Carefully Caring About Convenience

Modernity is awesome . . . and keep a loaded pistol next to the toaster

“In the old days, we had to press our thumb on the phone to open it. Rough times, man.” Photo by Selwyn van Haaren on Unsplash

Our modern conveniences and abilities can be wonderful. Would you rather go to the dentist today or 300 years ago?

But modernity also brings isolation, easy addiction, seemingly fewer consequences and the illusion of self-sovereignty.

So we must have weight within us that keeps us upright. But God in His glory is the only One with this weight. Therefore we must remember the principle of war, that no amount of good tactics can fix a broken supply line. God must continually supply us ballast from His grace, that we might navigate rightly our ocean of convenience. This supply line consists of the Word, prayer and brotherhood.

As these three supply us with grace, there are 7 things we must then do with our conveniences:

Disciplined gratitude.

Many corporations profit by directing our capacity for desire into envy and coveting - which are still sins. Ephesians 5 says that the way we fight covetousness is by thanksgiving. Grabbiness and gratitude cannot occupy the same space.

Beware the continual ratcheting up of conveniences.

Without realizing it, we can become locked in to habits of living that benefit a corporation’s product ecosystem, not God’s glory. Beware these webs.

Make your isolation communal.

We need our bro’s and sisters. Software can do this, but so can regular conversation at the pub.

Ask different questions.

C.S. Lewis wrote that we sin not because our enjoyments are too strong but too weak. Men especially are designed for adventure, but we live in cubicles and suburbs. Thus we should not only ask, What should I stop, but also What do I GET to do? God made the mountains that surround us to be explored.

Choose your own mood.

Power and self-mastery come by learning and then taking that truth and choosing the mood that that truth demands. God is great and good and loves us to the end. This breeds both serenity and confidence.

Don’t give temptation more weight than it deserves.

Say no, and then take instruction from the silly duck, who joyfully lets water roll off his back.

Keep resisting, in the shape of the Trinity.

The Father is a warrior. The Son is human. The Spirit is power. So we fight our conveniences becoming entrapments. Yet we fight in a rapidly changing world. So Christ gives the Spirit. God has not left us alone. We have power, for all that we face.