I was talking to my mother last week about the readily available technology we have in our smart phones.
She was telling me, half-joking, “I can always Google something. So if I’m in a conversation and I don’t know what they are talking about, I can quietly Google it and sound smart.” We laughed, because we have all been there. And perhaps with Google glasses we won’t even have to figure out ways to inconspicuously look down and type it in our phones.
It’s sure nice to have Google with us.
In the middle of the night when my kid is sick and exhibiting symptoms I’m not familiar with, I can quickly google, “Coughing and fever, plus a rash,” and get results. If I’m on a trip to Denver for business, I can google, “weather in Denver tomorrow.” Or if we are wandering about and looking for a McDonald’s with a playplace, I can google (not while driving, of course!), “McDonald’s with a playplace near me.”
I can actually speak it into Google and it comes up with info. The same goes for hours for my favorite barber shop, the closest Starbucks or how to change the headlight in a Chevy Blazer (my brother did that and it saved my parents lots of money on repairs).
But as much as I like all of this technology and as much as I really don’t want to back to the 1950s where you actually had to know stuff and read maps and be satisfied with looking dumb in conversations, I wonder if we are tempted to replace God with Google.
I’m not trying to #JesusJuke you here. I’m speaking honestly about a very real temptation I face, particularly when I’m in trouble.
See, my inclination when something bad comes up, when I’m uncertain, is not to get on my knees in prayer. It’s to grab my phone and type or speak and expect an answer.
Sometimes this is helpful. But sometimes it’s a dangerous crutch, a rabbit trail for answers that Google can’t produce.
Worse yet, the little god in my pocket gives me the illusion of being in control.
I can solve this. I’m smart. I have tools that can give me answers.
This is why the words, Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10), should hit our hearts with a thud.
