CARLTON BYRD

We can’t fight it. This world is changing,
and those who don’t keep up will be
left behind. Even e-mail is currently
scheduled to be a dead medium. It is literally
yesterday’s news. Instead Facebook,
Google+, and a host of other
instant social media platforms are giving
us a taste of our immediate tomorrows.
It’s like the Verizon 4G LTE commercials
say: “That is so four seconds ago!”
Church and Technology
I am glad to note that our church is
not being “left behind” or showing up
as “Johnny came late” to the party!
Major Adventist media groups sport
apps, churches are streaming services to
a worldwide audience, church buildings
are being equipped with Wi-Fi, and
every day my Sabbath school app pops
up on my Droid Bionic reminding me to
study my Sabbath school lesson. Preachers
regularly preach from iPads, Kindles,
and a variety of electronic tablets. People
who are traveling in this digital world
Skype into board meetings, and conferences
are held in Google+ hangouts all
the time. Printed agendas are becoming
a thing of the past as my church leaders
prefer to show up to committee meetings
with laptops and tablets instead.
Most important, we see the gospel reach
places where just five or 10 years ago it
would have been impossible to have a
digital presence. I cannot help hearing
the words of Jesus echo in my ear: “And
this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed
throughout the whole world as
a testimony to all nations, and then the
end will come” (Matt. 24:14). 1
Beware of the Technology Pit
So, is there a downside to all of this? I
mean, what more can we want when the
church is keeping relevant and the gospel
is being preached? Is this not a
dream come true for us?
Yet I worry. I worry about the environment
we are creating in which church
members and, yes, even pastors openly
chastise each other over our technology
Let’s use
current
technology
to transform
the world,
and at
the same
time, let’s
not be
transformed
by it.
choices. I worry about a
world in which someone
using an Apple, a
Droid, or (dare I say it)
a PC is like declaring
yourself openly a
Republican or Democrat,
or, worse yet, a
theological liberal or
conservative. Wait,
wasn’t the whole point
of technology to bring
us together, not tear us
apart? Can we afford to
let it tear us apart? And
what does it say about
us as a society and as
members of a worldwide
community of
faith when we only
dream of the next “latest
and greatest” gadgets?
We toss out or
“Craigslist” perfectly good technology
rather than come to church and be seen
with last year’s model smartphone or
tablet. When I think of the counsel our
forefathers were given about costly living
and self-adornment I wonder if we
just found a new way of doing the same
old sins covered in those “little red
books” written more than 100 years
ago—and, ironically, all available in an
app on my tablet?
Don’t get me wrong. I am not antitechnology
whatsoever. Rather, on the
contrary, my church members have
affectionately called me “the technology
pastor,” and I have innovated new uses
of interchurch services via Internet
streaming in my conference. But as Jim
Collins so poignantly said: “When used
right, technology becomes an accelerator
of momentum, not a creator of it.” 2
I am reminded of the words of the old
hymn: Our “hope is built on nothing
less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”
Here is my point: Let’s use current
technology to transform the world, and at the
same time, let’s not be transformed by it. God
surely is the ultimate Creator of technology,
and He has allowed it to surface
right now for a purpose. We better not
be like the Gentiles in Romans 1 who
worshipped the creation and not the
Creator. Let’s not forget that there will
come a time when it is all shut off. Let’s
not make “iDols” of our technology,
engaging in the world’s newest form of
false spirituality. When the next über
gadget does finally come, I don’t want to
forget it is all about the ultimate keynote
“Game Changer”—Jesus. Let’s make
sure we keep moving forward with Jesus
and His cross at the center of all our
innovations and technologies. n
1
Scripture quotations in this article are from The
Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001
by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
2
Jim Collins, Good to Great (New York: Harper
Collins, 2001), p. 152.
Vincent MacIsaac, “Pastor
Vinnie,” serves the Arlington
and Fairfax Seventh-day
Adventist churches in the
northern Virginia area
just outside of Washington, D.C. He is married
to TinaLynn MacIsaac, and this year marks
their twentieth wedding anniversary.
www.AdventistReview.org | February 21, 2013 | (151) 23