Christianizing the Social Network

Tim Challies looks at emerging technology through a theological lens.
Interview by Matthew Lee Anderson
posted 5/17/2011

The Next Story: Life and Faith after the Digital Explosion by Tim Challies

Blogger Tim Challies understands both technology's potential and its potential seduction. He uses emerging tools to keep his 15,000 visitors updated daily at Challies.com. His new book, The Next Story: Life and Faith after the Digital Explosion (Zondervan), considers our reliance on technology and how it impacts our faith. Matthew Lee Anderson spoke with Challies about how Christians might think theologically about technology.

You write that we are "molded and formed into the image of what shapes us." What risks do technologies like Facebook and YouTube pose to the Christian life?

When technologies give us an ability, they also give us a desire. Before Twitter or Facebook, none of us cared about moment-by-moment updates from friends. But with the new tools, we've grown to desire—and sometimes even demand—that sort of information. YouTube heightens and preys upon our desire to see and be seen. It makes us exhibitionists, telling us that any part of the human experience can be someone's entertainment. the rest

But in a world shaped by the Internet, people find their hearts drawn to churches a thousand miles away rather than a short drive away. As a result, they relate to people through chats and forums rather than face to face. It leads to a very mediated form of church community.