The Danger of the Seven (7) Digital Sins

Our hearts are indeed broken, wretched, and tainted by sin (Jer. 17:9). Only God can search the inner parts of it and cleanse. Likewise, telling lies should never be an option for Christians. We have learned last week how Christ becomes our freedom in truth and liberates us from the bondage of deceit, lies, and other sins.

But these corruptions of humanity extend to how we reflect ourselves in the digital tech community. In the social media world, cyberspaces, and techno-society, human beings tend to manifest the seven deadly digital sins:

1. Fake News (Lies, Pride)
2. Pornography (Lust)
3. Selective Posting/ Trend (Pride, Envy)
4. “Sana All” Add to Cart/ E-Shopping (Greed, Gluttony)
5. Media Addiction (Idolatry, Sloth)
6. Piracy (Stealing, Greed)
7. Cyberbullying (Anger)

These are no mere observation, backed up with research and statistics, our world both in physical and digital reality are marred by our sins (Barna, 2016; Baldo, 2021). The nature of our wretchedness flows inside-out. According to WeAreSocial in January 2021, 60.9% of internet users (4.80 billion out of 7.87 billion people) around the world are online with an average use of 7 hours daily.

Reflecting on this data, as Christians, what should we do? We are called to “go” where the people are. Jesus did not say “come and make disciples,” instead he said, “go and make disciples…and teach them” (Matthew 28:19-20). Christian philosopher Albert Borgmann said, “We should neither try to demolish technology nor run away from it. We can restrain it and must redeem it.” But first, we need to start with ourselves.

Truly, with careful actions soaked in prayer, we pray that the Spirit of God will empower us to exemplify transformation in life both in the physical world and the digital realm. Be aware of the dangers of your sins; the whole world is watching.

Echoing what Gene Edward Veith and Christopher Samper noted two decades ago:

“As Christians enter into cyberspace in their vocations, using their God-given talents, inclinations, and opportunities, as they use the new information technology as a tool to ponder and promote God’s Word, and as they form Christian communities throughout the Web, God will break into this human world—as He has always done—to bring redemption.”

Christians in a .Com World (Crossway Books, 2000)

Read my recent book chapter publication to learn more about this: https://vernonpress.com/book/1363

Soli Deo Gloria

Reference:

Photo by Connor Danylenko on Pexels.com

https://wearesocial.com/us/blog/2021/07/digital-audiences-swell-but-there-may-be-trouble-ahead

https://www.barna.com/the-porn-phenomenon; https://www.christianitytoday.com/
news/2016/january/how-pastors-struggle-porn-phenomenon-josh-mcdowell-barna.html