Principles For Technology Podcast Episodes

Welcome to Breaking Bread, the podcast brought to you by Apostolic Christian Counseling and Family Services. With me today is Arlan Miller. Hi Matt. One of our goals and objectives with this podcast, Arlan, is to provide teaching and help to families. Certainly, in our 21st century world, technology is a huge topic. 

And it’s not one that we’ve been silent on. We’ve talked about cell phone use, we’ve talked about technology use on previous podcasts, but to revisit it periodically seems wise. Most definitely it is all around us. So why don’t you just start by a definition. The definition that we’re going to use working here is the electronics we use to work, play, learn, and communicate. 

That’s technology in our mind. And the comforting thing to realize is that even though this is new and technology changes quickly, I saw somewhere a statistic that there are 300 new apps for phones developed every day. It’s rapidly changing, and you blink and it’s new.  

Even though it’s a very quickly changing thing, the principles in God’s Word do not change. And it speaks to this topic just as it speaks to other topics that we’ve had on here, and that’s so comforting. Technology is widely and heavily used. It’s advancing rapidly and it has an effect on the user. Right. I mean, I think we would be ignorant or maybe foolish if we thought that technology didn’t influence us in some way. 

Right. It is a tool. It is neutral itself, but it will have an effect upon us on how we use it. It’s been brought to my attention and it’s so true, right now you’ve got a weather app on your phone? Are you checking that thing? I love that weather app, right? 

And right now, I think that weather app could not be improved. I mean, what else would I want? Right, but they will improve it. Oh, they will improve it and I will change that weather app. Isn’t that amazing? Right now, I can think of nothing greater, but to be sure something better will come along, and we will have to have it. 

Yeah. You know, we will have to have it. Here’s another little thing I saw that is fascinating to think about the statistics. Now say that the average person changes their activity every three minutes. Yeah, every three minutes we start doing something different because we can, right? Because now we have these little computers we carry around in our hands and instantly, you know, I didn’t need to know what was going on in Timbuktu, but suddenly I can, and so why not? 

So, it’s important to take a deep breath a moment here and start to think, okay, what is this technology thing? How is it affecting me and how is it affecting my family and those around me? Technology is an indicator of the heart, Arlan. I go back to the Scripture in Matthew 15. Jesus carefully unpacks what sin is and what sin is not. 

And furthermore, he says, it is incumbent upon you, my disciples to know what sin is. And so, he says this, those things which proceed out of the mouth, come forth from the heart and they defile the man for out of the heart, proceeds evil thoughts, murders, so on and so forth. Drawing this distinction between what is sin and what is not sin, and I’d like to maybe paint this picture of a bucket, for example. 

And inside the bucket is water, and that’s the contents of our heart. Technology is a great indicator of what the heart contains. So, if you think about boring a hole in that bucket, well, the water’s going to spill forth, right? Whatever is inside the bucket is coming out through the hole. Technology can be that very useful hole whereby the contents of the heart are revealed and knowing what is in our heart. 

It’s a very useful thing. It is. And there are other holes, right Matt? I mean, your checkbook would be another example of something that would be a hole in your bucket. Your free time. I love that example, Matt. It really reveals to us a part of what’s going on in our heart, and maybe that should be how we set up this conversation here, that this topic of technology, we would like to release for all the good that it has in this regard. 

Right, and then build barriers and guards around the pieces where it could be abused or used inappropriately. There are three levels of discerning that we talk about in the area of technology. In the first level, you just answer this question, is this right or is this wrong? 

A very basic level of technology is how I’m using technology in this case, right? Or is it wrong? The second level goes a little bit deeper. Is this level of technology real or unreal? And now this has taken a whole other level. Yeah. When you bring in things like virtual reality. Yes. Okay. 

And I like that distinction. So right and wrong, certainly we could come up with a list of saying this is inappropriate use of technology and this is good, appropriate use of technology. But now this adds another filter of is this unreal or real? And we are blurring that concept of reality. 

And you mentioned virtual reality. This concept that I can put a headset on, and I can be in a different world, and what seems to be really true around me is not true. In fact, we’re playing on that difference of reality, and that is today, right? Right. That’s where we’re at. And on the surface, it can be benign. It can be kind of interesting. I mean, Matt, we could go skydiving right here in the office if we wanted to, right? Yeah. You know, or travel down the Colorado River very safely too. Yes. Oh, that’s exactly right. Affordably and safely, right. But then we need to think, what effect is that having? Can I still separate out what’s real and what’s unreal? 

