Quick tech is wonderful, but there’s one thing it just can’t do

By Dean Collins

With each new generation there seems to be a higher expectation that any and everything should be instant. I was born a baby boomer, the generation that first experienced the use of a microwave, color television, and mobile phones. But the inventions brought forward as Gen Z grew up are much faster. Smartphones, wireless everything, streaming movies instead of tapes or DVDs, and transportation by Uber and Lyft. The world of every generation seems to go faster and faster.

Corporations, churches, and schools are all trying to keep up with the shifting needs and demands of each new generation. Management and leadership styles must adapt so that we find ways to engage and train each new generation while fulfilling our respective missions. And simultaneously we can’t leave out the generations still living and who continue to have worth and experience that must contribute to humanity. New, fast, and shiny can’t be the solutions that are always best or will withstand the test of time.

New, fast, and shiny can’t be the solutions that are always best or will withstand the test of time.

With the advancements in technology, we have access to more and more information that we now can slice and dice more quickly to pinpoint answers to questions. Recent generations prefer specialists to answer nearly everything. General answers don’t seem to be valued. We must know exactly. In some ways, there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, who doesn’t want their diagnoses to be very specific so that we can treat them properly?

On the flip side of that argument, though, is the fact that there are and will always be some things not instant. And as far as I can tell, the complexity of human behavior and maturity is a long, slow process that hasn’t changed dramatically over the years.

Time and wisdom

As I read the first three chapters of Proverbs this morning, I began to think about the factor of time in the development of wisdom. Wisdom is one thing that has never been instant. Maybe Artificial Intelligence can give much help, but I am not yet convinced that robots can offer the wisdom we need for life. And even if they could, we would still need to take the time to embrace life with the wisdom of God in mind and heart.

Solomon offered this: “Do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for the length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.”

Doesn’t sound instant, does it? In fact, Solomon suggests that only the keeping of commandments over one’s lifetime will produce peace. Then he says, “Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck.” Steadfast love and faithfulness are the defining characteristics of God. They cannot be replicated by robots or fully developed into us without our continued surrender to God. In our transformation in Christ, the Holy Spirit comes in and beside us to form us in the love and faithfulness of God. We hold his Word close on the outside while the Word of God by the Spirit of God works its way into us producing wisdom.

Written on the heart

The next line is interesting based on the current usage of the word “tablet.” Solomon’s words: “Write them on the tablet of your heart.” The Hebrew word lu-ach is translated “a board, a stone, a plate.” Maybe our best reference is the tablets of stone where God wrote his commandments for Moses. 

The tablets of old had no power cord. I write all of my devotionals and do most of my work on an iPad, which is a tablet according to current technology lingo. When I did a Google search for “tablet,” the result was two pages before I got to a definition of any other kind of tablet! I can type, erase, correct, or delete with one stroke on the keyboard. But in Solomon’s time, writing something on a tablet took time, and if you bothered to do it you certainly would hold it dearly.

Just as God wrote on tablets of stone, we must allow him to write his love and faithfulness on our hearts. As we cling to this truth, we discover favor and good success in the sight of God and men. Again, there is no suggestion that we discover instant favor and success. These come with time, by grace, by faithfulness, and through the love of God.

Essential for life

I am all for the generations who are following behind me in life. I need them, and so do you. But we who are a little older must demonstrate that the wisdom of God continuing to be poured into us is transferred to the next generation. We can’t get lazy and think that somehow the next generation’s tech will replace God or supply the wisdom essential for life.

I keep my high-tech tablet with me all the time, but I don’t expect it to do the things that God can do. It is a tool that helps me. And while there is a lot of talk about how technology will eliminate jobs and improve lives, I am convinced that God has a proven plan that you and I are central to as we daily surrender to him, receive his wisdom, and use it for his glory.

Your time with God’s Word
Proverbs‬ ‭3:1-8‬ ‭ESV

‭‭Photo by Marta Filipczyk at www.pexels.com

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