Vanessa and I were blessed to have a little time away last week. Our children were gracious enough to gift us a few days in a cabin in the Tennessee mountains. It had been a long time since we spent any time in the mountains, so we were grateful for the opportunity to see the beauty of the Lord’s creation, but also to just get away. It’s always good to get away.

One of our children who gifted us the cabin lives in the Memphis, TN area, so we decided we would leave a day early so we could stop by and visit with her and our son-in-law as we were traveling. Now, here’s the thing. I’ve been to her home numerous times in the time they have lived there. The problem is I can’t ever remember how to get to her house. I always have to rely on Siri!

I realized as we were driving up to Memphis (and subsequently on to Pigeon Forge) that our lives have become totally dependent upon those little devices we hold in our hands. Our lives are on autopilot, just going wherever the culture (or Siri) leads us.

I’m old enough to remember folding maps. I also remember a time when I could go somewhere I’d never been before, and following one of those folding maps or one of those bulky road atlases (remember those?), I could get there. I might struggle the first time. I might get lost (though as a man, I’ve never been lost, right?) or take a wrong turn, but eventually, I’d reach the destination. Here’s the thing: once I got there, I didn’t need a map the second time. I remembered the way if I ever went there again. I had a great sense of direction (“had” being the operative word). I blame Siri for the loss of my great sense of direction (couldn’t be my age, could it?).

Okay, so it’s not Siri specifically, but here’s what I mean. Technology is robbing us of our ability to think. With an old folding road map or road atlas, I actually had to think about where I was going. I had to use my brain. Now, all I have to do is plug in the destination and let my device lead the way. Just listen. Turn where she tells you to turn. Go where she tells you to go. Pay no real attention to landmarks, road signs or road names. Just follow the little voice.

“Proceed to the route.”

“In one mile, turn right.”

“In one-quarter mile, take the exit.”

“The destination is on the left.”

“You have reached your destination.”

It really is a mindless endeavor. I think that’s what technology has done to us. It has made us mindless.

Let’s face it. Technology companies are happy for us to use their technology. That’s because they mine our data so they can predict our behavior based on the places we go, the things we watch and the items we buy. And, they use that data to affect what we eventually see so they can profit off our behavior. They want us mindless. This paragraph is a digression. I should save this thought for another day.

What I am challenged with is the question, “Have I allowed technology to make me spiritually mindless, too?” Another way to frame the question is, “Am I on spiritual autopilot?” In many ways, the answer to the question is “Yes!”

When my faith in Christ becomes a routine matter, I’m on spiritual autopilot. To be complacent as a believer is to be on spiritual autopilot. To be in our spiritual “comfort zone” is to be on spiritual autopilot.

Our Christian faith is not a mindless endeavor. If our faith is not challenging us to grow in obedience, in grace, in love, in action and in holiness, then we are not thinking much about our faith. We are called to grow deeper. We are called to grow closer to Christ and closer to one another. We are called to be more like Christ. We will never fulfill our calling on spiritual autopilot.

Yeah, well tell me how to get off autopilot, then!

How about get out the old road map. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about–the Bible! It is the road map for life. I’m reminded of the words of the Psalmist:

Your word is a lamp for my feet,
    a light on my path.

Psalm 119:105 (NIV)

Personal bible study where we engage the text every day causes us to think about our faith in real and life-changing ways. Group bible study (when done well) can challenge our presuppositions and biases, causing us to re-think our faith. We need both to grow as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. We need both to engage in faithful service and witness to a lost and hurting world. We need a road map to find our way spiritually out of the brokenness of our lives so that we might be used as vessels in a world that is spiritually broken.

The Bible is not the end all and be all of our spiritual existence, but it is that which leads us, forms us and shapes us into faithful people…into a holy nation. We need the Bible. We need Bible study–both personal and group. We need to open it…to read it..to “eat” it like the prophet Ezekiel:

And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.” ² So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.

³ Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.

Ezekiel 3: 1- 3 (NIV)

Or, the Apostle John:

⁸ The voice which I had heard from heaven spoke to me again. It said, “Take the opened scroll from the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” ⁹ I went to the angel and asked him to give me the small scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will be bitter in your stomach, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”

¹⁰ I took the small scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, it was bitter in my stomach.

Revelation 10: 8 – 10 (NIV)

The Bible will challenge us. The Bible will strengthen us. The Bible will encourage us. The Bible will give us hope. The Bible will correct us. The Bible will give us peace. The Bible will lead us home, and it will do so because it is the road map to living, to dying and to living again. The Bible will cause us to think, and we need to think about our faith if we desire to live fruitful, faithful lives in Jesus Christ.

I leave you with these words from the Apostle Paul:

⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, keep your thoughts on whatever is right or deserves praise: things that are true, honorable, fair, pure, acceptable, or commendable. ⁹ Practice what you’ve learned and received from me, what you heard and saw me do. Then the God who gives this peace will be with you.

Philippians 4: 8 – 9 (NIV)

Don’t think the irony has escaped me of using technology to encourage you to stop using so much technology in your spiritual life by returning to the old-fashioned Bible. Pick up that old-fashioned Bible. Turn its pages. Ingest its words. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, you’ll find your way home to the Savior.

Until next time, keep looking up…