technology really is. What started me thinking was hearing a voice on the radio from Nigeria, followed by one from Arizona, and then two from France. All of these voices were talking to someone in England who hosts a worldwide radio talk show. Radio and telephone linked all those voices together. I realized that just being able to hear one voice over the radio is pretty incredible, especially while rocketing down the road in the middle of pine trees that were far enough away from my home that for most of human history it would have required a month's journey to see. Later I put a CD in my player and was able to listen to musicians who had performed this music years ago in Africa -- a trip in space and time that was unimaginable until the late 19th century. I listened to that music while driving past a lake that only exists because of technology.Over the course of that drive I experienced several kinds of climate and geology, seeing sights in a day that might take a lifetime to experience in the past. I talked to my daughter 100 miles away. I learned about how many other travelers were on the road ahead of me in time to make any adjustments to my route. I knew the kind of weather the readers of this blog in the Portland area were enjoying while I was still feeling the chill of mountain air.
What grabbed me the most, though, was that this technology allowed me to see, hear, touch, and taste vast amounts of God's creation. This is a blessing of epic proportion. Again, thinking back through all of the people who have lived on this planet, it's only the most recent, and those who live in areas where the technologies of transportation, communication, and information have advanced this far, who get the chance to have that experience. Next year, a group of people from BCC will walk in the locales Jesus walked in. Others will vacation in places as diverse as Europe, Florida, California, and Montana, while others serve in Haiti, Honduras, or Siberia. In my half day I started in desert, speeding past volcanic outpourings, through mountains and vast forests, and into the wet, fertile Willamette valley. If I had been so inclined, by the end of the day I could have been sitting underneath some of the largest and oldest trees on this planet. Or sitting on a boat in the Puget Sound. Or walking in the sand looking out on the largest body of water on the planet, whose movements are influenced by the lesser light in the sky. Or -- even gone home and looked at pictures of people on that moon!
The flip side of technology is that I could have raced through the drive without paying much attention at all to God's creation, and to the results of the creativity He has given us as human beings. I could have lived yesterday without once considering that there will be many situations in my life, and in our lives, where technology will be no answer. Perhaps never even considering them at any point in my life until they arrive, because technology has provided answers to so many challenges in my lifetime. Technology can be mighty impressive at times, but, in the end, our very existence, every breath we take, is a gift from God.
After hearing Jesus talk about Jerusalem in terms of "desolation", the disciples point out to Him the magnificence of the Temple -- technology. "Now as Jesus was going out of the temple courts and walking away, his disciples came to show him the temple buildings. And he said to them, 'Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, not one stone will be left on another. All will be torn down!'” (Matt. 24:1,2) In other words, guys, don't be too impressed by what humans have built, it can (and will) be destroyed. The temple's a temporary thing.
There's a larger lesson that Jesus has in mind in these words. He's preparing the disciples for the time when His sacrifice will replace the sacrifices in the temple, His spirit will be present in their lives and they will no longer have to go to the temple to worship, and the understanding that they will become the stones of God's temple (we'll read about this understanding in places like 1 Peter). For the moment, I want to spend just a bit more time on technology and man-made stuff.
During part of my drive I was thinking about what it would be like if this car and I could be plopped down into the midst of first century Palestine. Better than a car, what about a motorcycle that could ride on the trails of the day? If the disciples were impressed with the Temple, imagine someone riding into the court of the gentiles on a Honda. How miraculous would that bike appear, and how much would they be able to grasp about how it worked, using analogs to machines of their day? What would a ride at 35 miles per hour feel like to them? It would all be incredible, wouldn't it? That is, until the tank ran dry.
Technology impresses, there' s no getting around it. The creativity and ingenuity of people reflects God's own nature. We're made in His image. But it can be a trap. The trap is dependence and isolation. These are the reminders I need today -- don't miss the universe God has given us to live in. Don't expect man-made stuff to last forever, or rely on it for ultimate answers. Don't forget that the very resources we shape into technology come from God. And as Jesus says at the end of the chapter, be good stewards of His house, using His resources wisely, and live expectantly in anticipation of His return.
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