We all know that we’re addicted to technology. At this point, it’s not even really a debate. But what we haven’t done is through through the implications of this for our lives as individuals and as the church. To help us with that, Brett McCracken and Ivan Mesa have edited a volume of essays reflecting on just how screens affect us in their new book Scrolling ourselves to death: Reclaiming Life in a Digital Age.
Drawing on the insight’s of Postman’s classic Amusing ourselves to Death (which you should also read!), the essays in this new book explore the impact of our tech-addled culture on us as individuals, on churches, and on society.
Like any edited volume, some of the essays are stronger than others. But all of them explore critical points that we should all take time to think about. What does it cost us to be constantly online? Are we healthier or better as individuals? What about as communities? Does our smartphone make us better reflections of the Image of God? Or do they obscure vital aspects of being human?
Again, we know the answers to these question. The problem is one of application. I know and you know that we will be better and healthier people if we put the phones down and go for a walk with a friend–even if the walk ends in a fight over politics or religion or the topic of the moment. We know that even bickering can make a friendship stronger, if it’s with someone we know and respect and see regularly in person. But it’s also hard. Isn’t it easier to disappear into the internet, never get into a fight we don’t have to, and just surround ourselves with people and ideas of our own choosing?
There’s nothing controversial here. What’s controversial is the challenge to do something about. To set the phone down or disconnect from the internet and force ourselves to focus on the physical world around us. Even more difficult is to do this as a group of people–what would Sunday morning look like if an entire congregation committed to leave their smart phones and tablets at home, to turn off all non-necessary technology in the church building, and to only focus on the people in the same room for 1-2 hours once a week?
Frankly, I don’t know. But I sincerely hope some congregation out there is visionary enough to give it a try. Reading Scrolling ourselves to death is a good place to start.
Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast an Amazon Associate (which is linked in this blog), and an Associate Professor of Political Science at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, MO
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