by Andrew Zimmerman
June 26, 2024
Read full article on Plough.com • Listen to this article
How the Bruderhof community tries to be intentional about personal technology.
We thought we had a pretty grounded and effective approach to tech in our communities – until the pandemic struck. Like many churches, we rolled out infrastructure and devices during the various lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 so church services and members’ meetings could be held online, and so that many of us could work from home.
But as the pandemic receded and in-person meals, meetings, and work resumed, the phones, tablets, laptops, and Wi-Fi stayed.
…We realized that we were at risk of losing a valuable portion of the face-to-face interactions that are essential to our way of life. We were reminded that tech is not in fact neutral: It can be a passive hindrance to community by stealing our time. And it can also be an actively destructive force – not just among teenagers, but among people of any age.
There was broad (though not universal) consensus in our communities that the growth of personal tech had become a serious problem. According to the rule of our common life, it was up to the body of members to find a solution. One such possible solution, which some were eager for, would have been to develop strict new rules to apply to each of our communities to combat perceived misuses of technology. Since we make decisions unanimously, this would have meant members agreeing on limitations that everyone would be expected to accept and uphold.
We chose not to take this path, which would inevitably involve a degree of legalism and rigidity. It would not be in keeping with our identity as a community founded on trusting and honest relationships rather than enforced conformity. Instead, a team of pastors (including myself) and IT professionals assembled to address issues and bring forward solutions. We went in knowing we could not roll back the clock, but we were willing to see how we could become more disciplined and intentional about our use of personal technology.
… we reported to our congregations about the problems we saw and asked them too to have discussions and help come up with practical suggestions. In these meetings, rather than focusing on the “evils” of smartphones and social media, we looked for specific, achievable solutions to problems like a dearth of connection or a rise in loneliness. Members came up with guidelines for appropriate phone use in various communal settings, to reestablish some basic social norms. Our emphasis was not on controlling each other but on mutual accountability, on nurturing the positive vision of what community is for, and letting personal tech find its place within that.
Specifics:
The proposed guidelines, which have been adopted with varying degrees of enthusiasm, included suggestions around how and when earbuds should be worn in communal workplaces such as workshops, kitchens, or gardens so that real conversations could flourish instead of everyone listening to their podcast of choice, and the expectation that we wouldn’t check our phones during communal gatherings. And while it need not be strict, we realized we would all benefit from some form of Sabbath observance, where it’s expected you won’t answer calls, texts, or emails on Sunday.
Our team also educated ourselves more fully on dangerous aspects of technology, such as the effect of social media on teens’ mental well-being, and made ourselves available as a resource to parents who might wish to have these discussions with their high-school or university-age children but feel unequipped. And for young adults, we renewed our emphasis on coaching them to learn to use tech well, since it’s inevitable that they’ll be using it.
As with much of life, our attitude to personal technology requires a balancing act; like so many people these days, we are trying to find the right place for it. Our conversations and adjustments to tech use are ongoing.
We continue to ask ourselves what it means to be countercultural. From the early church on, followers of Christ have been out of step with the world; in fact, the gospel demands it. Yes, it can be hard, but maybe that’s the point.
““We live amid a carnival of distractions, and we have to daily wage war on the sin in our hearts that wants to yank us away from the kingdom purposes we find in our faith,” writes Chris Martin in his excellent book The Wolf in Their Pockets.
“This is why we need the community of brothers and sisters in Christ, to help us walk the narrow path when we’d rather just go our own way.””
As new developments in tech continue to present new challenges, we’re committed to finding a healthy approach together. Most of us realize better today than we did two years ago that we should be too busy caring for our neighbors to spend excessive time online.
“Do not be conformed to this world,” Paul tells the Romans – and us – “but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” The distractions of viral trends, news alerts, and targeted advertising tend to conform us to what the rest of society wants. Transforming our minds is a lot harder. And even legitimate work-related tech use can pull our focus away from our brothers and sisters, and from God. But together we can overcome this pull, and I believe we will.
Read the full article here.
Plough’s summer issue, The Good of Tech, contains other articles:
· The Artificial Pancreas: How can we live well with technology?
· From Scrolls to Scrolling in Synagogue
· Will there be an AI Apocalypse?
· Tech Cities of the Bible
· ChatGPT Goes to Church
· Masters of our Tools
· A Church in Ukraine Spreads Hope in Wartime
· And more…
You may pick up a copy of this issue at the 2024 NCN International Gathering Oct 11 – 14
at Camp Loucon. The Fall 2024 issue will also be available free.
