Have you ever had a bad technology day? For me, it ruins almost everything.

I rely heavily on using my iPad. I hardly ever use my work computer. And the other day, my iPad crashed. They aren't supposed to do that, right?

But it did. It's technology. It has flaws. It messes stuff up. When it works, it saves me a bunch of time and helps me get even more done. When it doesn't work, I'm paralyzed.

Every now and then I say jokingly, "How did people do ministry before the internet?!" Well, half jokingly. The honest truth is, when I run into these technology issues, I feel like it hampers my ability to do ministry.

I'm still working out in my mind whether or not this is ok. Is it ok that I'm at a level of technology usage that I rely on it to do ministry, and when it doesn't function, I am less effective?

Truth is, we've ALWAYS used technology in our ministry. It was just at different levels. What if Paul's courier had dropped the parchment carrying the letter to the Romans in a puddle? What if Gutenberg's printing press ran out of ink? What if John Wesley's horse died? What if your church's electricity goes out on a Sunday morning?

To me, this shows the beauty of the Gospel. It is incredibly flexible. It can be distributed well when technology is used, and when technology dies, it is no less effective. So why is technology necessary if the Gospel can be proclaimed without it?

My argument would be that it is only partially because you can be more effective in communicating the Gospel, and mostly because it allows people to receive the Gospel in a familiar way. Speaking someone else's language is vitally important in communicating with them, and it has almost as much to do with the means by which communication happens as the actual language you are speaking.

What do you think? Is it ok for technology to take such a prominent role in sharing the Gospel?

Location:When Good Technology Goes Bad