How many of us recall the days of only two evening newscasts, one at 6PM and another at 11PM? It was when most of us still received a daily newspaper and special editions on Sundays with colorful comic strips. Radio was still a means of news but more often music. Life demands took us to the local library to do research or peruse the latest releases of novels and nonfiction selections.

Technology has changed all of that for us. News channels offer news 24/7 and streaming services add to that. Few of us get a daily newspaper or even the larger Sunday editions and research happens at our fingertips via our computers, phones or tablets in speeds that are incredible as compared to the old card files we searched through in our libraries.

There is no question these are here to stay. Technology affects every aspect of our daily life even if we are not social network junkies. We check in to medical appointments online and read outcomes of those appointments and tests on our “portal.”  

But what is the impact?

John Eldredge takes an in depth look at his concern that we have unintentionally become “Disciples of the Internet.” He writes, “My concern is that our faculty of faith – the ability to trust and believe – has been secretly eroded by something most of us are completely unaware of. It has to do with the fact that we are, all of us, Disciples of the Internet.”

He goes on as follows: “You are a disciple of the system that tutors you, where you turn on a daily basis for guidance on living…I’m not referring to whatever content it is you search for online. I’m talking about what we have learned from years  of the process itself.”

By this time the reader may be objecting to Eldredge’s assertions but then he reminds the reader that the process has given us a means to get immediate answers on anything we can conceive of and then realize that information is changing so fast that we cannot always trust information that we discover. 

How does that impact us when we pray and answers are not immediately at our fingertips and how does it impact our capacity to trust the One in whom we say we have faith?

“Information feels like our salvation, but information is seductive and capricious, friends; it offers refuge, then takes it away the next moment. Life with the Internet has severely eroded our confidence that we can even know what’s true while accelerating the drive to the truth.”  

John Eldredge

All this gets in the way of time spent developing and practicing intimacy with Jesus since even websites looking up scriptural and spiritual information can have those “pop ups” we are being encouraged to look at or consider. All of these interrupt our daily encounters with the Lord that move us beyond information about God, scripture and biblical history to experiencing Him personally.

Eldredge’s book encourages the reader to gain release from the process of all the Internet has done through suggestions on how to draw closer to God, learn to listen to and hear his voice, and take refuge in his love and care for us. He reminds us that we were designed for Eden and we are living far from it. He offers an understanding of what we can gain from looking at and experiencing the mysteries of our faith that our heroes of the faith were sustained by in our favorite Bible stories.

Eldredge expresses the understanding that writing about this and what it means may be misunderstood but for one who is seeking a place with God that helps us live in the two worlds we inhabit – seen and unseen – this book offers a look into how we discover that special place of refuge only God can show us as He dwells within us.

“Friends, there is only one safe place in the cosmos: to be situated deeply in Jesus Christ. There is no other. You can’t have one foot in and the other foot out. You must choose to be all-in, every remaining day of your life. Most of the time, this will be an absolute joy. But there are times it will require a sheer act of will, and other times it will be very costly.” 

John Eldredge