Gospel Tech with Nathan Sutherland

Gospel Tech is a resource to help families love God and use tech, so today we’re going to dive into the second half of that: How do I raise my kids to love God?
We’re going to look at four specific areas:

Love God In Front of Them
Share your Testimony
Model…

    -humility
    -value in Christ
    -identity & purpose (child of God, saved for good works)
    -options: guilt vs. shame. Shame is the no-option voice. There’s no way out except to further bury it.
4. Help Them Ask Big Questions

This conversation is to equip and encourage you as a parent that you're not the one saving your kid, that there are tangible things you can do today, and that the experience of raising kids who love God is as natural as introducing them to a person you love. You don't have to be a pro, you just have to be a person, made in the image of God, who realizes you need hope beyond your own control. And when we love God, using tech is a much more enjoyable experience!

This week Anna is back and we share a conversation that's been going on for a couple weeks now: What to do once the kids are in bed! Maybe it's the Covid talking, but there came a point where we felt like life was just on repeat - and the shows were burning time that we should have been using elsewhere. But where?

In today's conversation we'll talk about how we ensure that our time, and the content we consume, is in line with what we're called to do, have, and be in Christ. We'll also share how that's looked in our lives the last couple weeks. It's not all pretty, but it's real and we're excited to have you be a part of the conversation!

There's a short list of questions that come up a lot. Today we're going to address the top four: 
1. Should my child have a smart phone?
2. How much time should they spend on tech?
3. Which video games should they play?
4. Should they be on social media?  
We'll tie these in with our understanding of the gospel to ensure that we're not just making more rules but are faithfully teaching our kids how to love God and use tech.

Anna and I get a chance to discuss the perks of being unavailable, both in our tech lives and in the craziness of regular life. There are lots of reasons we choose to be busy to the point of distraction, in our lives it is often “good” things we choose instead of the few “great” things we’ve been called to. Today we’ll look at Jesus’ example - he made time to refresh his mind, body, and spirit even in the midst of the greatest earthly ministry of all time. He would literally walk away from opportunities to heal in order to ensure he stayed connected to his heavenly Father and could hear the Holy Spirit. This is the example we’re given on how a life should look, so let’s see how that applies to our FOMO, should’s, and anxieties we deal with every day.

Today we’re going to talk about Transparent Tech—how do we lovingly keep tech open to conversation and in line with who we are and what we are called to be, have and do in Christ.
We will address how our tech can be transparent in five areas. How we:

Model tech use and raise children in way they should go
Set expectations that exemplify what is true, honorable, just and pure
Create support to take away the lie of anonymity
Address problems and failures that will inevitably occur
Make decisions on healthy teach so we can not only keep our families healthy but be aware of how our actions impact others

It's one thing to know my kid's had too much tech, it's entirely another to know what I can do about it! In the episode we talk about this idea of analog adventures - real world experiences that encourage their gifts, interests, and passions. God has uniquely designed each of our kids to love different activities, and be skilled in different areas. So while there isn't one single activity that fits every child, there are general truths that apply to each: These activities should help us love God , love others, and be make us into more of the person God has designed us to be.

It's been three weeks - how is it going?  I know in our house, Pre Covid, the kids watched minimal TV. In Covid times, Miss Frizzle comes on once/day to teach science—and even that tiny change means my 6 year old will start asking at 8 am “When’s it show time?”. And I think I'm losing my mind. So today's episode is dedicated to finding some tech wins! We'll look at five specific areas we can claim tech wins. We can:

Cultivate and create real relationships and experiences.
Start great conversations
Acquire skill and mastery of a skill or action
Cultivate awe for the created world
Apply intentional systems for wins (tokens, distance, charts!)

I think the last two weeks of quarantine have taught me a valuable lesson - I’m terrible at being bored. How about you? It doesn’t take much down time for me to begin thinking back with fondness on tedious activities done outside the house - suddenly a trip with the kids to Costco feels like a vacation I’ve been forbidden to take. And never in my life have I so wanted to get out of my home and do a workout at the YMCA! These times of constant isolation can be factories of boredom, and I want to encourage all of us to embrace our boredom a bit. No, we shouldn’t self-isolate into a state of depression or fear, but we also should inundate ourselves with stimulation to the point where we can no longer fear boredom.
For many of us boredom can be akin to being under water too long: Our lungs burn, our body is screaming for us to go to the surface. It can feel that way when we get bored - all we need is one solid binge on Netflix or social media and we’ll be fine! But boredom is less about our brains gasping for more input and more about our brains (and even our souls) screaming that they’ve had too much.
Today we’ll talk about the importance of boredom and why this season of solitude is an excellent opportunity to regain a gift we’ve been given.

Anna is back! In this episode we address the concept of creating tech free rhythms in our lives. We first came across this idea in Andy Crouch’s book The Tech Wise Family a few years ago—if you haven’t read, it’s a must read. It is equal parts challenging/convicting on how we use tech and encouraging with some real tangible ways to live intentionally.
So the principle is this—we mentioned this on IG in early January that we were going to try to implement this into our lives this year, and we want to really flesh out what that looks like and why it matters for our family’s spiritual and emotional well being.

One hour a day
One day a week
One week a year without tech

We hope this will be entertaining, encouraging, and that you will feel equipped to better love God and use tech by the end of it.

As I'm recording this from Washington State new measures are going in on this escalating virus pandemic: No groups larger than 50 can meet (so most churches are down), schools are closed for six weeks, and as of this morning all restaurants are closed for two weeks.
We all fear six weeks without plans with our kiddos and no outside resources or activities that can be counted on. But in the midst of all the crazy, what should we be doing? We hear lots of verses thrown around about not feeling anxious, but what about the anxiety I feel? Do I just tell myself to stop? I know I should’t fear, but I do, so now what?
In this episode I will share four encouragements we can all take to heart to help us love God and be faithful with the opportunities we’re given in this crazy season. We will:

Focus on what is true

Be a helper

Reclaim the time

Have a plan


This is a season we need to be reminded that fear is real, this world is broken, and God is working in it and through it and has invited us to be a part of that work. I hope this episode encourages you and equips you to better love God and use tech.