Take it to an extreme and it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to realize just where some of those places are going and some of the frankly evil things that will be developed using virtual technology. Right? And so here again, the technology is neither right nor wrong. It’s a sense of our intersection with it. And our interaction with it. But we have to have this wherewithal of what is real and what is unreal.  

Here’s another example, I think now Pokemon Go has kind of fallen off the craze that it once was. But therein is an example of what they call augmented reality. And that Pokemon appeared to be there with you in that room. While it wasn’t real, they’re playing on that concept of what is real and what is unreal. There again. Yeah. Right. This concept, right. And so you have those two levels. Is it right, is it wrong? Is it real, is it unreal? 

And then the third level digs a little bit deeper still, and it asks you to think about, is this good, beneficial and edifying? That’s another whole level of discernment there. Which one? Corinthians 6:12 says, all things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient. Right. That is to say, even though it’s okay, it might not be best. And so, evaluating is this really good or is this mediocre, or is this detrimental? Having that wherewithal as a lens, right? And so, part of going through life, I think, is asking ourselves these questions, introspectively thinking through what is impressing upon my life and what effect does it have upon me? 

Technology being one of those things. Let’s lay down some basic principles. Sure. Okay. I think that’s the wisest way forward as we engage technology. And you’ve already said that the Scripture speaks to technology, right? But we don’t really read of iPhones and apps in Scriptures. 

But there are some principles that we want to live by and allow the lenses of these principles to guide, evaluate, and help us through these questions of right and wrong, real and unreal, good and beneficial as it concerns technology. So, what’s the first one? The first principle that I think we can talk about is just the simple question does it reinforce Christ’s view of me? Does this help me understand who I am as being complete in Christ, as it says in Colossians? Or does it force me into this area where I am seeking approval from man, so to speak, or from others or making me discontent or leading to comparison, those other areas that can take away my view from Christ’s view of me. 

Okay? And so here we hit on some of those former lenses, is it right or wrong? Do I have the wrong view of myself, based because of this technology. And you cited some good examples, and I think some good indicators, discontent, for example, when I might be finding approval in something. 

Okay. I even think of this silly thing. I don’t know if you’ve ever sent a post, created a post, whether it be an Instagram post or Facebook or whatever, and then all of a sudden consumed with how many likes you got. Is that being liked, right? Okay. And that’s benign, really. I mean, I think that’s really natural for us, but really what’s going on there as we think about this? Am I really fixated on the response, the affirmation, and the likes of others as opposed to seeing the likeness of Christ in me. I read a statistic somewhere that 73% of Christians will check social media before they do their devotions in the morning. 

And you use your example of posting something, is it the first thing in your mind, right when you wake up in the morning? Oh, I wonder how many people like that, or I wonder what’s happening, on Facebook, or something like that? It’s a check, right? Yeah. 

You know, what is the first thing in my mind in the morning? What’s the last thing in my mind before I go to bed at night? Is it Christ? Or is it something else? And you could see that I mean Satan certainly wants to strike at this if he can’t compromise what we believe Christ’s view of us is or our standing with him. 

He’s done himself a great service and us a disservice. And so, I think of that concept you said about comparing myself with others. It is very easy to do that. And we read in the Scriptures, it’s not wise to compare ourselves among ourselves. And having that rubric and that standard of Christ we can, with technology, switch him out for another standard. Right. Most definitely. Matt, one other aspect of this too is this idea of discontentment versus thankfulness. We don’t know what we don’t have until suddenly it comes across on a screen somewhere, as opposed to just the simple thankfulness that we can have when we realize who we are, the blessings we have, and the wonderful life that we’ve been given. 

So, principle number one that we should consider is does technology reinforce Christ’s view of me? There are many principles, right? We’re just going to address a few and trust that it can be helpful. So, the first one, does it reinforce Christ’s view of me? I think we can taste that. What’s the next one, Arlan. Does it promote purity? That’s the next principle we really talk about. 

Think about 1 Thessalonians 5. It says very clearly, prove all things hold fast to  that, which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. That’s a very high standard that we’ve been charged with there in the Scriptures. And again, technology being neutral, but there can be some evil things that come of it. 

Does technology promote purity or are there areas where I’m letting it into my life and it’s leading me a little bit further away from what’s pure, true, and right. And so, it’s a system to prove all things. That really puts an onus of responsibility on us to be very careful, to think, and be thoughtful about. What is the outgrowth of this use? 

