A Day Made Of Glass
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin Articles
Corning Incorporated (see article) has produced an above titled video along with a subsequent explanation of the technology used in a separate video which depicts a not-to-distant futuristic world showing how people might use enhanced technology in their everyday lives using glass.
As I view these two fascinating videos, I’m wondering how members of the Lord’s church would use this future technology in spreading the gospel of Christ. Will spiritual interest increase as enhanced technology increases or will it decrease?
Over the past three generations, I’ve observed that as technology has increased, spiritual interest in the things of God have generally decreased (or waned). I see this in church assemblies here in El Paso among churches of Christ. For example, from a history of the Montana Street congregation told to me by a long-time member, the congregation used to have over 600 people in the assembly on Sunday morning in the 1950’s and 60’s. In fact, so many folks, that folding chairs had to be brought into the auditorium in order to seat everyone (including those in the balcony).
Today, we have twenty to twenty-five members assembling in the Anglo congregation and less than a hundred members that assemble in the Spanish congregation on any given Sunday. What has happened to cause this dramatic decrease in membership and spirituality over the past sixty some odd years?
In my observation of the changing times, there has been a great increase in worldly distractions and influences — enhanced technology being one of them. Many people in our nation now have smartphones (see article) that can combine the functions of portable media players, low-end compact digital cameras, pocket video cameras, and GPS navigation units. They include high-resolution touchscreens, web browsers that can access and display standard web pages plus high-speed data access via Wi-Fi and mobile broadband; and the list goes on and on.
From my perspective, I see this enhanced technology taking away precious time that members of the Lord’s church used to spend in studying God’s word and teaching it to lost souls on a one-on-one basis (2 Timothy 2:15; 2 Timothy 2:1-2). With all of its innovations, increased technology has produced an ever-widening detached society rather than a united one based on loving one‘s neighbor (Matthew 22:39; cf. Romans 13:9; Gal. 5:14; James 2:8).
What does the future hold for the Lord’s church as enhanced technology increases? I see the same societal change as our Lord saw in the first century in discussing the passing of the Jewish state (Matthew 24:4-12 – see Coffman commentary). Note especially vs. 11 & 12 – “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”
Will our love for the lost grow cold in A Day Made Of Glass?
As members of the Lord’s church in the 21st Century, it’s something for each one of us to seriously ponder as eternity draws near (Revelation 22:20-21).
Related Articles:
- Technology And Effective Evangelism
- Man’s Information Or God’s Wisdom?
- Let’s Daily “Connect” With The Lord
- On Electronic Addictions
- The Internet’s Missing Link – Human Contact
- A Great Need For “Real” Conversation
- Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?
- Social Media, Trick Or Treat?
- Some Things That Will Never Change