Spiked Student Ministries

Many of us are in a serious relationship—with technology. We love it. We need it. It’s a big part of our lives. But some of us could care less. We’re just not that into it. We don’t need to text someone every minute. Some of us don’t even have a Facebook page. (Gasp.) But whether we are totally committed to it, or could easily see our lives without it, we can’t escape the reality that technology exists in our lives. And that’s not always a bad thing. Because technology isn’t evil. But what we do with it, how we use it, says a lot about our relationship with it.

Technology is an integrated part of my life. But don’t judge me, because the truth is, for most of us, it’s a big part of all of our lives. Nothing can throw someone off more than taking away their cell phone for a day, and there’s a reason why people call Blackberries “Crackberries.” It’s what we reach for when we’re bored. We check our phone. We check our computer. We turn on the TV. We turn on the iPod. Technology is always running in the background of our lives, and many of us don’t have a clue how to exist without it.

Each one of you in here has a relationship with technology, whether you’re as addicted to it as I am or not. In some way or another you use it in your world. Some of you have more of a relationship with it than others. Some of you post your every move. I can follow you and know what you had for breakfast, what you watched on TV, who frustrated you, who you love—and quite honestly, it’s a little too much information.

But before I say another word, I need to clarify something. Don’t worry—you can relax. We’re not going to bash technology. I’m not going to tell you to live technology-free. That would be hypocritical. After all, we used technology to download this series. We use technology in this room. I carry a cell phone. I use a computer. I tweet. I text. Technology is everywhere. We can’t escape it. It’s just part of our lives and our world, so the idea is not to get rid of it completely.

But the question is if technology is such a part of our world, how do we relate to it? How do we interact with technology in a way that both acknowledges how important it is to us, but also in a way that doesn’t make it too important?

We can get consumed with technology. We can make this the center of our worlds. We can let this control and feed our every want and desire. We can isolate everyone and everything with one consuming goal—to make this our god. We can use this brick to replace the rightful role of God. We can choose instead to make something else take the place He deserves. And the temptation for us is to put technology in that place.

Ultimately, we have to decide how technology plays into our lives. Now, I’m not advocating downloading only Bible apps or posting videos of Bible characters on some online site. This isn’t about starting an alternative social network or even putting Scripture all over your Facebook page. This is more personal than that. This is different from how you and I relate to one another—I’m saying it matters how you relate to something. This is about how I interact with technology. This is about how you interact with technology. This is about your relationship with technology.

These are the questions we need to be asking ourselves. So what is your relationship with technology? Are you using technology for good or evil? How do you use it? Are you allowing technology to have too much ownership of your time and attention? Have you allowed technology to become your life and in some ways replace God?

Have you ever thought of asking yourself any of those questions? Have you ever evaluated the role you have allowed technology to play in your life? If you haven’t, and you do take the time to evaluate, you may be surprised at what you find. You may depend more on the tools than you ever intended to or ever wanted to.

I want to challenge you to think about a relationship that you probably haven’t even considered. It’s not dating; it’s not family; it’s not friends. It’s simply your relationship with an iPod or a gaming system or a computer or whatever. It’s your relationship with a tool that, if we aren’t careful, takes a priority it wasn’t created to have—it becomes a tower, a monument it should never be.

Because whether you realize it or not, you have established a relationship with it. You take that technology and use it as a tool in your life to connect, to entertain, to escape. Some of you use it as a way to encourage, to vent or to destroy. Some of you are still in the process of figuring out how you relate to it all, but you know you do. The point is to figure it out. What is your relationship with technology?