{"id":39973,"date":"2017-04-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/are-we-enslaved-to-internet\/"},"modified":"2017-04-10T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-04-10T00:00:00","slug":"are-we-enslaved-to-internet","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/are-we-enslaved-to-internet\/","title":{"rendered":"Are We Enslaved to the Internet?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n\t\t\t<em class=\"citation\">New York Times<\/em> writer Ross Douthat wrote an article warning people about what he called &quot;the real threat to the human future.&quot; What is it? Douthat explains: &quot;the one in your pocket or on your desk, the one you might be reading this column on right now.&quot; Douthat explains:<\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Search your feelings, you know it to be true: You are enslaved to the internet. Definitely if you&#39;re young, increasingly if you&#39;re old, your day-to-day, minute-to-minute existence is dominated by a compulsion to check email and Twitter and Facebook and Instagram with a frequency that bears no relationship to any communicative need.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Compulsions are rarely harmless. The internet is not the opioid crisis; it is not likely to kill you (unless you&#39;re hit by a distracted driver) or leave you ravaged and destitute. But it requires you to focus intensely, furiously, and constantly on the ephemera that fills a tiny little screen, and experience the traditional graces of existence&mdash;your spouse and friends and children, the natural world, good food and great art&mdash;in a state of perpetual distraction.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Used within reasonable limits, of course, these devices also offer us new graces. But we are not using them within reasonable limits. They are the masters; we are not. They are built to addict us &hellip; madden us, distract us, arouse us, and deceive us. We primp and perform for them as for a lover; we surrender our privacy to their demands; we wait on tenterhooks for every &quot;like.&quot; The smartphone is in the saddle, and it rides mankind.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[409],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3380,3462,3463,3655,3726,3808,4112,4206,4207,4272,4374,4444,4662,4977,5013,5038,5129,5134],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-39973","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-addiction","tax_ctp_tags-avoidance-of-sin","tax_ctp_tags-avoiding-temptation","tax_ctp_tags-computers","tax_ctp_tags-culture","tax_ctp_tags-distractions","tax_ctp_tags-habits","tax_ctp_tags-idolatry","tax_ctp_tags-idols","tax_ctp_tags-internet","tax_ctp_tags-lifestyle","tax_ctp_tags-media","tax_ctp_tags-pop-culture","tax_ctp_tags-sin","tax_ctp_tags-social-trends","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-bondage","tax_ctp_tags-technology","tax_ctp_tags-temptation"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Are We Enslaved to the Internet? - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/are-we-enslaved-to-internet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are We Enslaved to the Internet? - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New York Times writer Ross Douthat wrote an article warning people about what he called &quot;the real threat to the human future.&quot; What is it? 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