Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Master or Servant? Technology in Balance (part one)

We all have our areas of weakness which normally get us off track or "coveting" after things we don't yet have, and for me this has been mostly high tech things and art supplies for most of my life. When I was 14 I saved up all of my pennies (and dollars, and so forth) until I could buy my own Commadore 64 personal computer, which my parents of course thought was ridiculous, but I just had to have it. Since that time, I have had to have a selection of other cool toys...the stereo...the huge record collection (just saying that no doubt reveals I am pushing 40)...being one of the first people to study Computer graphics at our college of art and design (learning, as I have said before, things my 9 year old daughter Isobel now does as a matter of course...my degree is a teensy bit out of date)...I also have a problem with planners. I have a plethora of planner books, and I have always diligently kept a journal and planner, and have been on the prowl for the ultimate planner that would make me organized (since, by nature, I'm just not at all there in this area of orderliness).

From time to time, in an effort to break the chains that bind me (namely, my covetousness problem relating to high tech gadgetry and office supplies), I have done tech fasts. I also live a fairly old fashioned lifestyle by choice: I'm a stay at home mom, I have a big garden, I can my own food, I am paranoid of cooking with a microwave, I own a whirly pop (and use it!), I make my bread by hand, and sew quite a bit, among other things. I'm also, while living in a rural homestead, a freelance web and graphic designer (often working on my laptop, with my canning apron on, standing up in my kitchen, surrounded by bushels of tomatoes to peel, if you can only picture it).

Because God, in His providence, allowed me graciously to be born for such a time as this, my view has been to use that which is available to me in this decade for His glory, rather than, as some, to long for the Little House on the Prairie days. Although living a slower life would be a blessing, starting my chicken dinner with catching a chicken, killing, and plucking it would not be. There are some modern conveniences I would rather not do without...but the key is using these modern conveniences to be better able to give God glory in whatever God has called us to...whether as a keeper at home, mother of many, student, or what have you.

As I was thinking and praying, and studying the Word recently, I came across a familiar passage...one that actually influenced me greatly when I was a new Christian. That verse is this: "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any." (1 Corinthians 6:12) The problem is not technology. Technology is a tool that can be super helpful in enabling us as we serve the Lord in any way He call us. The trick is to remember who is the master and who is the servant here. Tech makes a great servant but a lousy master.

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