By: Steve Wilmot
Edgerton, Ohio
“A man who looks at his phone more than his Bible is not being transformed. He is being programmed.” This sentence parallels another statement I heard years ago: “The voice that informs you, forms you.”
It’s the old GIGO computer language—Garbage In, Garbage Out. Flawed or biased data fed into a computer produces a flawed or biased result (“garbage”).
Peter Coy agrees: “Computers [can’t] produce good forecasts when given bad data to chew on.”
In the same way, only the data we feed into our minds can be drawn upon to form and reinforce our worldview, which determines the way we think, feel, and act. “The voice that informs you, forms you.”
Where do you draw the bulk of your “data” concerning right and wrong, God, and what matters and what doesn’t from?
If you constantly feed yourself the messages of our culture, you’ll conform to it and begin to see, think, and live your life from the same vantage point.
That’s why so much of the Church and so many Christians mirror the world’s view on divorce, abortion, sexuality, charity, morality, money, work, and many other issues.
The more we allow “garbage in,” the more we’ll conform to the patterns of this world—the very thing Paul warned us against: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world” (Romans 12.2a). Or as the Phillips translation of the Bible puts it: “Do not let the world squeeze you into its mold.”
Look around; it’s easy to see we’ve mostly ignored this alert. We apparently don’t believe exposure to the values of our ungodly culture coming at us from all directions 24/7 can squeeze us into the world’s mold. But it has.
Too many believers are addicted to their phones and don’t realize it is feeding them all sorts of anti-God, anti-Bible philosophies, values, and ways of thinking.
Once our brain is programmed, much like a computer, it acts on the data being fed into it. We never stop to ask ourselves if the data is true or false. We accept it as truth and add it to our belief system.
We have conformed to the worldview of the ungodly culture around us. Why? Because we are addicted to the internet, smartphones, video gaming, social media, television, and radio. We let them be the voices that inform us and shape how we see the world.
It’s impossible to avoid the constant barrage of anti-Christian messages coming from multiple forms of media completely. But there is a way to limit its influence on you. To counterbalance it. That’s how Paul completes his warning in Romans 12.2.
Don’t: “conform to the patterns of this world.” Do: “but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” We must feed biblical data into our minds, and let it influence the way we see, think, and live our lives. What we believe and what we value. Who we are, who God is, and what he can do.
John Eldredge points us to another reason we must let the Bible transform us. “I don’t think we realize how much our use of technology and its assault on our attention has made it difficult to [give God our attention as a regular practice].
You can’t give God your attention when your attention is constantly being targeted and taken captive … and you’re cooperating…“Dear reader — you can’t find more of God when all you’re able to give him is a flit and flicker of your attention.
“The good news is that we have a choice… The things currently assaulting us are things we can choose not to participate in.”
What would happen if you chose to significantly cut back the amount of time you spend on your phone and other forms of technology?
What would happen if you invested an equal amount of time reading your Bible? At the very least, you would have more time to give God your attention, and you would conform less to the patterns of this world.
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Steve Wilmot is a former Edgerton, Ohio area pastor who now seeks “to still bear fruit in old age” through writing. He is the author of seven books designed to assist believers to make steady progress on their spiritual journey.