Book Review: Following Jesus In a Digital Age

A Christian tech book you can give to your mom

If I’m honest, the digital world can overwhelm me. Everything is pleasant until it’s not. The following and liking is great until I lose my mom to Facebook, or I get drawn into a theobro debate, or I tense up as my eyes fixate on the latest viral video of police brutality.

The internet does things to me - emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

Some of us are too online for our own good. We think we use social media but social media uses us.

That’s why Jason Thacker wrote the book Following Jesus In a Digital Age (B&H Publishing, 2022). He says that the technology we’re using isn’t neutral (as if it can be used for either good or for bad); no, it is more than that, technology is changing us, sculpting us, and even discipling us.

Jason Thacker argues that one of the biggest things discipling people in the church today is technology.

This is a big issue and it’s worth our reflection. Digital addiction is a growing problem and it’s not just moms. As Jason Thacker notes, our devices have become like phantom limbs, acting as parts of our very selves.

We’re addicted, we’re digitally distracted, and we’re being inconspicuously commercialized by the very products we falsely think are “free.”

Thacker unpacks this in his book, just released on August 30th, 2022. It was written for people like you and me who engage our devices every day without thinking enough about our use of them, and how they use us.

There are four chapters. I’ll discuss each and conclude with my critique and recommendation.

Chapter One - Pursuing Wisdom in a Digital Age

The first section works through the influence of digital technology, what technology is, and the importance of Biblical wisdom.

We need to know these foundations! There's an overlap between what Thacker writes and what Melvin Kranzberg wrote in The Laws of Technology¹ written in the 1970s:

Law 1: Technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral.

Law 2: Invention is the mother of necessity

The first law teaches that technology can have hidden influences; tech cannot be evaluated in simplistic moral terms. We sometimes think of individual websites, whether YouTube, GodTube, BibleGateway.org, or a porn site, as being either good or bad. Well, yes, porn is always bad. But even a Bible webpage can display ads in such a way, or can be placed in a browser alongside other distractions, as to negatively impact your devotional reading. The design of the technology shapes our experience and therefore shapes us. This is why Thacker says technology disciples us.

Law two says that whenever we invent something there will be some new need (necessity) that must be solved. I loved my first iPhone but after dropping it a few times I realized it needed a case. Invention breeds necessity… which breeds more invention which will lead to more needs! But these needs are unforeseen when you first create the technology. Thacker describes how the smart doorbell was a result of the need to monitor the Amazon packages left at our door (which is why Amazon has put so much money into smart doorbell technology, see pages 19-20).

So we must learn this totalizing effect of technology. And once we do, Thacker says there are two options (page 24):

we can despair, or we can proceed with wisdom as the key to navigating the digital age—because biblical wisdom is how God calls us to live no matter what we face, whether that’s a den of lions in Daniel’s day or a web of relations in our own. Wisdom is a key to understanding how God calls his people to act in a world saturated by technology.

Chapter Two - Pursuing Truth in a Post-truth Age

Because Thacker rightly views online platforms as being our modern public square, he is very concerned about misinformation (sharing false information accidentally) and disinformation (purposely sharing false information).

I was following his argument, considering my own urge to spread articles I haven’t fully read, and then his point on the underlying problem stuck me like a truck (emphasis added, page 38):

While the problems we face today in our post-truth society are exacerbated by technologies like the internet, social media, and even the rise of deepfakes—altered videos through artificial intelligence (more on these later in the chapter)—the root of the problem is not the technology itself. Many of these pressing issues find their root cause in the philosophical and scientific movements of the last few hundred years, where there was a near total rejection of a transcendent reality, especially when it comes to moral norms.

People are spreading false stories not because technology forced them to (though tech is obviously a willing accomplice) but because we live in a world that lacks an allegiance to objective moral truth. We live in a secular age where people presuppose that nothing can really be known and therefore the best we can do is not discuss with one another but complain about one another. The internet is no longer the place of peaceful dialogue that it was dreamed to become but rather it is a place of division and denouncement.

For example, during the Canadian Trucker Protests in Ottawa, you could see both political sides constantly sharing info but never sharing the same facts. People are highly selective in the “facts” they share since they are preoccupied with the moral agenda of their own tribe, rather than transcendent moral truth.

This is a problem on all sides of the political spectrum. Christians can be guilty, too. We must be better.

Thacker says (page 68),

Truth is not a weapon to be wielded but a reality to be lived out in community, especially in the redeemed community of God, which has the unique ability to correct itself in restorative love and gentleness when someone is veering away from the truth.

Chapter Three - Pursuing Responsibility in a Curated Age

With so much attention paid to how influential technology can be, it is important that Thacker spends the time he does on our agency as individuals to live rightly.

When we sin, we ought to blame ourselves, not technology. Some of us have watched The Social Dilemma and learned how manipulative our social media is. Every click, every scroll, and every moment of hesitation as your eyes linger on a certain picture or video is being meticulously tracked and used to make companies more money.

But “we must not forget,” says Thacker, that “the real social dilemma isn’t happening in Washington or Silicon Valley but in our own hearts and homes,” (page 99). We must take responsibility for ourselves instead of blaming our sins on tech.

Thacker rarely gives any specific directions or actions to take (which I’m okay with, the solution to tech ethic complexity isn’t legalism) but he does encourage reflection on a number of questions, such as (pages 91 - 94):

• Are you drawn to social media for personal gain or for the good of others?

• If God prompted you to delete your social media accounts, what would your initial response be?

• Does your behavior on social media help you grow in the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23)?

