Kerby Anderson

Technology makes our lives easier, but digital technology can also make our lives more complicated. Over the last two decades, we have seen the rise of misinformation, polarization, and conspiracy theories. How can we navigate a world where so much information is coming at us at light speed?

Jason Thacker provides some important guidelines in his new book, Following Jesus in a Digital Age. He challenges us to consider how social media is shaping our worldviews and then apply biblical wisdom to navigate the difficult terrain of our digital culture.

He was on my radio program recently to talk about those challenges. He faces them as well, and tells a story of sharing a news item with his wife only to discover minutes later that it was fake news. He serves as the chair of research in technology ethics and is the director of the research institute at The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. If someone with his background can be fooled, so can the rest of us. That’s why we need digital discernment and biblical wisdom.

In one chapter he encourages us to pursue wisdom in a digital age. In another, he warns us that we need to stand for truth in what has become a post-truth age. In that chapter, he talks about the vexing problems of misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories, and propaganda.

Another chapter talks about our responsibility in a curated age. We are being watched and sold through social media. Our digital world is being curated and manipulated. That also explains the polarization we see in our world today.

All of us need guidance in this digital age, and I especially recommend this book for pastors, teachers, and small group leaders. We need to know how to navigate our digital world.