Control, Play, and Technology

What's in the Box?  Wii Remote (or other game console remote)

Its amazing how many different things kids can imagine when you put a remote control in a box.  I really wish I had written down all of the different ideas they came up with.  Its not too heavy, but has substantial weight enough to make their imaginations come alive!

For this lesson, after the reveal, I simply asked "What is this? What does it do?" Once we got past all of the different maneuvers from different games the controller is capable of, we simply came to the conclusion that it "controls" something.  This was a key concept that I needed the girls to get to.

I would like to use the Wii remote to represent a few different things: technology, games and entertainment, and literally control in our life.

If you look at the controller literally, we use it to make things happen.  I push a button and the program responds depending on which button I have pushed.  If I am playing a bowling game, perhaps it is the mere flick of my wrist to create the articulated spin needed for a strike.  We need to step back and think about what is controlling us.  What causes us to do what we do?  Who is pushing those buttons in our lives, or flicking their wrists to make us spin down a good path, or one less positive?

Also, sometimes we need to look ourselves in the mirror and think about the games we are playing with our lives.  A Wii controller, a TV remote, even the control for our wireless sound systems may be providing us with some negative entertainment.  We must remember what we put in our lives (music, television, movies, etc.) will find its way of coming out in our lives. 

And then there's the technology aspect...

In the world today, technology is everywhere we turn.  We can't even go into the woods for a hike without using a GPS watch or phone app to keep track of our whereabouts, or to track our distance. 

Also, technology is better than ever.  Its more convenient, more user friendly, and the part I like the most: faster.  All of this is great, but too much of a good thing can make it a negative influence.  Technology can be a constant flow of distraction.  I can remember as a child going "riding around looking for deer."  We were poor, but it was like a giant scavenger hunt through some of God's beautiful landscapes.  Sadly, now when kids get in a vehicle for a long journey, they have IPADS, DVD players, and many other things to "entertain" instead of enjoying God's creation outside of the windows.  The world around us is a beautiful example of God's love for us.  He has blessed our lives with such complex surroundings that our wonder should never cease. 

Technology can also become an over-stimulating nuisance.  As I type this, the TV is on, I'm on the laptop, and my cell phone is buzzing beside me with Facebook notifications.  I'm surprised I am able to even type a complete sentence with all of these distractions surrounding me, but somehow we have become accustomed to all of this "noise." 

Which brings me to the point: "Do you own technology, or does technology own you?"  "Are we controlling our technology, or is the technology controlling us?" This could be considered almost a servant vs. master comparison.  Are we using technology like we are its master, or are we finding ourselves like a servant to technology.  If we are technology's servants, it might make us miss something very important.

In Matthew 24:44-51 there is a lesson of being ready if a servant's master has put them in charge of getting food for the family.  The key here is that the servant doesn't know when the master is going to check on them.

     44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 47 Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; 49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, 51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. KJV

If we aren't careful, we can be distracted by all of this technology and forget what we should really be doing.  Time ticks away no matter how much we think our busy schedules control the 24 hours in a day.  How much of that time are you spending spreading the good news? Praying? Reading and studying the Bible?  "Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh."

Perhaps we should put the phones, tv remotes, and controllers down, and focus more on our relationship with God.  I Timothy 4:12-16 states:

     12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. 15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. 16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

Challenge:  Think about how much time you use various items of technology.  Consider if you are controlling it, or if it is controlling you.