“The ego is the part of us that loves power. It is the part that loves to be seen, recognized, praised, and adored. Facebook provides a powerful platform for this. It provides a platform by which every word, picture, or thought I have can be seen, praised, 'liked'. As a result, I begin to seek this. But then it doesn't just stay in the cyber world. I begin even to live my life with this visibility in mind. Suddenly, I live every experience, every photo, every thought, as if it's being watched, because in the back of my mind I'm thinking, "I'll put it on Facebook." This creates a very interesting state of being, almost a constant sense that I am living my life on display. I become ever conscious of being watched, because everything can be put up on Facebook for others to see and comment on.”
-from HuffingtonPostReligion
We live in a society that relies on technology. No doubt for us students, technology is one of the biggest distractions. We can spend loads of time on Facebook or Youtube instead of doing our assignments or studying. I’m sure it shows if we looked at stats (if there were any) of how students spent their time 30 years ago in university and how we spend our time now in the 21st century.
Technology has definitely made many parts of our lives more convenient. Never before has the world as a whole been so connected. We can stay in contact with friends and family around the world through instant messaging, email and social networks. I can ask someone how they are doing by sending an email and immediately in a few minutes get a response. We can stay in contact with more people than ever before through things like Facebook, Twitter and email. I can easily stay in contact with someone I just met on a trip or in a conference. We can share information, insights, pictures and videos very easily through social networks and blogs. Breaking news will travel instantly across the world and millions of people can know about something minutes after it happens (especially with advent of Twitter).
Besides being a distraction for productivity sometimes though, technology can also be something that can inflate our ego. The article that the quote above was taken from puts it very bluntly (go read it!). We want to be seen, heard and praised by other people. We look for people’s approval instead of God’s. It’s true that even without Facebook or Twitter, that desire innate in us would still be there. I see that especially evident in my life when with large groups of friends. I sometimes find myself doing things to get people’s attention, or gain their approval. But Facebook and Twitter provides another way for us to do it and it is a constant temptation (at least for me) to not let other people’s thoughts towards me influence my actions.
If we let those things drive our lives, then they will become idols. We put the importance of other people’s thoughts and attitudes towards us above God’s. We become prideful and self-centered, seeking our own glory instead of God’s.
Sometimes we fast from technology (ie. no Facebook for a month!!!), and it definitely helps in reminding yourself what values are important in life, etc etc. But I think we need to also go to the core of the problem: our desire for our own glory and not God’s. Fasting may only cover the problem instead of solving it if we don’t reflect on its purpose.
So why do we do the things we do? Why do you work hard in school? Why am I serving in this ministry? I’ve been asking myself a lot of questions towards my purpose of doing things recently. I think because I so easily fall to glorifying myself, I need to constantly remind myself for why I should be doing things. I want to reflect on the gospel, on eternal things, and on what really matters; not on things that are petty and meaningless.
I’m definitely really thankful that God has given us His Spirit to convict us of our sins. But it also takes a huge amount of faith that God will continue to sanctify us into His image. Without that faith, we become anxious and worried and start to rely on ourselves to fix our problems. So I definitely need to pray that God will continue to convict me and give me the strength to change from my ways.
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