Right. What am I doing that might compromise my walk with Christ? So, I think we have this on our radar screen because we realize how much inappropriate content, material, images, and videos are on technology. I feel like this one is somewhat on our radar screen as believers. 

It should be. I think it is. The other piece too, is to realize how accessible technology allows it to become. I mean, we literally have taken a computer, and we’ve put it into our pocket and everything that’s available on the worldwide web is available right there at our fingertips. And so, it’s important for us to think through what appropriate safeguards are, what appropriate filtering and monitoring type situations we need to have, and how to keep filling ourselves with the truth and righteousness of the Spirit as the Scripture says that we don’t have room for the lust of the flesh. Going back to that bucket example, right? We started this podcast by saying, alright, technology has a great advantage. And one of the great advantages is it will reveal what’s in our heart, which we ought to know. It’s incumbent upon every believer to know what the condition of their heart is. 

Well, and I think on this issue of purity, it really does strike at that. Okay, so here, let’s take an example. A parent walks in the room, and they check the history of the computer and they see that their teenage son or daughter has frequented some sites that they should not. That has compromised purity. 

Now we have a couple reactions that can happen. We can explode. We can fret, we can wring our hands, and there are right and wrong ways to deal with that situation. But one way to redeem it is now we can help that child understand what the content of their heart is. We can now talk about temptation. We can say. What is it that draws you to that? We can put our finger on human nature and human biology and God’s intentions and God’s plan. I mean, there are lots of wonderful launching pads that that situation actually provides and use technology as a tool to help you teach your children where to go from here. 

Arlan, there are a lot of software packages out there that help provide accountability when it comes to internet and to our technology. We can’t go through them all. What’s a favorite? Sure. There is a couple, just to back up a second and realize there’s two different technologies we’re looking at here, right? 

There’s a filtering technology, which will actually filter out certain sites and keep them from opening if they potentially have inappropriate content. And then there’s a monitoring type software that would give you a report that would tell what sites have been visited by that computer, 

A couple of our favorites here at the agency that we would talk about. There’s a Covenant Eyes filtering program which has a cost to it but is a very good system to really focus on filtering out and monitoring. At the same time, there’s also another option called K-9, which is a free service that does about the same thing. 

It’s more filtering and not as much monitoring. There’s a new one that’s emerged over the last couple of years called Circle, which seems to show some real promise as an opportunity at the router level of your house, to put blocks on all devices there within your home and to put in some control.  

Yeah, with that one you can actually shut off the internet, so to speak, to your kids at a certain time at night and limit how long they can be on their Facebook app, even to that level. Again, we would encourage parents to absolutely take advantage of the software that’s out there but use it as a teaching tool and a discussion tool and not just as a blanket fix all. Yeah. There are going to be ways around it always. Yeah. And as you mentioned that list, I’ve been impressed with Covenant Eyes and with the work that they’re doing. One of those loopholes is apps on the phone. 

I just know it’s difficult to monitor apps. You mentioned already so many are being developed every day. And so that’s one thing that I know Covenant Eyes is working on. How do they do that? And I know they have more success on the iPhone than they have on Android on other Android platforms. So, there are some nuances here that are kind of helpful for to know, okay, as I am raising my children, even my own devices, but I think the end is to realize that, okay, we can’t circumvent everything because of what? Oh yeah. The contents of our heart, right? It’s wayward, right? So again, that is very central here, and it brings us face to face with our need for Jesus the answer to the content of our heart. Most definitely and what we would encourage too is that parents make themselves learners of this. 

It’s one of those things that becomes really easy to throw up your hands and say, I don’t understand it. I haven’t got it. This is just really hard to do, and I just don’t know what I’m doing. As opposed to approaching it with an attitude of, I don’t know exactly all the answers, but I do know that I’m going to seek to understand and try to figure out what’s the best thing for my family. 

Arlan, in the spirit of staying informed, I personally have found common sense media.org to be a helpful website. While it is a secular site, its purpose is to help parents and teachers stay informed to current media. So, for example, if your child comes home with a new app on their phone you can search the site for that app. 

And it will likely provide details like advantages of the app, but also possible dangers with it. Quite helpful. And reach out to those who maybe do know within the church family or elsewhere and use those resources that are available to us as well. Arlan, I think this might be a good time maybe to draw this episode here to a close as we’ve talked about two principles we’ve set up the topic of technology and we’re going to have another episode where we look at three more principles and also maybe provide some helps and maybe talk through a few resources that we have as an agency to be helpful to parents, and you’ll find some of those resources at the website, accounseling.org/technology. You’ll find a great deal of resources that talk through a lot of these things in more depth. 

