We must continue to deflect and destroy the subtle but deadly influence of these digital delusions and submit completely to the guiding revelation of the Bible. Man’s corrupting technology and imagination must be toppled from its lofty height and God’s word must once more take its rightful place in our minds as “frontlets between our eyes.” And we must quickly do so before we lose a whole generation to the controlling mechanisms of this dark ignorant world.

How important is it for the believer to cultivate his or her mind through regular, prayerful study of God’s word? It is supremely important when one is seeking to ward off a deterioration of thought that comes from repeated exposure to the buffeting of the Enemy and the toxic indoctrination of the controlling world mechanisms. This is why Paul taught the Church way back when:

Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect (Romans 12:2).…for we have the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2:16).

Surely now more than ever, the apostle’s exhortation must be heeded by professing Christians. The dark forces against us appear more energized in this age of digital dementia where minds are becoming conformable to machines. We must be both mentally and spiritually equipped to defend against these mechanized attempts to subvert the mind of Christ. Paganism, once thought antiquated and impotent in civilized society, has arisen again, now perfectly joined with the world’s postmodern sensibilities, digital imagery and technological advancements. From that breeding ground we now see new counterfeit belief systems like scientism and transhumanism making inroads into the visible Church with the intent to promote man’s high-tech wonders and marginalize God’s holy word.

The Fading Influence of the Bible

Sadly, in recent years the machinations of these new world forces have had a negative impact on the cultural influence of the Bible. As Michael Horton rightly surmised a decade ago:

As it was in the days of the judges, the kings, and the prophets, so it is in our day: there is a famine in the land for God’s Word…(W)e find ourselves immersed in a visual culture where words in general are both unimportant and viewed with a growing cynicism. (Sola Scriptura: The Protestant Position on the Bible).

More than twenty years ago, my wife and I witnessed firsthand the creeping apathy toward the Bible and the spiritual fallout that comes from starving the mind of that nourishment. We were temporarily tasked with overseeing the teen youth group for our growing seeker-sensitive congregation while the overseers searched for someone to hire as a permanent youth minister.

During that time we soon realized that the teens under our charge were very resistant to any formal study of Scripture. For example, when we discussed the possibility of setting aside time for Bible study and memorization, they balked. The reason? According to their more prominent members, they had already learned the “theological stuff” and felt they completely understood what the Bible taught. Instead, they wanted to focus more on fun activities like field trip fellowships, sports activities and Christian music concerts.

It was a rocky start for me and my wife, and it didn’t get much better from there. After a few months of pushing a more biblically-focused agenda and receiving the frequent push-back from these high-schoolers, we finally found our blessed escape when a youth minister was officially hired. We thought this would be the end of our problems, but sadly such was not the case. The seeds of spiritual truancy were already planted within the group and it soon produced its awful fruit.

The new, twenty-something youth minister was married with a small child, but was very inexperienced as both a group leader and as a Christian. Even worse, it turned out he was profoundly immature and harbored the same sentiments as his young charges when it came to Bible study vs. teen fun time. His main focus was on Christian rock music and fellowship, and that was pretty much it. He had no problem giving the kids exactly what they wanted.

To make a long story short, the youth group’s waywardness came to a head months later when they attended an edgy Christian music festival in another state. While there for the weekend, a scandal erupted when our youth minister was caught romantically pursuing a teen girl from another church group that was attending the event. After the overseers were notified a few days later and an investigation proved the allegation true, the youth minister was relieved of his duties. For a time afterwards, the teen ministry was in shambles.

It was a disappointing and sordid situation that could have been easily avoided. The signs of utter indifference toward Scripture by the teens and their pliable leadership should have warned us, but we as a congregation were too busy trying to grab and entice our youth’s attention with the things of the world instead of the things of Christ as revealed in Scripture. This prevailing philosophy of church growth marketing over biblical focus soon drove us out of this church body altogether.

The point I am trying to make with this story is to convince the Church that we will never have any hope of real widespread “revival” or passionate, life-changing discipleship if we allow those within our ranks to relegate God’s word to the back burner of Christian life. Too many professing Christians are equating truth with their emotions and feelings instead of the precise confines of Scripture. This pursuit for experience over doctrine will never turn out well because the focus is on the sights and sounds of the world and not on the patient, methodical process of hiding the very words of Christ in our hearts for the renewing of our minds and the guidance of our footsteps as eager followers of Jesus.

This drift away from the written word of God, however, seems to be a more noticeable sign of the times. The world today has created an atmosphere, especially among the younger generation, that is inducing a cognitive disconnect from life’s reality and hard truth, like that found in Scripture. A growing number of people have become so distracted by screens and gadgets that their brains are suffering mental imbalances from the lack of critical thinking. Recent studies on the impact of digital technology, in fact, seem to show that more and more users are exhibiting an inability to concentrate, short attention spans, loss of memory function and emotional disturbances, like mood swings and depression. One study by Microsoft in 2013 found that the average human attention span has dramatically decreased to 8 seconds long, which is one second less than that of a common goldfish!

The Rise of Digital Dementia

Back in 2012, German neuroscientist Manfred Spitzer coined the term, “Digital Dementia” to describe how overuse of digital technology is resulting in the breakdown of cognitive abilities, especially among the younger generation who are most exposed to smartphones, game devices and digital screens. Apparently, this subsequent rise in mental deterioration and short term memory dysfunction is similar to that of head trauma or psychiatric illness. Yet, according to experts, this is what happens when we passively absorb entertainment on a glowing screen instead of actively engaging our cognitive skills through thoughtful exercise with weighted words, challenging numbers and creative meditation.

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