“Plugging Into and Unplugging Technology”

When I was 13 my dad got his first computer. It was an original Apple computer with the orange screen. I was fascinated by it and begged him to show me how it worked. A few years later I was so proud of my very first computer, which I bought with the money I earned in college — an IBM model that only ran on DOS. My passion for technology and computers began there and has grown exponentially since, much like the technological world in which we live.

Youth today don’t remember a world without computers. The other day my three children sat dumbstruck on the couch watching their dad play one of those $9.99 game machines that plug into the television and play old Atari and Intellivision games. For us, it was a sense of nostalgia and recognition of how far we have come. My children, however, were just amazed that their father could possibly be so excited about such a primitive game and wondered what planet he must’ve come from.

Our youth are so technology-savvy that they hardly go anywhere without their cell phones and can text message their friend sitting across the room in under 5 seconds. A power outage that leaves their computer unplugged for the night would mean a legitimate excuse for not turning in a school report due the next day. If you try to tell them to write it by hand, you would probably get the same look my children gave their dad when he was playing that Atari game.

In a world where the internet is a household world, there is so much information and trivia, literally, at our fingertips. Our youth know that better than anyone.

I would be the first one to emphasize the importance of technology as a way for us to remain connected with the youth with whom we minister. But I would also be the first to say we have to be intentional at times about “unplugging” ourselves.

Technology is an incredible way for us to be in touch. As a missionary, I was able to stay in touch with friends and family in a way that allowed our relationships to grow deeper despite our physical distance.  I have carried on complete conversations and even theological discussions with people via email.

Sending off an email to one of my youth to share with them a thought on a Biblical passage I’ve read or even just a note to let them know I am thinking of them, is a great way to stay connected. It lets them know I care. When I first started my ministry at the church where I now serve, I received a couple of emails from a youth who wanted to share his concerns and thoughts about our group. Our relationship was still new and he wasn’t comfortable sharing with me in person yet, but was able to share through email. As our relationship grew so did the depth of our communication — both through email and in person.

I have scoured internet pages with my youth looking up words to songs for a worship or images for our Valentine’s Day dinner. I have even helped them find resources they needed for school projects.

And, technology has also allowed me to empower the youth. I have to admit that what I know about technology is only a small bit compared to what my youth know. The field of technology is a place where youth can teach me and where I can allow myself to be led by them. One example of this is a worship we put together at our church last summer. We wanted to make a video of interviews we had done with members of our church about topics chosen by our youth. I sat in awe as one youth showed me how to edit the video. I thought I knew everything there was to know about computers but he taught me a lot of cool new stuff that day.

However, having said all that, I need to say just a word about becoming “unplugged”. There are times when youth need to be separated from their MP3 players, their cell phones, their video cameras and even their radios. They need to be free of all of this technology in order to really listen and hear and even see the ways that God is moving in Creation. It may be an intentional “no electrical gadgets allowed” camping experience, complete with a guitar, the stars, and a campfire or a well-understood rule that cell phones are turned off during Bible studies and worship experiences. I try to help our youth recognize their dependence on technology cannot and should not even compare to the dependence they need to find on God.

The blessings of technology are such that we are allowed deeper fellowship opportunities with each other. We can even read, think and explore new ways of thinking about God through email conversations and through Biblical and spiritual resources we can now find on the internet. These truly are blessings. But, if we don’t allow ourselves to be separated from our devices, they stop being blessings and start being gods that control us. Technology can and does draw us closer to each other and to God but we also need to be able to turn it off and experience God’s incredible “unplugged world.”

Rev. Diane Weible
Kaneohe, HI