As a young man, I spent a number of years driving tractor-trailers across the country. It gave me a great opportunity to sample a cross section of American culture, see some beautiful sights, and get the wanderlust worked out of my system. (Okay, maybe not the last part… I still have an itch to ride a motorcycle through all 50 states.)
When you’re an introspective man like I am, the benefit to all that time behind the wheel is that you can get some great thinking done. It was on the highways of western Texas where I got my first insights into a subject that has dominated my thinking for the last twelve years – the concept that our society has become a culture of slaves to convenience.
In the mid to late 1940’s people started hearing about the “House of Tomorrow”. It was a time in our nation’s history when the bulk of our population was switching from an agrarian to an industrial culture. People were leaving the old family farms and moving to the cities. The incredible growth in industrial and technological capability in a post-WWII environment had opened the door to a new world of innovative and stylish consumer goods. “Rosie the Riveter” had finished her responsibilities to the war effort and was now taking care of duties back home. Rather than forcing her to return to the old ways of washboards and wood stoves, a whole new world of low-cost, modern appliances was available that promised to free the new housewife from toil and drudgery.
As the march of time and technology progressed, we became more and more accustomed to items like the luxury automobile, the color television, air conditioning, airline travel, computers, cellular telephones, and the Internet. In our modern day we’re surrounded by a level of technology and convenience that was the realm of science fiction novels only two generations ago.
How many of you think you could survive if it all disappeared today?
Stop and think about it. All of the modern technology that we take for granted was supposed to make our lives “easier”. The convenience of not having to struggle for daily sustenance was supposed to free us to pursue our own motivated self-interest. Modern conveniences were supposed to somehow liberate us from something, but ask yourself how many people you know who would be at a complete loss without their Internet service. How many people in America are willing to walk so much as a few blocks to go the store? How many people in this generation consider it a source of embarrassment to not have at least 50 channels of television programming available?
We’re becoming a culture of people enslaved by the very things that were supposed to make life more convenient.
Does anyone remember how to survive without all of these things?
As I get older, I count myself as fortunate for having been homeless once before. I mean capital “H” Homeless, too… sleeping in a homeless shelter, eating in a soup kitchen, and no possessions except for two suitcases and some clothes. That my family continued to have food in our bellies, clothes on our backs, and a roof to sleep under every night was due solely to the providence of God. We had nothing.
Yet somehow, we survived it.
One of the good things that came from that experience was that I think I was weaned early on from any heavily materialistic tendency in my life. I enjoy the conveniences of modern technology as much as the next man (you’re reading this blog, after all, and I typed it on my modern, multi-core desktop computer with flat panel monitor), but the experience of being homeless is still present in my mind and serves as a reminder of what it truly important. You could take it all away today and I know that I would survive just fine. (I’ll admit, though… microwave popcorn sure is handy.)
What should we value? Should we value convenience? Should we value things? Is the goal of life to acquire more stuff? Jesus said:
“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things , and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:31-33, NIV)
Stuff is fine. Convenience is fine. But when they dominate your life and become the central focus of your pursuits, then you have a problem. It’s easy to get lulled into being a slave to convenience; I’ve even slipped into it myself. Be careful – God wants us to rely on Him, not on anything else. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.
Lord, give us eyes to see your Word, ears to hear your will, and wisdom to make the right choices. Amen.
Now, to find where my wife put the microwave popcorn…
Behind all the conveniences of Western civilization you mention, Shawn, I see cheap abundant energy.
It looks like we are using it up faster than it is being generated. God gave us dominion over it all. This suggests that we also have some kind of responsibility.
As an inventor and designer, my responsibility it to help us live better on less of this precious energy.
Modern conveniences are supposed to be freeing up time for us to pursue matters of greater importance. As the dishwasher does its thing, we are now free to do ours. A quick ride in the car to the store and back means we will have the extra time to do something more important. While the washing machine chugs away in the back room, we can now be performing some other task with greater social significance and not worry about walking around in soiled garments. So, my only question is: “What exactly are we doing with all this extra time?”
If the truth be known, most of us are probably spending it watching some idiotic programing on the television, glued to the computer screen, or playing some violent game on that great new phone we just bought. If ever we needed evidence of Satan’s cunning, the television (and its magnetic allure to the human animal) should serve as a prime example. More hours are wasted and more people’s health affected by the sedentary pursuit of pleasure in front of the boob tube than even the devil himself could have imagined.
There is probably nothing inherently wrong with using tools of convenience, but the real problem rests with what we’re doing with all that freed-up time they’ve given to us. Are we reading more of our Bibles? Are we spending more quality time with our families? Are our knees developing callouses from time spent in sincere communication with God? Judging from the overall condition of our society, I would have to doubt that all our free time is resulting in any measurable increase in morality and/or spirituality.
Try turning off the television and picking up your Bible, people. When was the last time you prayed and then sat in silence to wait for God’s reply? Meditation is not a dirty word. And when you’re finished with that, go outside and play with your kids. Spend time with your spouse. Contribute something of value to society. Now, there’s a novel idea.