So, thanks for being with us. Have a great day. 

Technology is the topic. Arlan Miller is back with me here to conclude our series on technology, which we are inundated with here in the 24th century and will continue to be right. Sorry Matt, I just checked my Twitter feed. What? Did you say something? Did I say something? Were you checking your likes? 

Yeah, checking my likes on my Facebook. Kind of wondering and all of that kind of thing. Thanks for having me back, Matt. It’s good to talk through this idea and we really want to use this as a teaching opportunity as we look at ourselves, at our heart and what is in our heart, and as we look at our children and our, and those around us and, and how technology is revealing. 

The deeper characters of our heart. So, we said that the best way to spend our time is really on principles that speak to the issue of technology, so that our conversation is not stuck in 2017, but our conversation really lets us loose to live in the 21st century. And so, we talked about two principles last time. 

Does it reinforce Christ’s view of me? We also looked at purity. Where are we going here today? The first one that we’ll talk about today is a simple principle. Is this a good use of my time? We are called in Ephesians 5 to redeem the time because the days are evil. Now sometimes it definitely is, right? 

Think about the efficiencies that fell about the effect. It multiplies, right? The effect of your time doesn’t it? Right? Communication and organization and that kind of thing. It can be a great thing. That allows for wonderful use of time. But at other times, I mean, I don’t know about you Matt, but there are times when suddenly I’ve lost half an hour, and I don’t know where it went. 

Yes. Scrolling. Yeah, scrolling. That Google search just went in directions I did not expect them to. One more scroll. One more. Let me see one more. Yeah. Right. So true. We have to really keep our wits about us and think through, okay, how is this technology use affecting me? You know, one area that I always think of and challenge myself on is this idea, can I still get quiet? 

Technology will have an effect on us. Our environment has an effect on us. And this is part of our environment, and that might be one that we might have an antenna up for is, can I get quiet with Jesus? Am I constantly dogged to buy the dings, the buzzes, and the rattles of my phone? And if somebody comes and taps me on the shoulder, I have to turn around and engage them. 

It is a form of communication that says, hey, right now as opposed to an answering machine that was set up with the premise of, at your convenience, check your messages. Isn’t that interesting? And so, I think we do have that sense now that, oh, I’ve just been dinged. I need to respond right away. 

And that takes the onus of time away from us. Does that make sense? It does, Matt. It really does. And the other aspect that I am starting to look at is how is this affecting my relationships? With my family, with God, as we mentioned before, but just even with like the physical relationships of family and friends, how is it affecting me? 

Am I hijacked by the buzz of a phone that at the dinner table I have to get up and answer? God brings us along and matures us in him. Through that quietness, through that contemplation, through that consideration of the Word being with him. And if that could be robbed out of a believer’s life, boy, a great deal of harm is done. 

And so again, a good check. Is this a good use of my time? And how is this affecting my time? Let’s go into the next principle. Sure. Am I being Christlike with this technology? As you think of Philippians 1, it says, let your whole lifestyle or conversation be as it becomes the gospel of Christ. Is what I’m doing with my technology reflecting the Gospel of Christ? 

Because so much of technology is communication, right? And here again, what an opportunity we have with technology to communicate Christ. But we need to discern that we’re not using it for non-Christlike ways. Matt, think about the power of a CaringBridge site and how much comfort and encouragement and prayer that has brought to certain situations. 

And then also contrast that with an email or a text. You can say something off the cuff without pausing and thinking through it can do great harm. I mean, all of the principles of James 3 come into bear, you know about the power of the tongue. Only now it’s captured and it’s forever because it’s on technology. 

Yeah. Filed away in cyberspace never to be taken back. Right. There was a great story I always like to think about with Abraham Lincoln. And when Abraham Lincoln was president, he would get all kinds of correspondence and some of it was not so nice. He was president during a very rough time in our nation’s history, and it was said that when he was going to reply to someone in a not so nice manner, he would take that letter, write it out, and then he’d put it in the drawer of his desk and he’d wait 24 hours before he would send it. 

He would let it sit on his heart. And many times, they found those letters were still there. He never sent those. How wise that would be if we knew our tendency was descended, something maybe not quite so nice if we just take a deep breath, be calm, wait, and really reflect, should I say that? 

