How to Follow Jesus in Your Digital LifeНамуна

Curated and Conditioned

By now, you’re probably well aware of the fact that most of the digital content you consume comes to you carefully curated and perfectly personalized. Complex algorithms and collecting our personal data online work together to allow for the curation of our online worlds that can give the impression that the world is all about us.

Because of this, we are often only exposed to one side of an argument or conversation. And not just a few times, but over and over again. As you can imagine, if both sides of any given cultural situation are conditioned only to hear their side’s opinion, and not encouraged to actually engage with the other side, division and even hatred are fueled, isolating people even further into their own personalized online cocoons or bubbles. Where God’s wisdom in Proverbs 11:12 would tell us “whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense,” digital wisdom says that belittling others makes the most sense if you want to win.

Another mysterious (and even chilling) dark side of these curation tools is how they might be abused or manipulated to sway public opinion on matters of the utmost importance—whether by political parties, various social groups, the companies themselves, or even bot farms.

This five-day devotional will look at these aspects of digital technology. We’ll examine our responsibility as we navigate the digital space. We’ll look at how a Christian worldview and biblical wisdom apply to this issue, and we’ll explore more about owning our part as we follow Jesus in a digital age.

Q: What conversations being discussed on digital platforms matter most to you? What “side” of the conversation do you often see in your feed?

Q: Instead of honestly and gracefully engaging with those on the other side, what do you typically do instead?

Q: In what ways do you see hatred and division all around you in the digital world? Who do you think benefits from this? In what ways have you intentionally or unintentionally contributed fuel to the fire? How does Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 12:36 shape you moving forward?