12 Notable Quotes from 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You
This article is part of the Notable Quotes series.
Changed, But How?
Technology is not itself bad, nor is it innocuous. Though we’re not all aware of how we are being changed by our digital habits, we are being changed nonetheless. Particularly as Christians, we can and should be thoughtful about our use of technology, evaluating our desires along the way. All of the following quotes are excerpted from 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You by Tony Reinke.
“Technology is not inherently evil, but it tends to become the platform of choice to express the fantasy of human autonomy.”
"We must ask ourselves: What technologies serve my aims? And what are my goals in the first place? Without clear answers here, we can make no progress in thinking through the pros and cons of smartphones as Christians.”
“My phone is a window into the worthless and the worthy, the artificial and the authentic.”
“Too often what my phone exposes in me is not the holy desires of what I know I should want, not even what I think I want, and especially not what I want you to think I want. My phone screen divulges in razor sharp pixels what my heart really wants.”
“Nothing puts social media and smartphone habits into context like the blunt reality of our mortality.”
“For those with eyes to see, Christ’s return is so imminent, it potently declutters our lives of everything that is superficial and renders all of our vain distractions irrelevant. To put it another way, our battle against the encumbering distractions of this world—especially the unnecessary distractions of our phones—is a heart war we can wage only if our affections are locked firmly on the glory of Christ.”
“Technology . . . reminds us of our fundamental problem—we are sinfully alienated from God.”
“Life in the digital age is an open invitation for clear, biblical thinking about the impact of our phones on ourselves, on our creation, on our neighbors, and on our relationships to God. Thoughtlessly adopting new technology is worldliness.”
“The sweep of technological advance is a gracious gift from God to help us live in a fallen creation.”
“Our ultimate redemptive hope is not in technology.”
“In him, the powers of sin have been broken. We are no longer bound to obey our eye lust, bound to seek the approval of man, bound to find our relevance in viral memes, or addicted to what’s trending on Reddit. My appetite for diversions and new daily curiosities has been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer the old me that lives online, but Christ living in me, and the life I now live online I live by faith in Christ, who loved me so much that he shed his blood for me.”
“We are called to live smartphone smart as we, in Christ, move toward a resplendent city full of glory and innovation that will blur our smartphones into a foggy memory.”
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