“We shape our tools and afterward our tools shape us.”

- Marshall McLuhan

This week, I’m participating in a blog tour of a new book called Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith. To be honest, when I finished the book, my mind was swimming a little. The author, Shane Hipps, touches on many ways our lives and thought processes can be affected by a variety of media: everything from the very basic written word (in contrast to oral tradition) to the latest social media trends. I felt that only a few chapters specifically lined up with the book’s title — “how technology shapes your faith” — but even though it didn’t completely embody the type of book I’d been expecting, it still appealed to me as it deals with what makes people tick (always a favorite topic of mine).

For this particular blog tour, participants were asked to simply chat about some thoughts from the book, rather than stick to a strict review format. So in light of that premise, I won’t go into detail about my likes and dislikes regarding Flickering Pixels. Suffice it to say that the author and I disagree on a few theological issues, and I also don’t think all the conclusions he drew in the book were accurate.

However, I agree with the essential idea behind the book: The technology and the media used in our culture (and in our homes and churches) impact us, and we need to be aware of the ways in which they do, using (even embracing) them when appropriate but guarding against them when necessary.

That said, I’d like to throw out a couple ideas presented in the book and get your feedback. I’ll mention three, along with my (not so) brief thoughts. If you’d be so kind, pick one (or more) and share your thoughts with me. I’d love to hear them.

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1. Social media (such as Twitter, Facebook, and yes, even blogging) and the Internet create an “illusion of intimacy with people we’ve never met” and, in turn, tend to erode real intimacy in our lives.

The author tells a story of a woman who had been waiting and waiting for news about her friend’s new baby, who was due any day. After several weeks had gone by, she called her friend and asked what was happening. The friend replied that photos of the new baby had been on her Facebook page for a while now, and she just assumed the woman had gone there to see them. The woman was disappointed and maybe a little hurt. After all, she thought they were good friends and had been hoping for (and expecting) some personal contact (aka, a sign of intimacy), especially since she didn’t even use Facebook.

I think this danger is a real one, particularly for those of us who maintain blogs. We might share our kids’ accomplishments, our personal struggles, and the things we’re learning in life with the whole world, but we might need to step back and ask ourselves: 1) Am I mistaking ‘anonymous intimacy’ for the real thing? and 2) Am I maintaining my real-life relationships appropriately?

As an introvert, I already struggle with the tendency to isolate myself. Admittedly, blogging makes it that much easier for me to not call family and friends (and actually connect with them). I can just figure, Hey, they can read about what’s going on with me on my blog. (Or Facebook, or Twitter, or whatever.) No need to call.

While I don’t think I’m under any illusion that I’m “close” with all 100 or so people who might read any given blog post of mine, I do have to guard against the tendency to let those posts “count” as my intimacy and connection for the week.

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2. Establishing boundaries with our kids when it comes to media and technology is crucial.

You’d think this would be one of those, “Yeah — duh!” principles, but I am often amazed at the stories I hear (or come in personal contact with) of parents who have no clue about:

• What Internet chat rooms are
• The songs on their grade-schoolers’ iPods
• The dangers and temptations resulting from kids have Internet-linked computers in their bedrooms
• The really yucky things cell phones can and are being used for

Granted, we can’t know everything. I get that. But as parents, we have no choice but to be vigilant about the information, images, and communication reaching our kids. The author suggests two reasons that establishing technology boundaries for children is difficult. First, there’s just so much to know, and kids will usually be a step ahead of us in the knowledge department. But second:

“Parents may fear their kids will be left out or left behind if they restrict access to technology. Parents want their children to become familiar with the digital world so they’ll be prepared to navigate it and succeed in this life. Parents realize that their kids connect with friends increasingly through digital means, and they don’t want their kids left out of the tribe.”

My kids are out of luck, I guess. We feel strongly about technology boundaries — everything from keeping computers with Internet access in a public location, to Interent filters, to “your iPod gets updated by my computer, so I always know what’s on there,” to “no, you don’t need a cell phone yet, even if it seems like everybody has one.” If that means somehow not keeping up with their friends, then we’ll all just have to deal with that.

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3. God just might care about the media we use in worship.

A fairly large chunk of the book of Exodus (chapters 25-30) goes into tremendous detail about how God wanted his people to set up, construct, and use their tabernacle, their place of worship. God details everything from garments worn by the priests, to the basin used for washing, to the lampstand. And He wasn’t just making casual suggestions: “Use some gold, maybe have an outer court.” No, the instructions God gave were loaded with specific dimensions, materials, and purposes.

The author of Flickering Pixels points out that all the parts — the altars, the basins, the fabrics — were forms of media. They were things (tools and materials) used in the worship of God.

Though we’re no longer under the regulatory commands of these passages, there is still much we can learn from them. And perhaps one of the things we can learn is that God cares about how we worship. Maybe it’s not wise to adopt an attitude of, “As long as you have the actual words right, it doesn’t matter how you present them or what you use to do so.”

And no, I don’t have any specific ideas on where I’m going here. It’s something I’m still processing and pondering. But there’s one thing I’m pretty sure about: we should put significant thought and prayer into how we communicate God’s truth to others and how we worship and serve him in our culture.

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I know this was an insanely long post, so if you hung in there for the whole thing, thank you! And if you have a minute, I’d love for you to help make this more of a dialogue.

Which of the three ideas I listed jumped out at you? What are your thoughts or experiences relating to that idea?