This came across in my Google Reader and got my attention. Shane Hipps, pastor of a church in Arizona, recently spoke at a conference about how technology pulls us from being in the present “now” moment. According to the article “Shane argued last night that this is not healthy, nor is it Biblical.”

I don’t know Shane, but that takeaway summary of his message gets me to thinking. It’s fair to say that he is struggling to address a very real issue shared by many pastors and churches. It’s an issue that has been unraveling before our eyes for many years. Technology has become so ubiquitous that no longer is the internet just in our homes and office, but the internet is sitting in nearly every seat and every pew of every service.

Pastors, who are driven to care for and protect their congregation from negative influences, are seeing the effects of this and reaching to find appropriate responses. For years they have been left to perform damage control for families devastated by the darker influences of the web. I also think it’s fair to say that many are arriving at the same conclusions that Shane expressed that “its not healthy, nor is it Biblical.”

When I hear this perspective I completely understand it. And left at that point, that “shut it down” reaction, I believe couldn’t be more wrong. While well intentioned, I venture to say it’s based on fear and a lack of understanding of what’s really going on. I have a lot of compassion for these leaders who have seen a lot of the negative influence of technology on the families they care for, and who feel ill-equipped to provide a viable response.

Can technology distract and exert a negative influence over our lives? Absolutely, and we should do everything we can personally to own responsibility for that and battle against it. It’s just that I’m deeply persuaded that this is not the only thing going on here.

A new Time.com article “Twittering in Church, With the Pastor’s Encouragement” just went up today. Here are some pastors eagerly embracing technology in their churches and I applaud that.

I do often wonder though if we understand the why of technology, or if we rush too quickly to adopt something because it’s “cool” and gives us buzz credibility.

There is a tremendous opportunity here if we are willing to ask ourselves some hard questions and be open to some new answers. But before we dive into stabbing at ways to use technology, I want to “work the problem” and gain a better understanding of the situation. Working from that place of understanding what’s really going on I believe will steer us clear of technology as a problem and ignite the potential of technology as a powerful advantage. I have some thoughts.

Remember the MP3

Whenever I see new technology breaking into our lives, I think back to the dawn of the MP3 and Napster. Remember how the recording industry was freaking out, lawsuits started raining down, and 14 yr old kids were dragged from their homes in handcuffs? (Did that last part happen….maybe that was a movie)

Didn’t the industry see the tremendous opportunity right in front of their eyes? People wanted their music, and were willing to go to simple, easily, and totally illegal lengths to obtain it. Unfortunately, because we know what came eventually from Apple, the music industry’s response was a completely negative response to their consumer.

Finally Apple showed the way with the introduction of the iTunes store AND the iPod, never the two shall part. But that awakening took way too long.

Did (does) piracy need to be attacked? Yes, no question. For that to be the first and for a long time only response was a huge misstep that likely cost the industry major coin and certainly major face.

Let’s Work the Problem

I’ve been working in technology for 14 years both creating software and interactive experiences for marketing, advertising and promotions. I’ve been working in and around ministries for nearly 20 years. Early in my career I managed the customer support team at a software company. I learned what it meant to “work the problem”, to ask the necessary and sometimes inane questions peeling back layer by layer until you have a more full understanding of what’s really going on.

And you know what you came to expect? The problem you thought you had is not really the problem. The actual issue you arrive at is almost never the originally reported issue. And if you stop short and fix only the reported issue, you’ll have that same or an eerily similar issue back on your desk very soon.

Until we really understand this issue of technology in our churches, or at least pause to gain a more foundational understanding of it, we cannot hope to have an effective response.

I’ve been searching high and low for some really good discussion of that, and what I’m mostly finding is how churches are using technology (lately it’s all twitter related). I’m not seeing much discussion into the why, and since this mobile technology is being driven mostly off the platform, it seems that we can learn a lot that can guide our chosen how by better understanding the why from those seats.

Here are the questions I’ve been asking myself for the past year about this issue and some of my initial thoughts. Please chime in. What are some of the questions this raises for you? What are some of your reactions to these issues?

Are distractions only unhealthy? Is there such a thing as a healthy distraction?

Some of my most life changing moments have come during church, during a distraction when the pastor said something that led me down a personal rabbit hole. How about you?

Why are people checking their Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, email, blogs during a church service?

I’m reminded of Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point” where he discusses the extensive studies Sesame Street performed. When children looked away from the television and removed their focus, it was determined that it wasn’t because the content wasn’t interesting, but that the children didn’t understand or feel the content was relevant to them.

What does this tell us about what people want and how they want it?

Does technology pull us out of the “now” moment, or just your “now” moment?

Just as technology can distract us toward unhealthy interests, I see a massive potentiality to absolutely immerse us in a moment. As a speaker, I want people fully engaged not in me but in the content I’m presenting. I have a specific outcome in mind that steers and guides the presentations content and method of delivery. What do I care if your mind wandered off to explore a detail of the presentation so long as it was healthy and productive towards the desired end result. As a matter of fact, isn’t that kind of personal exploration and discovery a much more potent experience that just taking the speakers word for it?

Is the message or presentation not interesting enough to hold their attention?

Maybe. But not at my church, St. Louis Family Church. Pastor Jeff Perry is a dynamic speaker, highly engaging and often entertaining. In 20 years at this church one thing I’ve never been is bored.

Is technology really to blame, or is it just a visible and thus convenient target?

I’m gonna say convenient.

Were people’s attention wandering long before their had a mobile device in their hands to tip you off?

Ouch. _sting_

What does this open, blatant disinterest during a service reveal about the speaker and the service format and content?

I don’t think it necessarily means the service isn’t engaging and interesting, but I think it tells us a lot about how we are beginning to prefer to interact with content.
- we want control, not just a passive experience
- we want a two way conversation and a voice

Final Thoughts….For Now

It occurs to me that I’ve used “we” on both sides of this deal, both as the content provider and the content receiver. I have a vested interest in seeing both sides succeed, and I think that technology isn’t the problem. Technology is the answer.

How can technology be used, how is it currently being used, what does the future look like? I’ve stopped short of delving into possible answers here in this article. This is about understanding the issue.

I feel for Shane and I understand why that is a hot conference topic. I don’t begrudge anyone for coming to those very same conclusions. While many see danger here, and while danger is present, I can’t help but get very excited at a monumental opportunity to turn this thing on its head and see what unimaginable things God can accomplish.

What are your thoughts? What problems have you seen arise here? How are your churches fielding these issues?

Let’s talk.

[ the opinions expressed in this article are my opinions alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my clients or my church ]