Idolatry

Tim Keller has been used by God to generate a lot of heart felt soul searching within Christians in the area of idolatry. In his book Counterfeit Gods, Keller exposes the idolatry that has been left largely unchecked in many of our hearts. He demonstrates that idolatry isn’t only something that can be committed with a carved image, nor that it’s a sin found only in ancient cultures. Instead, he lifts the lid of our hearts and deals specifically with 3 significant idols of modern day life; money, sex, and power.

Keller defines an idol as:

“…anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.”

From the above definition you can see how anything can become an idol. And far from being the “bogeyman” in the corner, an idol is often a good thing—a good gift from God—that we’ve distorted and perverted.

Technology and Idolatry

I’m a geek and I love gadgets and gizmos. I work in the online world. Cutting edge technologies form the tools of my trade. Frequently I’m required to know what’s the current “latest and greatest” and what may be the impact of next week’s. With that in mind I’ve had to spend time reflecting on whether technology was simply a way for me to glorify God, or whether it had actually become my god.

As well as Tim Keller’s work on Counterfeit Gods (“idols”), Tim Challies also works through this issue, specifically targeting technology, in his book The Next Story: Life and Faith after the Digital Explosion.

What I want to share with you today is an important distinction made by Tim Challies. Compared with many other potential idols, technology has a greater idolatrous potential; not only can it become an idol in and of itself, it can also serve as an enabler of other idols.

This is an important distinction because although it can be subtle, it means technology is doubly potent for the idol factory that is our heart.

Technology as an Idol

Tim Challies demonstrates how technology—not just iPhones but all technological advances—can push their way in to replace God:

“[Technology] certainly delivers on its promise, allowing us to live longer and cleaner and healthier and more comfortable lives. But because it is so effective in meeting our needs, it can easily begin to replace the one true God. We begin to think that it is the doctor or surgeon who heals us rather than the God who gives men wisdom to understand the inner workings of the human body. We begin to think that it is the mobile phone company that provides us with the blessing of communication rather than God’s grace enabling families to stay in touch over long distances. We easily assume that technology has the power to grant us the benefits we desire, and we forget the Author of technology and the true purpose of our technologies—bringing glory to him. Technology becomes an idol when we start to believe that humanity’s hope, humanity’s future, will be found in more and better technology. It becomes an idol when we place greater hope in technology than in God and when we measure human progress, not by the state of our hearts, but by new innovations in technology…We can make an idol of technology as we flip through the weekly advertisements, looking for something, anything, that will make our lives just a little bit better and fill the void in our hearts. ” — Tim Challies

Technology as an Enabler of Idols

Technology’s temptation doesn’t end there. Technology’s temptation is double as it can be further perverted to enable other idols to flourish in our hearts. Challies continues:

“Technology becomes a tool of our existing idols. The man who makes sex into an idol, who is consumed by lust and who has no greater loyalty than following his sexual impulses, will use technology to enable and enhance his idolatry. His computer can certainly be used for many good and godly purposes, but instead it becomes a tool in the service of the idol that controls him, furthering his bondage, increasing the power of that idol through the viewing of pornography or the pursuit of illicit relationships. His cell phone, useful for communicating with loved ones, now becomes another conduit for a furtive glimpse at the pornography that fuels his lustful desire. His television, a possible means of education and relaxation, now becomes just another platform for perversion to enter his eyes and his soul. It is no coincidence that the explosive availability of pornography has happened alongside—and, more accurately, through—the digital explosion. The woman who makes an idol of the love of money can now use her computer and her connection to the Internet to engage in online gambling, winning hundreds but losing thousands. She will use it to spend the money she makes and to fritter away the money she can’t afford to be without…Yes, technology can be an idol in our hearts, one of the ways we replace God. But far more commonly, digital technology is a means to further the power of other idols.” — Tim Challies

Our Response to Technology’s Temptation

After reading all this you may be feeling the pull to simply run away and avoid all technology.

Despite that not actually being a realistic option, Tim Challies argues convincingly in The Next Story that it’s also not the most biblical response. Instead, we’re “to carefully evaluate it, redeem it, and ensure that we are using it with the right motives and for the right goals.”

I’d add to this something Tim Keller notes in Counterfeit Gods. Idols “cannot simply be removed. They must be replaced.” In this case, replacing the counterfeit god of technology with the One True God.

As you repent of the idolatry in your life, rejoice and hope in God and the Gospel. Finding complete satisfaction in Jesus will leave no room for technology’s temptation to bloom.