Technology Is Everywhere
Our children are growing up in a world where AI can generate a research paper at the touch of a button, phones can answer nearly any question they might ask, tablets can teach math lessons or complete their homework, and screens can provide an entire day’s worth of entertainment.
As Christian parents, how are we to respond?
It can be tempting to see only two extremes in the technology argument. We can embrace every innovation because technology is seemingly inevitable and often useful, or we can become so concerned about its potential dangers that we want to reject it altogether.
To respond successfully from a biblical worldview, we must begin by understanding who we are created to be.
A Creative God Created Us
Scripture tells us that God created humanity in his image (Genesis 1:26–27). He is our Creator. We are his creation.
We see the creativity of our Creator in the sunrise and sunset, in the diversity of plants and animals, and in the uniqueness of every human being. We see a God who delights in creating and bringing beauty into the world.
After creating humanity, God gave us the remarkable responsibility of stewarding the world he made. He calls us, and even commands us, to create within his creation.
We build, draw, compose, problem-solve, sing, and invent. This isn’t a departure from God’s design for us; it is part of it. Creativity is part of what makes us beautifully human.
God gives us gifts, and he calls us to develop those gifts and use them for his glory. Technology can express those gifts, but it can also diminish the very creativity that makes us human.
When technology does for us what God designed us to do ourselves, we have to stop and ask what we gain—and what we give up.
Technology Isn’t Just a Smartphone
When we hear the word technology, we tend to think of smartphones, social media, artificial intelligence, and gaming systems.
But technology is much older than the iPhone. A hammer is technology. So are a microscope, a printing press, and a washing machine. Technology is a tool humans create to solve a problem or make a particular task easier.
Technology is not morally or spiritually neutral.
Some technologies can be used for good or for evil, while others are designed for purposes that are themselves harmful or sinful. A torture device, for example, is not a neutral tool that becomes evil only because of how someone uses it. Its very purpose is to harm another person. More commonly, however, we encounter technologies that are not inherently evil but still shape us through what they are designed to do. They make some things easier and others obsolete. They influence our habits, our attention, and how we interact with the world. Therefore, we must consider not only how we use a technology, but also what it was designed to do and what its use might be creating in us.
Social media is not inherently evil. But what happens when it becomes a constant stream of consumption? What happens when it becomes a root of comparison and discontentment? The technology itself may not be sinful, but its design and our use of it can cultivate habits and desires that pull our hearts away from what is true, good, and beautiful.
Just because something is common, or the status quo, does not make it God-honoring. Scripture reminds us, “‘Everything is permissible,’ but not everything is beneficial” (1 Corinthians 10:23, CSB).
When Good Things Become Ultimate Things
Scripture repeatedly warns us about humanity’s sinful tendency to take good things and make them ultimate things in our lives.
Consider the golden calf.
The problem was not the gold itself or the skilled craftsmanship that forged it. The problem was that the Israelites chose to worship it. They took something created and gave it a place that belonged to God alone (Exodus 32).
Consider the Tower of Babel.
Humans demonstrated remarkable ingenuity and engineering as they worked together to build the tower. But they used those gifts to “make a name” for themselves (Genesis 11:4).
The problem wasn’t the gold, nor was it the bricks and mortar. The problem was the worship.
The same can be true with technology. We can easily recognize that certain technologies are dangerous for our children. We can rally behind saying no to apps with inappropriate content or dangerous chat rooms. But we need to take it a step further and ask ourselves if technology is becoming an ultimate thing in the lives of our children or family.
Tools designed for convenience or entertainment can easily become habits. Before we know it, those very habits can become dependencies.
Paul wrote, “I will not be dominated by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12).
That is a powerful principle for Christian parents in the digital age, when so many distractions seek to dominate our children’s minds.
What We Give Our Attention to Forms Us
This is perhaps one of the most important concepts for Christian parents to consider.
We are shaped by the things we repeatedly encounter.
The technology we allow into our children’s lives is shaping them—whether we realize it or not.
Consider this:
A child who receives instant information and answers from technology may become impatient with waiting for or working for answers in the real world.
A child who is constantly entertained or stimulated may struggle to tolerate boredom.
A child who encounters inappropriate content may develop unhealthy patterns of thinking and, in some cases, destructive addictions.
Therefore, we have to prayerfully discern what kind of person our children are becoming through repeated interaction with various technologies.
Five Questions for Christian Parents
When a new technology enters our family’s world, we don’t have to respond with fear. We can respond with intentionality and discernment by asking:
- What is this technology for? Does it serve a meaningful purpose, or is it simply designed to capture our children’s attention and encourage consumption?
- What does this technology make easier, and what does it make unnecessary? Children need to know that easiest is not always best. If technology eliminates a process our children actually need to learn, we should carefully consider the future detriment.
- What is this technology replacing? If your child spends three hours playing a video game or watching television, what is that replacing? Reading a book? Exploring outside? Valuable sleep? What is it displacing?
- What kind of person does repeated use form? Does this technology cultivate patience or impatience? Creativity or consumption? Connection or isolation? Self-control or impulsivity?
- Can I explain why we use this technology—or why we say no? “Everyone else has it” is not a biblical philosophy of technology. Neither is fear. As Christian parents, we are called to discernment. Sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes it is not yet. Either way, our intentionality and discernment teach our children that we don’t make choices simply because of what everyone else is doing.
Technologically Proficient Children Aren’t the Goal
Scripture doesn’t mandate that Christian parents raise technologically proficient children. We are, however, called to prioritize whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8).
As believers, we have to respond to technology through the lens of a biblical worldview. We can’t simply ask whether something is popular, useful, entertaining, or convenient. Instead, we must ask whether our use of it is true, good, wise, and honoring to God.
Teach your children that a creative God created them, that their own creativity is a gift, and that technology is a tool rather than a master.
By Kehla Vance
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