Yeah. Because once it’s sent, it’s forever. For myself, that’s difficult to do, to act and to react in a godly manner all the time. And with technology we are able to express communication in a reactive mode, which I think then raises this issue of am I being Christlike? Most definitely. Okay. The last principle. 

Last principle, Matt, is am I being socially appropriate? Immediately, as you say that, I think we have spheres of audiences, don’t we? My wife and me. My children. Then we have an extended family. Right. And we move outward to church family, to larger denominational family to community. We have all of these. 

And there are appropriate interactions that aren’t all the same for each of those. Right. But what we do is start to blur those lines. Yeah. And suddenly by my Facebook feed, I can be in your living room. Well, who’s my audience? That’s the thing. And we can pass it on, copy and paste on and goes. 

And pretty soon we’ve reached an audience that we didn’t have in our head when we wrote the post. Or when we took the picture. And if I’m not careful, because I can now see what you do in your living room, I can start to impose my thoughts about what that’s supposed to be upon you and start to make judgements and say, what’s he doing there? 

He shouldn’t be doing that. And that’s a place that I don’t think we’re really called to go necessarily. Okay. So, let’s redeem this thing because I think the gospel does redeem it. So, this is the way it is. Okay, to your point, we now live in one another’s living rooms, in a sense. We peer right into the lives in the very personal lives, the private vacations, and the private moments that are shared outwardly. And maybe this raises the importance of love that we would have for one another, that certainly requires a great deal of grace as we interact. Ask yourself a simple question before you post that online, is this appropriate to share to the world? 

Or is this something that should be treasured and just savored in our own intimate circle? Am I exaggerating hardship? Sure. Is this something that happens or am I exaggerating bliss? Right. And I think that has to do with social appropriateness. Yeah. And if you take that to an extreme, we start to think that everyone’s life lives in this exaggerated world of bliss or hardship. 

And we only see the extremes, and then we start to expect that upon ourselves, which goes back to the original lens of is it real or unreal? Right. We blur these lines of real and unreal. Which I always think is a classic example. Are Pinterest posts or pictures that this is the way it looks, this is the way it functions, this is the way it is and we might think, my kitchen needs to look like that or isn’t that a great idea when in reality there’s a harried mess behind the camera that isn’t captured. Arlan? We have a lot of resources at ACCFS that are designed to help families and parents as it concerns technology. What are a few of those? 

The one that we most quickly turn to is what we call our Family Technology Plan, and we’ll post it on site here where we post this podcast, but this plan is a document that will really walk you through as a family. You think through how technology is affecting your family and how do you proactively set a plan that is age-appropriate to grow and teach these principles into my children’s lives. And so, as I’m hearing you explain it this isn’t just a plan to protect us in the sense of keeping us from harm, but it’s actually a dynamic plan that allows us to grow. It’s used to say, okay, let’s use technology since it’s a part of our life, let’s use technology to grow in Christlikeness. 

Yeah, according to some of these principles and to teach and to discuss these principles with our children and learn from there. The first part will lay out some of these principles and then it will ask you some very simple questions. How many devices do you have in your home? What kind of standard do you want to have for your family time? Do you want to have set family time? How long should it be? What does it look like? Should your kids be having technology when their friends are over? Or is that a no space area there where it should be just about the relationship? 

And what is proper etiquette when it comes to phone use? Right. How do we help each other understand that etiquette and live within it. And then what I like to see with a really healthy plan is it is age-based, and you see growth. When my daughter was young, it was completely appropriate to have training wheels on her bike. 

Now that she’s 16, I don’t think we’re going to be walking around the block with her while she’s riding her bike. We’re going to give her more and more freedom and we’ll have weaned her and we’ll have talked it through and discussed hopefully that those principles are in place so that when she accidentally comes across something or is tempted to want to send that nasty text or whatever is happening in 10 years from now in technology world, she’ll be thinking through the scriptural principles behind that and whether that’s appropriate or not. 

Arlan, I think it’s exciting to think that God would use technology to draw us to himself. I mean, that speaks to the power of God, and I think that’s come out here in our conversation, that God would use technology to expose our hearts, and technology is a bit of a lens for that. And then to see that he allows this technology to be a way for you to be Christlike, which I think is wonderful redemption to this topic of technology. And with that, and to our listeners thanks for being with us. As Arlan mentioned, we do have resources on the website. If you go to accounseling.org/technology, you’ll see a plethora of resources there. 

And we always encourage anyone who is not on our email list to sign up. There’s a place there on the website where you can sign up to receive monthly emails from our agency. We would love to have you part of the ministry in that way.