Student Young Adult Forum on 24 Jan 2014 by Rev. Zheng Biqing on 26th January 2014
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”
Galatians 2:20a
Technologies have changed the way we live both as the human race as well as an individual. The invention of cellular phone in 1983 is one good example. Today, we are so reliant on hand phone that many feel anxiously handicapped when their phone battery goes flat. While whether a ‘smart’ phone makes us smarter or not is disputable, it is indisputable that smart phone users become busier and their personal space tremendously reduced!
Is technology ungodly or evil? Certainly not. As image-bearer of God and with the charge to subdue the earth, we are created with the capacity to understand, create and rule (Ge 1:27,28). Technology is the result of man’s understanding and creativity. Unfortunately, man has been enslaved by the very technology he invented. This is idolatry. Everyday thousands of people are addicted to the unrestrained activities of the virtual world.
As we prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide us and reflected honestly on the way we are dependent on hand phone, we find the following common good of hand phone:
- it serves as a handy alarm clock;
- we can remain connected with overseas contacts in an expensive way;
- we can obtain the latest news;
We also reckon that we share the enslavement of hand phone and its severe damage in the long run:
- Inevitable tiredness to the eyes;
- disruption to night sleep and day rest;
- Tremendous reduction in real-time interaction with people;
- Cannot stay focused due to constant distractions under the disguise of multi-tasking;
- Reading impaired and thinking impaired as time is occupied by hand phone.
We have established a common awareness that there is a self-compulsion within us that drives us to pick up our hand phone. Praise be to God that the by the help of the Holy Spirit we can produce the fruit of the Spirit – Self-control. However, it must begin with the reckoning of one’s enslavement to his phone and a strong desire to be set free from it because now Christ lives in me.
We took home a few simple practices:
- Do not touch your phone after lights are turned off at night;
- Protect your personal space by leaving your hand phone out of sight, such as family gathering, personal devotion time, study…etc.;
- Remember that your phone as a tool, not a toy. Use it as a tool.
- Buy yourself an alarm clock;
Technologies are fibres of the modern society we live in. The biblical principle is not to boycott it, but to reclaim our kingship over it. You are the disciples of Jesus Christ, you have obtained the true freedom in Christ. Redeem that parts of your life that have been taken captive by your hand phone. Children of Light, make a resolution, besides God you will have no other master! Amen.
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