Christian Freedom in a Technology-Saturated World

We just finished singing Auld Lang Syne and the new year is well underway.  Now that things have settled down, how are your resolutions going?  Did you decide to cut back on junk food, be kinder to your family, or stop binge-watching Netflix?  Personally, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to start anew in one area of my life even before the New Year began.

For some time, I’ve been trying to keep my technology use in balance and not give in to aimless scrolling or indulging my curiosity.  In recent years, when we exchanged our convent flip phone for a smartphone, I started learning to use the device and found it more handy than starting up the computer.

When I went away for some time this summer, I brought the phone with me.  People began to depend on it as a way of getting in touch with me, even though I warned them that I didn’t always carry it.

Although I appreciate the convenience of using a smartphone, I also came to feel its negative effects.  I’m not alone in this.  This past year, I read a book about technology and its addictive properties, which explained how smartphones take advantage of the way our brains are “wired” to draw us in.  I’ve learned that there’s something called “FOMO,” that is “Fear Of Missing Out,” where we constantly find ourselves picking up the phone to see if someone sent us a message or if a bright red dot indicates a new notification of some sort.  Is FOMO the reason many people bring their phones into meetings, family gatherings, or even to Mass?

Technology has, in many instances, almost turned us into slaves.  This stands in contrast to how things should be for us as Christians.  St. Paul, in his letter to the Galatians in 5:1 states: “For freedom, Christ has set us free.”   St. John Paull II explains that “freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.”

I found that just because I’d like to carry the phone around and pick it up whenever I have the urge, this is not true freedom.  On the other hand, freedom is, for me, the ability to do what I ought to do.

I have an obligation to preserve my freedom of heart and mind (with the help of God’s grace).  My heart is to be fixed on Him.  When I am enslaved to technology, distracted from my work and engrossed in social media, etc., I am not living my life in Christ to the full.  Would that, as St. Paul says in another passage (1 Cor. 7:34) I would be “…anxious about the things of the Lord, so that [I] may be holy in both body and spirit.”

By our baptism, we are called to be members of Christ.  We are all called to love and seek Him above all things.  When we are in a place where we are easily “sucked into technology,” we are not free to love and serve Him with our whole being.

In recent months, this has been on my mind.  I knew I didn’t like the place the phone had taken in my life.  I wanted to do something to help myself “avoid the near occasion of” being sucked into wasting time with technology!

After speaking of my situation with my religious superior, I made the move to discontinue using and carrying a cell phone.  I have found great freedom in this.

I still regularly use technology and even social media, especially for work.  I still have to watch myself and continue diligence in my self-discipline regarding its use.  Furthermore, I still fail.  However, putting this distance between myself and the instant gratification of getting messages or satisfying my curiosity with a smartphone has been a wonderful step for me.

I need to continue turning to Our Lord, seeking His grace to overcome my own desires and seek first His kingdom.  I need His guidance in finding balance in this area.  To return to St. Paul’s words on freedom in Galatians, I need help as I strive to “stand firm and…not submit again to the yoke of slavery.”

I realize that healthy technology habits look a bit different for each one of us.  However, as you enter into this new year, you might ask yourself:

• Where am I at on my use of technology?
• In what ways have I noticed that technology limits me?
• Are there concrete steps I want to take so that I live in the freedom of the children of God rather than being controlled by technology?
• Can I limit my use of technology in a few small ways as a practice of self-discipline to help myself grow in the Christian life?