Technology has undeniably made a huge impact on how people today live their lives. From communications to health monitoring, technology has helped shaped how people do both business and pleasure. But how does a Christian's use of technology impact their relationship with God?
Tony Reinke, a Christian author, told CBN News' "The Prayer Link" that Christians must understand that the purpose of technology is to flourish God's people and prepare the Church for the "bride" of Jesus Christ, as written in the Bible.
"The whole purpose for the universe is for the Son to get a bride. That's why everything exists," Reinke explained.
"That's why every person on the planet, every political ruler...every smartphone, every camera, all the electricity we have, the self-driving cars, all of it exists within this one single plan for God to give his Son a bride, the Church."
Reinke explained in his book titled "God, Technology, and the Christian Life" that technology and faith are not mutually exclusive. Arguing that Christians must redeem technology, the author remarked how for a century, the Church's theologians have argued that faith and technology are two separate entities that cannot be "in the same conversation."
The reason behind this is the belief that "human innovation is 'Babel-like," and "worldly," "tainted top-to-bottom by sin, and potentially very destructive." For a century, that is what most Christians believed.
But Reinke pointed out, "We are in the most technologically advanced society the world has ever seen and the Church does not know what to say." He added that the Church also fails to support Christians who work inside major tech centers.
"What do we say about what it means to be a Christian in the society that God has given us today? It is so technologically rich," Reinke remarked.
Peter Rex, the CEO of Christian real estate tech company Rex, told the Wall Street Journal that Big Tech is in need of an "infusion of faith" as Christians must redeem technology. Rex said, "Absent an orthodox belief in God, tech leaders are striving to become gods themselves."
Rex argued that the "lack of faith" leads to a "moral vacuum" in which "tech itself is held up as a god." Because there is an absence of religious tradition, it is easy for Big Tech companies to "censor and suppress" its users who have dissenting opinions.
He added, "Is it any surprise that many tech companies are responsible for violations of privacy, value extraction, and the promotion of vice?"
"Tech needs an infusion of faith," Rex concluded. He said that such inclusion of faith will make the industry "more humane," "enlightened," and "morally grounded."
Today, social media platforms and other tech tools such as TikTok have reportedly been used to encourage people to do bad things, embrace the transgender agenda or even undermine an entire country's culture.
TikTok has also been found to have negative effects on children. So much so that American lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a bipartisan bill geared towards protecting children from the potentially dangerous effects of social media, ABC News reported. The bill was sponsored by Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal.
The proposed legislation comes after Congress held a series of five hearings on the dangerous effects of social media on children and teens aged 16 or younger and a report from a whistleblower that showed internal documents from Facebook indicating the company prioritized profits instead of children's mental wellbeing.
