Pastors Corner August 2013

What Do We Do with Technology?

It goes without saying that technology has dramatically changed the world in which we live. Its made just about everything easier, faster, and more comfortable. Unfortunately, technology is a neutral force, as easily harnessed for evil as for good. How do we Christians react to the leaps and bounds our society has made in technology? I would say we react with cautious enthusiasm. We react with caution because we dont want to give in to the sinful opportunities that technology brings our way, nor do we want for technology to give us vain promises in place of what Jesus has given us. On the other hand, we react with enthusiasm because of the great potential for expanded outreach and communication that current technology affords us. In many ways, technology truly is a great blessing of God, with potential benefit for body and soul. We should approach technology with caution. For instance, its easier than ever with current communications technology to learn the Word of God at a distance. Since the Gospel is first and foremost the news of what Jesus has done for us, its possible for someone to come to faith by just reading a comment on Facebook. You can listen to thousands of sermons, you can read countless Bible studies, and you can even watch full church services without ever leaving your home. It almost seems as if you can lead a complete Christian life without any actual face-to-face human interaction. And yet Jesus has called us to gather together, personally, for a kind of fellowship that cant be found anywhere else. St. Paul spent a lot of time and effort writing lettersthe telecommunications technology of his daybut he always continued to visit his congregations personally, knowing that there was no substitute for actually being there with his fellow Christians. It takes actually gathering together for us to share a meal in the Lords Supper, and it takes actually gathering together for Jesus to pour water over us in Holy Baptism and to give us His true body and blood in Holy Communion. We also want to avoid letting technology take over our gatherings in Jesus name. I spend so much time with screens in front of me (in fact Im typing this on a screen right now!) that I find it a great relief to be in church, where instead of a screen I have real faces, and instead of LEDs I have actual, real flames on the candles that adorn our altars. And in an age of pre-recorded music, its also nice to have such talented organists providing musical accompaniment for us on the spot every week! On the other hand, technology has the potential to bring great blessing to the church, which should warrant our enthusiasm. This is not a new thing. When Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, writing itself was a fairly new technology. When Luther spread the Reformation, the printing press was a new technology that was crucial to his success (in fact, the hymnals we use represent the same technology, though theyre produced very differently than books in Luthers day). Now we have computers and smartphones and tablets, which bring the wealth of information made available by the internet into the palms of our hands. Lets strive to use that information technology, not for access to sinful materials, but to get the Word of God out there into the hands of as many people as we can! To that end, Holy Cross has just taken a few more steps into the world of modern communications technology. We are now on Facebook, which is used by millions to share stories and media with their friends. We are also on Twitter and, perhaps most importantly, on YouTube, which allows us to make videos available throughout the world. You can already find sermon audio on our YouTube channel, and I hope that soon we may have video up as well. Here are the new services where you can find us: www.facebook.com/holycrossdavenport www.twitter.com/holycrossdav www.youtube.com/holycrossdavenport I hope that these new resources will be a help to our members and to those around us whom God intends to call to Himself through the Gospel. God grant that we may studiously avoid the pitfalls of technology, while reaping its benefits for His glory and for the everlasting benefit of our neighbors! AMEN.