Thank Google (Blasphemy)

Kate Shellnutt wrote an article titled “This is Your Brain on Google” for Christianity Today in which she said: “We instinctually ask our laptops and smartphones to tell us and teach us, things we once relied on other people to do.”

A couple weeks ago I was at a friend’s house after a hunting trip. He’s 87-years-old. My elderly friend noticed that the tie-downs on my all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and trailer were in precarious positions (in other words, the tie-downs had been attached by me) creating pressure points that could fray and break. He had me pull the trailer around back to his shop where we drilled some holes in the steel frame and installed hooks for the tie-downs. This made the trailer safer to carry my ATV. Even though I knew how to drill and install hooks, I listened patiently as he walked me through the project step by step. You never know, you can learn something new even when you think you know a process inside out. I learned it is better to use a bigger eye bolt than you might need for the job at hand because you never know what you will want to haul in the future.

Anyhow, my friend was able to show me a problem and help me fix it BEFORE it actually became a problem. I don’t think Google or Youtube can do that . . . yet. But more importantly, I felt a sense of appreciation for my friend’s willingness to assist me. I thanked him with a grateful heart. He in turn felt good that his expertise was needed by someone else. This was one of those relational exchanges we applaud in the church.

Lets’ beware that we do not allow technology to replace too much of the relational element in our lives. I am not suggesting Christians become Luddites. That would be lewd (I crack me up). Technology is cool and it can, if used wisely, improve the way we live and relate. But we, the church, must love persons more than our technology. Technology provides a tempting mechanism that enables us to avoid letting people see too much of our true selves. Ironically, it is our true selves that God prefers to deal with in our relationship with Him.

I could have gone to Youtube to learn “how to” install trailer tie-down hooks. It might have taught me the functional procedures I needed to know, but it would have felt . . . impersonal. Youtube can’t fertilize my relationship with the instructor in the video, unless I post a thank you comment. Even then he might never read it. Besides, relationships are a two-way deal full of nuance that doesn’t always transfer through technology.