Technology



I’ve been thinking how great technology is over the weekend. I just finished reading a series of novels based in a medieval period and how long it took the characters to communicate long distances. They would travel for weeks to move just 50 to 100 miles. I think we take the technology we have now for granted. I had my truck serviced and the state inspection done on Saturday and while waiting I pulled out my Palm cell phone and surfed the web and answered e-mails. It wasn’t until I was done waiting that it hit me how great we have these days.

I normally don’t think about how easy we have it with our cell phones today. Two weeks back, Teresa and I were getting the house ready for the family (for Christmas) and we came across our first cell phones; bought them in 1999. They were heavy compared to what we have now and they were just phones. They didn’t have a camera, camcorder, web-access, or anything else we take as being normal on our cell phones today. I drive at least 38 miles round trip to work everyday (which is roughly 50 minutes in the truck) and just a hundred years ago this trip would have taken most of the day. In Biblical times most people only traveled maybe 15 to 20 miles from the home; most people lived most of their lives only traveling 10 to 15 miles from their home. Our technology is growing fast; yesterday Teresa saw the cell phones we have for only $50 and I think we paid $150 just 6 months ago. The same can be said about computers.

The reason why this struck me as interesting is that the people in ministry have great tools at our figure tips. We can be in contact with the office without needing to be in the office. With cell phones and laptops, we can stay out in the “field” and still stay in touch. God called us to be about our Father’s work but most are locked up in their offices doing administration stuff. I love being bi-vocational so I can be out and about shining God’s light on the field I have been entrusted with. When God opens the door for me to be a Senior Pastor of my own church (actual it is God’s church) I would be not in the office as much as some pastors. I will be in the coffeehouses and other place getting to know the community. Technology has given us the tools to do so much more than our forefathers. We should use it to the max to reach our world for Christ.