Technology can be a friend or a foe. Like all tools it can be used for good or evil, sometimes in ways that are quite unintentional. Take Strava for example. The fitness tracking app is used by those who are trying to be healthy. Those who run or walk can use this bit of tech to record their activity and that is very helpful for marking achievements or setting goals.
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Apparently Strava can also record your movements on a map, so those who use it can actually see where they have gone. It must be quite motivating to be able to look at a map and see how far you have travelled on your own steam. Unfortunately everyone else can see that too. In a recent news story, it was explained how Nathan Ruser, a student of international security at the Australian National University, looked up a map of Syria and noticed routes by Strava users that corresponded with American security patrols. “They probably should have had the foresight to look at the map before they released it, but the app has a policy where you can opt out of data sharing, and that hasn't been done by the soldiers,” Mr Ruser said.
There are some who are concerned that we are being snooped on by tech in increasing ways. But it is not only tech that is watching us all the time. As followers of Jesus, we are also being watched and we are telling people what we believe in how we live. All the time. This is why the apostle Paul reminds us, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God,” (1 Corinthians 10:31-32)
The apostle Paul also writes somewhere else about some of the fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in our lives (Galatians 5:22-23). Love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Wouldn’t it be great if the people of God were identified by these traits in everything that they did?