If technology isn't neutral (and this is what John Dyer has been arguing), and if it has been affected by the fall, just as man has, then we can indeed see it shaping us for good and for bad.
Cell phones can distract us from what we are, or should be, doing. Our phones can become that which we can never be without, that which we submit to with nearly all our life. Don't believe me? Try turning your cell phone off for just 24 hours and leaving it at home while you go out running errands or go to school or to work. This test was conducted on teens and many of them felt like they were going to die. Some couldn't sleep at night. Others found themselves going through similar symptoms of a drug or alcohol addict experiencing the delirium tremens.
Yet, cell phones can be used for good also. When we got our oldest daughter her first cell phone, we told her it was primarily for emergencies. It had limited minutes and no texting. Within a few days of her receiving her driver's license and her first car, she found herself in a ditch on a particularly slippery Minnesota late fall morning. She was in no harm, no danger and the car was not damaged. But she could call us right away, tell us and also let us know the local deputy sheriff (who stays near the school on early mornings) was just turning the same corner, saw her and helped her.
God used technology in the Garden, and not long after leaving the garden, man has God showing him its redemptive uses again––in the building of Noah's ark. God could have saved Noah and his family in some marvelous, non-human, non-technological way, but He choose to use man and the abilities He had created him with in order to "make" something which would be used to save him. While the ark did not save man completely (spiritually), it had redemptive capacity––it did indeed save him from God's judgment.
Tools and technology are powerless to save us. No computer, no projection unit at your local church, no cell phone, no other tool can save you from the wrath of God that is upon you if you are not a believer and follower of Jesus Christ. Yet God has seen fit to use tools and technology to bring about His purposes to redeem a people to Himself.
This was a very helpful chapter in Dyer's book, From the Garden to the City. The author helped provide a well-thought out balance in our use of technology (new or old) in the way a church might do ministry and share the gospel. God can and does use technology. However, there are times when He works against it, because of our sinful usage of what God has given us (e.g., the tower at Babel). Dyer shows how God used writing, as cutting edge technology, to bring His people His Word and His Law. He also showed how God worked (still works) against man's technological ability to create images, especially when it came to attempting to depict God Himself.
Technology never functions as neutral, inert instruments. They shape us and, by them, we shape the culture around us. So, the technology we use, the tools we use, and the mediums we use to convey ideas, especially about God, are incredibly important. More on that next time. Until then, be careful that your technology (read: cell phone, smart phone, iPad, iPod, computer or otherwise) does not become and idol, looked upon as bringing salvation and everlasting happiness to you.