Articles
"It's Time to Leave"
"It's Time to Leave"
Brian Ketchem
"It’s time to leave." This notification was part of a recent (last couple of years) iPhone update. My phone knows the places that I frequent, reads data out of my calendar, and lets me know when it is time to go places that I didn't tell it. Generally, people have one of two reactions to this kind of notification. Either anger, big brother, tech tracking conspiracy theories, or, "oh, how helpful!"
I would say, by in large, the people I know are more in the first category. We get mad because companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple are tracking us and exploiting our data for gain. Without a doubt, this is happening. If you use it regularly, your phone knows more about you than anyone else on the planet. Arguably more than your family, spouse, or children.
I understand the aggravation. We must use these data-tracking technologies to engage in business, school, or the basics of life. We hate the idea that these big companies have our personal information. I want to consider that there is someone who knows more about us than our phones. We have an all-knowing God. He knows our every move, every thought, and every intention. For me, this brings to mind a few ideas:
We are protective of our phones because they reveal our true selves. There is a running joke on the internet, "When I die, I don't care about my stuff, but delete my internet history." This is a sad commentary about deeds we don't want to come to light. Our phones and big companies can already see the truth. Not only does your phone know your life, God knows. Do we act as if God knows?
An honest person invites searching from God. Again, I understand the issue with big companies and big brother, but I think we sometimes view God that way. "Could you just stay out of my business, please?" That is the exact opposite of what the psalmist says in Psalm 139: 23-24. "Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!"
God chooses to have a relationship with me anyway. I think about 1 John 1. God wants to have fellowship with us. We can have fellowship with Him as long as we walk in the light. Walking in the light includes on and off our screens.
Just as God knows my every action and intention, he also knows my heart. I am responsible for keeping my heart pure and walking in the light. In our Christian walk, we fight the temptation of hypocrisy. Our phones have made hypocrisy easier than ever because we think no one knows or will know what we do with them. It is an unfortunate fact of life that tech companies know, but it is an everlasting truth that God knows. Let's keep this in mind as we try to keep our hearts pure
