[Editor’s Note: This is week six of the From the Garden to the City Blog Tour]
I can’t begin to tell you how intimidated that I am to write about this chapter. The guys who’ve come before me have done a great job summarizing and discussing the previous chapters. As I sat down to write this, I opened my Kindle to this chapter and realize that I think I highlighted and noted 80-90% of this chapter. So, instead of just outright retyping the whole chapter, let me note the areas that jumped out at me.
I appreciate how much John uses scripture in his book. He jumps right into the fact that in Genesis 3, we find Adam and Eve’s first response to their sinful nature was to “make” something. Clothing. John says:
Even in their new sinful state, they didn’t lose their status as God’s image-bearers.
That preaches to me in a lot of different ways. At times I have thought of myself as a creative and at times as a creative wannabe. But here is a reminder to me that God is the Creator and I am made in his image. While our sinful nature is NOT what God wanted his Creation to be, he still wanted us to take things in our environment and create from them.
Unfortunately, this first creation of Adam and Eve was a means to hide the sinfulness that was “laid bare.” Often, I find myself constructing barriers between me and God. Sometimes these barriers were not intended as such, but they were constructed nonetheless. I agree with John that if we really examine our motives, we can find the technology that we create (we learned about technology in the previous chapters) is a rebellion against him and his authority. Ouch.
We take this stuff that we create (which comes from sin corrupt material) to build more tools for our toolbox. We believe that they will be able to help us in this fallen world. We forget that technology doesn’t have the power to save. It is not where we should put our hope. It is in God alone that we should rely. However, God still wants us to create. I am very thankful that God has blessed some of our work and allowed the work of our hands to be used in His plan.
It is in this chapter that John also introduces the concept that we’ve literally gone from the Garden to the City. After Cain was punished for killing Abel, he was forced to leave the home that he knew; thus he became a wanderer. Cain decides at some point to build a city. For Cain, this city was a place that he could live apart from God. He was leaving the beauty of creation (fallen as it is) and was seeking shelter in the city.
I felt convicted as I read about the stuff that we use as distractions to escape the fellowship that God wants with us. Ouch Again.
In summary of the chapter, John writes:
For now, we can summarize what we’ve found by saying that even in the post-fall world, God not only approves of but even helps with our technological development. At the same time, technology is also one of the chief means by which humans attempt to create a world without God. As our technology grows more and more powerful, the illusion of control becomes increasingly more convincing.
Last Thoughts. I think we should really strive to remember the definition of technology that John gave us in Chapter 4.
The human activity of using tools to transform God’s creation for practical purposes.
This is very eye opening and should stall us from using something or creating something… just because we can. I myself know that there are times that we say we’re using x technology because it is going to better amplify God’s message. But last time I checked, God had the R&D department fully funded and working at full capacity. He’s quite capable of ensuring that His message gets into the hands of those who He wants it.
Question:
Have you ever used the excuse of “doing” something for God as an excuse for your lackluster Communion with Him?
[Next week, we review chapter six: Approach]
Phil says
Andy, I had the same experience with this chapter: I highlighted a ton of it! I’ve like the book so far, but I think that this is where it’s going to take off. I really think that you did a great job summarizing/analyzing this chapter in a concise manner. I definitely need to work on using less words to communicate my point.
To that end, I submit my massive–with far too many quotes–review.
http://www.phillip320.com/2011/g2c-rebellion/
Andy Darnell says
Wow. That last paragraph is good, phillip.
“On a closing note, Steve Jobs passed away tonight. His legacy is one of extreme innovation, an almost obsessive attention to detail and style, and an uncanny ability to tell the market what it wants and still make billions of dollars doing it. Steve might just have been one of the greatest technological innovators this world has ever seen, and yet none of the technology that he unleashed upon the world was able to do what we’ve been trying to do since that: break the curse, bring back the garden, replace God. We were made to create. How sad that we do what we were made to do so that we can escape the one Who made us. That, my friends, is rebellion.”
Phil says
Thanks, Andy. I really appreciate that.
Kevin Farmer says
I enjoyed this piece. I too thought of how Steve Jobs was a great example of the doctrine of Imago Dei. The best of mankind should point us to worship. The question for most at that point is what are we worshiping? May greatness cause us to think about God.
Andy Darnell says
Thanks Kevin.
BJ McGeever says
Andy, great review. I appreciate your honesty. Also, what a powerful question to end with.
Here’s my review. Rather than covering the whole chapter, as I did last week, I mainly focused on the idea that many of our tools are built to protect us from suffering, much like Adam and Eve.
http://mcgvr.com/2011/10/garden-series-06-rebellion/
Andy Darnell says
Thanks BJ. Like you, I am not giving up my AC either 🙂
Chris Ridgeway says
Thanks Andy!
My take here:
http://www.theodigital.com/2011/10/sin-and-technology-john-dyer.html
My question: does Scripture view the City as bad? Cain goes off to build one… and we definitely have the story of Babel. But the final vision of Revelation is the city of Zion with streets of gold, right?
Jerrod Burris says
AHHH!!!! I thought I posted last week….I didn’t….SORRY! Here it is.
http://www.amodeirevolution.org/2011/10/from-garden-to-city-blog-tour-6.html
Jerrod Burris says
So I thought I had posted this….but I never did. SORRY! Here is my contribution:
http://www.amodeirevolution.org/2011/10/from-garden-to-city-blog-tour-6.html
Jeremy Smith says
The #1 highlight that I got from this is that God knows our hearts. To be great in His eyes, we don’t need to invent cities, animal husbandry, and everything else. It is enough to worship Him in what we do.