practicingtheology.com » Consumerism

Has Our Lust for Gadgets Gone Too Far?

Robert — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:55:53 +0000

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.

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).
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.

The Struggle for Contentment

Robert — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:56:00 +0000

I think one of the reasons why it is so difficult for us to find true contentment in life has a lot to do with our rapid adoption of technology without considering how it is impacting us. I really do believe that technology has had a negative impact on our ability to live out the essence of what it means to be a Christian, to love God and our neighbor (Matthew 22:37-39). This requires selflessness. But technology focuses on exactly the opposite. Consider Apple’s obsession with naming their products. Most of them start with “I” something: iPhone, iPod, iLife, iEverything else. Much of technology is focused on “us”. And it speaks to the narcissism that is running amok in our culture. So over the next few weeks I will be focusing on a series of blogs and articles about the impact of technology on the lives of Christians. Don’t get me wrong. Technology in and of itself is not bad. Technology is not really the problem as much as the fact that we don’t know how to properly use it.

This is an area that I have been studying for the past year and it has resulted in my making some changes in my life with regard to how I use technology. So as an introduction, I would like to direct your attention to a series of podcasts that my friend John Dyer was invited to speak on about the impact of technology on our lives. I have provided direct links to these podcasts below. Enjoy and I can’t wait to start conversing with you on this very important topic. I will leave you with the following quote from Marva Dawn who wrote “Unfettered Hope” which is a book that takes a look at how technology has turned the focus of Christianity from the poor towards ourselves.

“Do we see how the advertising world bluffs us into thinking that more technology or more implementation of the wired worlds possibilities is the only solution to the world problems in economics and politics; to such church problems as the decline in worship attendance, the reduction of membership numbers, or the lack of interest in “church”; and to personal or family problems? . . .

Meanwhile, we ignore the real situation in the world. While one small part of the world eases its pain by producing and consuming more…commodities, the rest of the world suffers the opposite kind of hopelessness—when persons are not able to secure the nourishment necessary to live.”

Here are the links to the podcasts that will introduce you to this issue:

The Medium is the Message

Technology’s Effect on People

Technology and Relationships