This article today is dedicated to all pastors!
Personally, I’ve never met any pastors who were anti-technology or never heard about any of their objections to the use of technology. And, I assume that they all get along with technology – I’m sure they all have a mobile phone and watch TV.
However, as per a research carried out by Tyndale University College and Seminary, many church leaders and pastors are too focused on technology to realize that it has radically changed their relationships with God.
Technology Addiction
When you are a pastor, you represent many other things to believers or members of your church. To some, you are a surrogate father or brother while to others, you are a leader, a mentor, a teacher or a confidant. To these people, you are a role model and they depend on you for their spiritual growth and development. However, to carry out your role as a pastor or as how they see you to be, you need to be very, very close to God and have a deep and intimate relationship with Him.
As a pastor, only when you take your time for focused Bible study and prayer that you will be able to help believers grow. However, that’s not possible when you can’t unplug from technology, right?
There’s this common perception that unlike common members of a church, pastors are not addicted to technology or technological gadgets. I’ve heard testimonies of many pastors who confessed that there was a point in their lives when they were too absorbed in technology that they couldn’t devote enough time to God. This addiction is not the same technology addiction that others face. While addiction to technology represents around 12 hours a day for others, for you, it might be 6 hours, but even these 6 hours may cost you.
As a pastor, you might find it hard to confess to other believers that you can’t somehow live without your smartphone or the internet. However, if you want to unplug from technology and connect more with God, it is important for you to confess this addiction problem to God.
You May Be More Skeptical
The most common duty of a pastor includes preaching sermons to the congregation. And, obviously, a sermon cannot be preached as per one’s intelligence or competence, but rather by being driven by the Holy Spirit. However, if you aren’t connected or don’t believe in the Holy Spirit, this task will be impossible.
A pastor who don’t believe in the Holy Spirit? You might find this weird but I’m not talking about faith here, but rather when you start being skeptical about what God can do, what He did or about His mighty power.
You see, it’s a fact that advances in science and technology have led to an increasing number of atheists. This is the most obvious and negative consequence of technology for Christians. Technology may have been a gift from God to mankind but this same technology has somehow separated many believers from God.
When you are tasked with delivering the message of God to His people, there’s a couple of things you need to be able to grasp the meaning of that message and nowadays, most pastors use the internet as their source for Biblical information. It’s really nice to have a tool where you can get quick and easy access to information that you can’t otherwise have. I do not deny the fact that the internet allows pastors to have access to a wide range of Christian books and ministry tools, but I’d like to emphasize on the fact that sometimes it’s easy even for pastors to get swayed by all those conspiracy theories and online nonsense that always seem to condemn the philosophy of Christianity.