjoy each day from just a few of the tech giants. Take Facebook for instance. What would you do without being able to scroll through the feed of hundreds (thousands) of friends to check up on what they are doing? How about Amazon. Can you imagine having to wait a week for the shoes you just ordered? You might have to go into a store! What if Netflix shut down? Right in the middle of your favorite show that you hadn’t finished binge watching. And the ten other shows you downloaded. Personally, I shutter to think of how I would start my day without my Apple watch tethered to my wrist reminding me of all the things I have to do today.

I believe the question Christians need to ask is “how do we live wisely with all this technology?” What’s needed is the mindfulness and humility to say God we are lost without you. Lord, give us a more thorough understanding of how we grow spiritually with all this technology at our fingertips. Help us help the next generation live out their fullest spiritual potential by integrating spiritual disciplines with our technological devices. So, like the Psalmist we pray “Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths” (Psalm 25:4).