For one of my classes recently, I read a series of research articles about the physical inactivity of Americans and the chronic disease epidemic. The numbers are quite staggering; about two-thirds of the population are obese or overweight, and 60% of Americans have at least one chronic condition. In class the professor presented psychological strategies for helping people to change their poor behaviors, and several of the articles that we read put forward wearable technologies that track fitness, such as Apple watches and Fitbits, as viable solutions to the problem.
I submit to you that suggestions like this are ridiculous. If we want to lessen the number of fat, weak, and sick people who currently exist in our society, we don’t need more technology or psychology—we need less. We need to wholly rethink the entire point of human life.
Those who put forward technology as a solution to this problem miss the point. They fail to realize that in many ways technology is the problem itself. Why are people so sedentary these days? Is it not because they are glued to their screens? When people have a moment of rest, they are sitting and scrolling through their phones, not doing something active. When they come home from work, they collapse on the couch and watch TV. Due to the rise of technology, most people work with computers in some capacity, and many have jobs that require them to sit at a desk in front of a screen all day.
One web source claims that 80% of jobs today are sedentary or only require light physical activity. Government Technology reports that 92% of jobs today require digital skills, and digital skills are not active skills—most often they require sitting. Even children are not immune to this sickness. They are now being given iPads and computers by their schools, being trained in screen-addiction earlier and earlier. How, then, are more screens a solution to this problem?
Our society tells us that humans were made to get as much pleasure and happiness as possible for ourselves by consuming as much as we can. Technology helps us to do this. We now have apps with which we can order food and have it delivered to our door. We can eat this food while we sit on our couches and watch episode after episode of our favorite television shows. When we have a lunch break, we don’t use it to go outside and get some fresh air; rather, we sit inside and scroll through our phone, feverishly putting one image after another before our eyes, scared of missing out on something important or having to think about our own miserable lives. Cars allow us to sit comfortably even when we travel places and have almost eliminated walking. Even on Grove City’s campus, there are those who drive to Collage for a cup of coffee on a beautiful day when the coffee shop is less than a mile away.
Our technology allows us to mass produce the salty, oily, and sugary food that people love. We can show up at a fast-food restaurant and quickly receive a meal full of things that slowly kill us, which we happily consume because it is easy and makes us feel good. When the consequences of our poor choices catch up with us, we run to highly educated doctors – most of whom are ignorant when it comes to what is best for the whole human being – who give us drugs to mask the symptoms of the health conditions our lazy use of technology has brought upon us.
The solution to all of this is to see humans in a completely different light, to acknowledge that they are created beings who were made by a loving God and have been given many gifts by Him. They are required to be good stewards of these gifts so that they might glorify the Giver.
One of these gifts is the human body. We need to take good care of our bodies so we can live long in the service of the Lord and as a blessing to others. Thus, we cannot use our technology to abuse our bodies. If this is what it leads us to, we must avoid it. We would do well to keep in mind 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, which says, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”
Part of who we are is our bodies, and it is imperative that we care for them. We need to practice temperance when it comes to what we eat: for example, abstain from sugary and oily foods that taste good but do great harm, and go out of the way to obtain more beneficial foods such as raw milk or garden-grown pesticide-free vegetables.
We also need to be regularly physically active so that we can use our bodies in the service of the Lord. This does not mean everyone has to go to the gym or spend hours running or walking. Rather, use free time to be more active. Go on a walk with someone and enjoy fellowship and conversation with them. Take up an active hobby such as birdwatching. Burn wood in your home—wood which you have to haul and chop yourself. Better still, start a garden of your own. Gardening requires you to be outside, active, and allows you to eat better. We should not use the good things God has given us in excess, nor use technology to twist or distort them. We should use them in His service.
Besides making changes in our own lives, we need to share this true understanding of humanity with others. God’s Truth is the solution to all of the ailments of this world, from the vast, overarching problem of sin even down to its more superficial effects such as deteriorating health. The Christian view of humanity, accompanied by the practice of godly virtue with the help of the Spirit, will lead to a healthier society. Your Apple watch will not.
