Bradley G. Howell

Technology is never just a neutral tool quietly waiting for instructions. It shapes our practices, relationships, and assumptions, often while we are still busy admiring what it can do. As churches adopt new technology, the real issue is not simply whether the tools are useful, but whether their use is faithful. A Christian framework must therefore answer three questions: How should Scripture guide the adoption of this technology? When does technology support ministry without crowding out embodied practices? And who benefits, who bears the cost, and who belongs? It is time to stop circling the tangle and start working through it.

Start with the Story Scripture Reveals About Work and Tools
A Christian approach begins not just with a theology of work, but with a theology of work and its tools. The Garden of Eden was not merely a lovely place to relax; Genesis places Adam there to till and guard it (2:15). This involves purposeful labor. Tilling suggests that, sooner or later, tools were going to be involved! Passages in Numbers 1:53 and 3:7–8 use similar language for the Levites’ service to the people, congregation, and tabernacle. In each setting, human effort and practical tools worked together in service to God’s calling. Because the work in the Garden predated the fall, a thoughtful use of tools was woven into humanity’s vocation. Therefore, when considering new technology, the church should ask not only, “What can it do?” but also, “Whose purposes does it serve?” along with, “What kind of people does it help us become?” Once technology outpaces virtue, it becomes a liability rather than a resource.

Let Technology Help, Not Define Ministry
To this end, the Tower of Babel offers a warning. Kiln-fired bricks and mortar made possible the first ever “the-sky’s-the-limit” project; but the builders used the technique to “make a name for ourselves” (Genesis 11:4). Technology became more than a tool; their source of pride was a tower-sized shield against their own insecurity.

New technology can extend capacity, improve access, and make purposeful work easier. That is worth celebrating. Still, usefulness is not faithfulness; faster is not always better. If optimization reduces the labor of ministry to efficiency, it pushes aside practices that require presence, patience, and relationship. Trust is built through consistency and time, traits that are not always conducive to efficiency. The church must ask whether a tool strengthens vocation, community, worship, and mission without squeezing out the human presence they require.

Untangling Who Benefits, Who Bears the Cost, and Who Belongs
Faithful use of technology must look beyond its impressive capabilities. Optimization may assist institutions and workers, but look a little farther down the road and we may find displaced people, diminished work, and concentrated power tied in knots in the same system. Christians should notice who gains, who pays, and whose voice is caught in the tangle. Our tools must remain servants of God’s purposes, not masters of our own.

Paul’s picture of the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12 helps loosen the tangle. Eyes, hands, and feet have different work, but none gets to declare itself the whole body. They certainly do not get to quietly snip loose another part! The church flourishes through interdependence, especially when it honors those whom visibility, influence, and metrics overlook.

The metaphor of body also lends a practical test: does a tool weave people together or separate them, deciding which parts matter most? Technology serves faithfully when it deepens connection, helps us share suffering, amplifies spiritual gifts, and strengthens embodied community, like when a pastor leverages AI to recall important details before hospital visits or using it to prompt timely follow-up with individuals experiencing grief or major life transitions. However, it further tangles the knot when it isolates people, turns empathy into performance, or swaps Spirit-formed wisdom for speed and convenience.

Untangling this knot takes more than a policy tucked into a shared digital file that is forgotten by Friday. It requires formation in wisdom, humility, restraint, courage, and trust in God, by those that lead congregations in a digital age. These habits keep us from manifesting either panic or breathless enthusiasm when it comes to the use of technology, while shaping us to act with love for God and neighbor.

Working Through the Tangle
A Christian framework holds these commitments together. Scripture helps us judge whether technology serves God’s purposes and forms us in faithful ways. Ministry reveals where technology can lend a hand and where embodied presence must remain central. Ethical discernment traces this tangle of possibilities by asking who benefits, who bears the cost, and who belongs. The goal is neither to flee the tangle nor pretend it is simple, but to work through it together, with stewardship, trust in God, and love of neighbor as our guides.

 

Dr. Bradley G. Howell is assistant professor of Youth, Family, and Culture, and vice president of Academic Operations. For nearly two decades, he has researched, written, and taught on ministry in a digital world, with his next course on the subject scheduled for summer 2027.