If you know me, you know I love technology. And I also love the study of how technology affects people of faith. I’ve written about a few times here on this blog. I love gadgets and I love reading about the companies that make them. Recent events in China have me wondering if our (especially mine) has gone too far. I have a friend who I love to debate with about various issues in the tech world, mostly about Apple, Google and Microsoft: the company everyone loves to hate. As I was making me morning rounds of the daily tech press, I came across a story about a company in China called Foxconn who makes gadgets for HP, Dell, Apple and other tech companies. This company has come under fire in recent months because 9 of its 800,00 (yes you read that right) employees have died (some committed suicide) within the past five months. Eleven people have jumped off buildings at the site.

It’s easy to fault the leadership of these companies as caring more about money than human beings. However, a bigger part of the problem is a gadget obsessed culture who wants everything now and is willing to pay top dollar and go into debt. This puts tremendous pressure on gadget factories like Foxconn to meet demand. Employees are forced to sign affidavit’s requiring them to work 60-100 hours of overtime.

You can’t wait for your iPhone and I can’t wait for my Droid because we are convinced these products will make our lives better, more complete. Something has gone wrong when Christians, dare I say, churches themselves promote this mentality through consumer oriented worship “experiences” that reinforce our obsession with things that make us feel good.

So what are we to do? I don’t know for sure, because I don’t believe there is an easy answer. I do have a couple suggestions and maybe you can offer some in the comments below.

1. Take a second look at the worship in our churches. If you are in a position to make the call on how your church worships, I would strongly encourage you to educate yourself on the ways various worship experiences reinforce damaging consumeristic mentalities. A good place to start is by reading the works of a theologian and worship expert names Marva Dawn (A Royal Waste of Time, Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down, and Unfettered Hope).
2. Evaluate your own lust for “stuff” and don’t hesitate to make some necessary adjustments. If you can barely pay your rent, mortgage payment, or tuition bill every month, you probably should not be purchasing the high end gadgets.