Tomorrow's Next Week: March 3-7

Spiritually Assessing Technology: In Light of Eternity, not Efficiency

Moving from Tech Impulse to Tech Intention

I was working in Christian publishing the first time I heard the phrase “impulse buys.” I was very confused. Wasn’t this “Christian” publishing? Why would we support “impulse buying”? Isn’t self-control a fruit of the Spirit?

As I listened, I learned that the term referred to all those kitschy knick-knacks at the cash register in the Christian bookstore. Things like “Testa-mints” and WWJD Bracelets that you would beg your mom to buy you. Why? Because you were a child and you lacked self-control.

Of course, when you were a child you acted like a child, but now that you are an adult, and . . . well, those temptations are still there, but you’ve put childish ways behind you. Right?

In the idealism of my 20s, that’s what I thought. Yet, here was a Christian business executive doing everything they could to put those temptations in front of Christian consumers. Needless to say, I could hardly contain my ethical disdain. Clearly, I wasn’t made to be a Christian business executive. Or maybe it was them who wasn’t.

This week’s newsletter includes a podcast episode on “the technological impulse,” a term coined by Dr. Keith Plummer, to refer to our very human drive to make something of the world that God has made. Others say that creativity is even a part of being made in God’s image—we are “co-creators” with God. Plummer argues that this creative impulse is a good one, and honestly, I agree.

But if our impulses remain merely impulses, then we are like those kids who can’t resist the Testa-mints at the cash register. If we thoughtlessly adopt every new technology, we’re hardly better than a child. No, we need to shape those impulses into something more . . . well, mature.

Of course, as adults, it’s not wrong to snag a candy bar at check out once in a while. But that impulse is, hopefully, filtered through a more refined sensibility shaped by self-awareness and self-control. Let’s call it “technological intention.”

Having “technological intention” is what I think we need to develop—by developing our technological sensibilities, by growing more technologically mature. We need to mature beyond technological impulses and move toward technological intentions. (I know Dr. Plummer agrees.)

Part of having “technological intention” means taking the long view of technology and faith. That vision should precede, not follow, the technology we adopt. That’s a sensibility I try to cultivate with Christianity Tomorrow: To see technology in the light of eternity, not efficiency.

This mindset also is what drove Jacques Ellul—another article this week. He said we need to assess technology with spirituality in mind, not just efficiency. Sure, AI might help us be more efficient, but will it help us be more Christian?

That’s the question I wanted my publishing colleague to be asking too. Maybe “impulse buys” are good for business, but I doubt they are good for humans. The more we can shape our technological impulses into technological intentions, the more we see technology in light of eternity, the better we’ll be at building systems that enhance, and don’t stunt, our spiritual lives.

Enjoy this week’s newsletter!