The Digital Invasion

I. The dangers of technology 1. Inventions aren't always a good thing (Ecc 7:29; Psa 106:29,39). 2. "If there is technological advance without social advance, there is, almost automatically, an increase in human misery, in impoverishment." (Michael Harrington, The Other America, 1962) 3. "Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end." (Henry David Thoreau, Walden, "Economy," 1854) 4. "Technology and producti...

V. The need for human connection. 1. This new digital world with its social networking, emails, and texts boasts itself a utopia for human connection. A. We can now connect with long-lost relatives, friends, co-workers, and classmates from around the country or world. B. People now have hundreds of "friends" on Facebook or LinkedIn. C. But has all this digital connection actually improved our relationships and our fullness as individuals? 2. The scripture emphasizes the importance of face-to-face inter...

VII. The tendency to say, share, and gossip too much online 1. Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter provide an easy avenue to blab things we should not and would not normally have the opportunity to in real life. A. The definition of twitter is telling. B. Twitter v. - 1. intr. Of a bird: To utter a succession of light tremulous notes; to chirp continuously with a tremulous effect. b. transf. Of a person: To sing after the above manner; also (esp. of a woman), to talk or chatter rapidly in a...

XII. Internet pornography 1. "The greatest threat to the body of Christ, to the church, to families, and to the individual Christian is the pervasive, destructive pornography available through the Internet." (Josh McDowell) 2. Internet pornography is an evil invention of men which people go a whoring after (Psa 106:39). 3. Pornography used to be harder to get. A. It required going to a store and buying a magazine in person. B. This was a deterrent to decent people. C. Then it became available on the...

8. How to avoid the temptation to view pornography. A. Keep your thought-life pure. i. Think on godly things (Phi 4:8). ii. You are what you think about (Pro 23:7). iii. Commit your works unto the Lord and your thoughts will be established (Pro 16:3). a. "Action seems to follow feeling, but really action and feeling go together; by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not." (Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Infl...

XV. Internet addictions 1. Internet use, like many other activities or substances, can be addictive if overused. A. If you can't stop doing a certain habitual thing (surfing the internet, video gaming, shopping, playing a sport, gambling, etc.) or using a certain substance (alcohol, cigarettes, coffee, pain medication, sleeping medication, etc.) without having withdrawal symptoms, you are addicted to that activity or substance. i. Addiction n. - 1. Rom. Law. A formal giving over or delivery by sentence ...