There was a lot to process and many implications for various fields. I found the plenary and breakout sessions all to be very informative and interesting. I'm indebted the many speakers and presenters, including Dan Brendsel, Karen Swallow Prior, Charlie Dates, Felicia Wu Song, Joel Lawrence, Andy Crouch, Christina Bieber-Lake, and Jeff Hardin. The following take-aways originated with these highly-qualified and informed people.
I thought I'd share my biggest takeaways in no real order of importance:
1. It is probably helpful to differentiate between techne as a tool and modern technology. Humanity has always had tools of some sort - hammers, roads, writing utensils etc. But what marks are current era is how exponentially greater the quantity of power that has been harnessed and put into automated systems. This was a point made by Andy Crouch and essentially in boils down to the fact that we had used tech as a tool. Now we are tools of the "technique" system. I did find that there were differing views on this differentiation, but there is a common agreement that this pursuit for better and easier tech is driven by our innate desire for control and self-determination.
2. Technology often invents problems that don't exist. And one of those developing problems is going to be that of our human identity. Clearly many cultures are already grappling with this from the aspect of sexuality. But as the digital and virtual worlds become mor eand more dominant, Christians especially will likely be confronted with issues they dealt with when gnosticism was a dominant world view. Our understanding of the "oneness" of the material and immaterial needs to be reaffirmed. And along these lines, it will be very important for the Church to clarify our mission potentially even showing the world a different way than one anchored to tech. We should be ready to highlight the longings of our souls that remain unfulfilled despite all the technological progress we are making.
3. Technology can be good and used in positive ways, but we must be keenly aware to its dangers too. Tech in general can really hinder our spiritual lives. It can reflect "the dark heart of man in an instant" as Charlie Dates said. It brings transparency in that sense. For pastors and ministers, it is especially crucial that we seek to be faithful rather than famous. Technology can also deceive, making good on its promises in the short-term, but never the long-term. It creates a sense of life being lived elsewhere. Life is lived on my Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook feeds and not in my actual physical context.This creates an obligation to technology that causes stress and forms it's own worship system.
4. To balance out the above point, there are many practices we can embrace that will help us navigate this technological world wisely. Some I picked up on include:
- Embrace good technology. What would that be? Crouch defines it as any tech that serves, helps bring people together, and blesses others.
- Read. Dr. Prior made a good case for reading print and reading it contemplatively as a way to sharpen our brains and help better for our inner life.
- Intentionally design your living spaces with tech boundaries and create limits and routines that distance ourselves from our phones, tablets, and tv's. Something as simple as creating a family charging station where everyone puts their phones at night so they aren't waking up immediately to a screen.
- Demonstrate within our Christian communities the value and special nature of what the life with Christ is. The Eucharist (Communion to us low-church folks) was highlighted by more than one speaker as a regular observance that can be an oasis for our tech-saturated souls. One aspect that wasn't explicitly mentioned was fostering a spiritual environment where we are in tune with the Spirit. But as we navigate this world, we need to recognize how it can numb us to experiencing true gratitude, to learning through suffering, and to receiving grace in the ups and downs of our lives.
This conference gave me a lot to think about and a lot to read (love the book tables!) and it confronted me with everyday ways I'm too tethered to technology. Good things to ponder and good reasons to seek God's empowerment to live like he wants me to live.