• Are you sorting information on our apps like Twitter and Facebook in chronological order or by what is popular?

• Do you share personal information about your kids or family online? Do they know what you share, and are they okay with that?

• Are you addicted to your curated online world because it bends everything to your own preferences and enjoyment, whereas your real life doesn’t really revolve around you?

Chapter Four - Pursuing Identity in a Polarized Age

Thacker says this was the hardest chapter for him to write because he’s as guilty as anyone (page 101). He described the tendency people have to give into the political, social, or religious polarization or “us versus them” of the day (page 102).

Key concepts of this chapter included:

• How we tend to falsely think we are “in the middle” and only other people have extreme and false views (pages 105-112).

• Exposing people to their opponents’ views increases hostility instead of decreasing it (page 114).²

• How a human desire to belong is driving polarization (page 115).

For Twitter users like me, this was Thacker’s best chapter of the book. He concisely diagnoses some trends in our culture and how we need to keep an eye on getting caught up in digital identities (Thacker unpacks five common types of online identities) instead of Christ-formed ones.

With the whole book up to this point focusing on ethics, the difficulties of living rightly, and how we fail, the gospel message on page 135 was a delight to read and experience. It is so good. In it, Thacker says:

… the best thing you can do for your soul is to find your identity, meaning, shelter, significance, purpose, and place in the right source, which is in the Lord and, by extension, also in the community of his church. Hear me loud and clear on this: the reason you do not need a digitally crafted identity is because you already have a place to belong. You already have a shelter from the storm. You already have a place in the household of God. You already have a purpose in the good works that he has prepared in advance for you to do. You already have a defender when you feel misunderstood. You already have a secure future when societal change feels unstable. You already have an identity that cannot be shaken. You don’t have to scramble to find all these things somewhere else or lash out when you feel as if they could be threatened, because all this and more is offered to you in Christ, and none of it can be taken away. An online identity (or any identity, really) loses all its luster when you realize that you do not need what it offers you. You have everything you need in spades.

Powerful!

Critique & Recommendation

I have only three minor quibbles about the book, which all stem from the book being so concise (only 177 pages). First, it lacks some of the nuances that others offer in the world of Christian ethics and technology.³ Second, I wish Thacker could have gone into more detail concerning the principles that undergird biblical wisdom. And third, I think adding more illustrations or examples of the application of his ideas would have been helpful; there were engaging stories throughout but they tended to be examples of the negative impacts of tech rather than examples of how to overcome the power of tech with biblical wisdom. Perhaps an additional appendix that had a story of someone repenting of their misuse of tech and what they did to change (I'll contribute a brief explanation of my own steps of repentance inspired by the book in a footnote⁴).

But these are minor quibbles. Overall, this is an excellent book and I highly recommend it.

The main value of this book is how it can be used as a discipleship tool, whether individually or in a group. When this is read honestly and with integrity as a Christian, I have no doubt that Following Jesus in a Digital Age will make you live more like how Jesus wants you to live.

This book aims at laypeople and is especially helpful for those who do not work in technology. Steve Jobs, the creator of the iPad, said he would never give his own kids an iPad because of how addictive/damaging it would be.⁵ You don't need to tell the tech creators as much about the negatives that come with tech because they are so familiar.⁶ But only so many people are tech creators.⁷ And so this is an extremely important book that I would want the vast majority of my local church to read.

And to my mom, if you’re reading this, I’d recommend the book to you too. Not because I think you’re addicted to social media but because I think a book like this will help you become more aware of the hidden impacts that technology brings and will lead you to better follow Jesus in our digital age.

For the purposes of a podcast interview I did with Jason, I received a digital copy of this book at no cost in advance of its release. I am under no obligation to give a positive review.

1. Jason Thacker cites Jacques Ellul extensively, who wrote prior to Kranzberg. I think Kranszberg developed his laws of technology partially through Ellul.

2. Tim Keller wrote a similar article on the same topic here: https://quarterly.gospelinlife.com/social-media-identity-and-the-church/

3. For example, Tony Reinke’s ‘God, Technology, and the Christian Life’ has a much more robust description of God’s good purposes for technology… but it’s also more than twice the length! So yes, Thacker is mostly negative about technology, but as can be found in Jason Thacker’s other book — The Age of AI — he defines technology as a God-given gift. You can also watch my interview with him where he speaks about the positive uses of tech and says “I’m a tech optimist, yes, but I’m also a tech realist.”

4. Since reading the book, I have gotten back into physical Bible reading and journaling with physical pen and paper. Though only a week in, this has been joy-giving! Further, I have: 1) changed my Twitter feed to prioritize the people who post things that matter most to me, 2) recommitted to my phone-reduced Sundays, and 3) I have implemented a few practical steps to be less distracted. I have also, thankfully, fully relieved myself of the guilt I was feeling for not tweeting about that thing I should have tweeted about and resolved to never feel the need to tweet for the sake of looking like an expert. For me, I want to teach others the Bible and help them grow closer to Jesus, and I actually find Twitter to help me in that (I might not have stumbled upon Jason Thacker otherwise!). But in wanting to be a good teacher I can desire to look like an expert rather than actually be one.

But that’s my unique application upon reading. I believe if you read honestly you’ll find some applications specific to you too.

5. See https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/11/fashion/steve-jobs-apple-was-a-low-tech-parent.html

6. This is why, I believe, some tech creators (like my podcast co-host Joel Jacob), wish that Christian tech books would be more positive about technology.

7. I live in one of the highest densities of tech workers in North America (Kitchener-Waterloo), and even here, only 5% of the population works in tech.