Though technology is made of God’s good raw materials, to consider the ultimate “goodness” of technology, one must also consider both its ends and means. Is the technology being used unto virtuous ends as defined by God? Does it clearly promote love for God and neighbor and the flourishing of societies? Was it designed and developed in a way that was good, with justly harvested materials and appropriately compensated employees? Are there long-term adverse effects on people and on the environment that should be considered? These and many more questions represent the collection of concerns that must be considered for new technologies.
Some will chide the Christian approach as being so cautious or pessimistic that it reduces to an anti-progress, traditionalist, and purist approach to life, similar to an Amish-like posture. But this is not the case. Yes, our posture and approach must be thoughtful and, at times, cautious. But we are all grateful for epidurals, airplanes, telephones, and gas fireplaces.
Yet, simply because we “can” does not imply that we “ought” for every technology. The move between “can” and “ought” must be carefully and thoughtfully considered, preferably with others, and sometimes for a long time.
Technology Mustn’t Become the Telos
Embedded in the word “technology” is the idea of a skill or tool to be used to a certain end. The skill or tool is not the goal; it is the means to something else. In our day, however, technology is increasingly the end, the telos, rather than merely the means to another end.
This, I would argue, is among the most subtle vices of technology. And, tech companies prey on it! For tech companies and marketers, the longer our eyes and attention are dedicated to the device, the more they stand to gain. This is devious and serves to dehumanize people by reducing and commodifying our attention, as well as erode communities by enticing us away from human relationships and toward technological relationships, even while promising “community and connectivity.”
Technology is a means, not an end. It exists to serve us unto the end that we might better love God and others. May we be ever on guard against the trend toward the computer and away from company, toward the phone and away from the family, toward the game and away from the gathering.
Technology and the Cross
Finally, it is worth reflecting on how God used technology to secure our salvation in Jesus. Death by crucifixion was a sophisticated and systematic form of killing originally developed by the Persians, then perfected by the Romans. The tool of a cross was chosen as the best instrument on which to stretch a prisoner to allow for airflow and lung capacity even after sustaining severe beatings. Nails were also placed at precise locations in the wrists and feet to ensure significant pain without too much blood flow. Crucifixion was a carefully curated practice to humiliate the worst criminals and prolong suffering. And, this is what God chose to use to accomplish his ends of scorning and defeating death.
Indeed, God did choose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise (1 Cor. 1:27), even the cross. Wicked men used the stuff of God’s good world to fashion a tool of torture—a tool that became a cultural symbol of death. Yet, God used the tool of torture to secure life, redeeming it no longer as the symbol for death but the very symbol of our life in Christ!
This is but one example of God’s wisdom in thwarting the Enemy’s plan and using his own tools against him. It is an illustration that our God will not be mocked, even by our technologies made from his own goods.
Our posture toward technology need not be fundamentally opposed, nor should it be uncritically adopted. Our use of technology should conform to practices that use the stuff of God’s good world fashioned unto virtuous ends by virtuous means for love of God and neighbor, remembering that God has already secured our hope for life and freedom through the greatest, most subversive use of technology in human history.
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