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Our existential “treats”

“Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” —Matthew 24:30–31

We are hearing that AI could be an existential threat in the next decade. Maybe AI is an existential “threat” to our world, and maybe it isn’t. Either way, there isn’t a whole lot most of us can do about that today except turn off the technology and give our world some good news. The gospel provides the existential help everyone will need.

What does the phrase “existential threat” mean? AI quoted the Cambridge dictionary, which says, “Existential Threat: A hazard that threatens total survival, such as a major war or climate catastrophe.”

COVID was an “existential threat” until it wasn’t. So were World Wars I and II. In fact, every time I drive in Dallas traffic, I am experiencing a personal “hazard that threatens” my survival! So, in the midst of all the AI threats, I wanted to write about the existential treats that might improve our outlook.

An existential perspective from The Terminator and the Giver of Life

The news has been warning that we might have only a decade left on earth. Does that mean the “Terminators” are coming? I never watched that movie, but I’ve seen several clips. I would like to compare some wisdom from both the movie and God’s Word. I asked AI for some famous lines from the movie, and I will compare them with the truth of Scripture.

“It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with.”

That line belongs to the character of Kyle Reese in the movie The Terminator. It is his now-famous description of the AI capacity of the relentless cyborg in the 1984 film. I’ve seen the clips of Arnold Schwarzenegger with his metal suit, red eyes, weapons, and cyborg vocals. I didn’t see the movie, but apparently, his cyborg personality is trying to help. Truthfully, I wouldn’t hang around long enough to try to reason with a cyborg!

On the other hand, God told Isaiah, “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool” (Isaiah 1:18). 

Your existential treat: Whatever might threaten a Christian’s life on earth is actually an avenue to their eternal mansion in glory. Our sins are forgiven. We have been washed as white as snow. We can look at a cyborg and say, “Go ahead. Make my day.” Different movie wisdom, but that line works!

“Come with me if you want to live.”

Arnold’s character told the frightened people in the movie to come with him for protection. They followed The Terminator and kept their lives on earth, but what did their lives look like? People were shot at, injured, blown up, and lived in constant fear. They were hungry, thirsty, in pain, and in need of just about everything, including a shower and a good night’s sleep! They were breathing, but were they really living?

Our existential treat: Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). I’ll take that offer any day and every day! Jesus said, “Come with me if you want to live,” and offered us life eternal where there is no fear, no illness, no pain, and an eternal home with him. Christians are never really “at home” here on earth. By God’s grace, we don’t belong here forever.

“Hasta la vista, baby.”

The most famous line from The Terminator is my favorite. “Hasta la vista” means “see you later.” We are human beings, and we can’t help but cling to our temporary lives on earth. It’s what we know and much of the time, love. We don’t want to miss moments with family and friends. We might miss our beautiful sunrises and sunsets. So, we take medications and exercise, trusting that a healthy lifestyle will give us more time on earth. 

We need to think more often like Paul. He realized his earthly life was coming to an end. Rome was an “existential threat” to Christians of his day. He had been faithfully serving God, and now, he was in prison awaiting his termination. 

His words to Timothy are our existential treat: Paul told his protégé, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:6–8).

Have you ever considered why God made certain that people would age? Aging is a daily existential threat to life on earth. God wanted us to look forward to life eternal. God wants us to witness to people we know and love so that they will be in heaven with us someday. God allows our steps to slow, our knees to ache, and our thoughts to turn to a home in heaven. 

Our existential treat: God wants us to look forward to life eternal and joyfully say “hasta la vista,” or “see you later” to those we love. Everything on earth is temporary, except the souls of the people around us who choose the grace of God that faith in Christ provides. 

If we only have ten years before the Terminators arrive . . .

People are saying that AI is an existential threat, and we might have only a decade of life before the cyborgs take over. If we want to get ready for the Terminators, then we should buy a set of encyclopedias for our shelves. We will also need really good books on gardening, hunting, and other practical survival needs. We will need to get a tent, a bicycle, a wheelbarrow, and some really good garden tools. We can also stockpile cans of beans and vegetables, and buy some chickens, cows, and pigs. 

Mostly, what we will need is our Bibles. We will want to remember that faith in Jesus is the only means of survival that will last forever.

Our existential treat that transcends all threats

Jesus encouraged his disciples, saying, “Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:30–31).

The Bible commands us, “Do not worry.” Scripture also commands us to “go and make disciples.” Whatever AI decides to do is only a temporary threat to Christians. We just need to remember our job is to help people find faith in Christ and be ready for whatever happens in this world. Everyone deserves to know they have the hope of heaven.

Our existential treat: We will only say “hasta la vista” to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus promised we would “see them later.” 

Photo by Steve A Johnson on Unsplash

Does technology influence or control your thinking?

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” —Romans 12:2

A lot of things are influencing our brains today that our parents and grandparents never had to consider. Technology has molded our minds and adjusted our way of thinking. God is providing his people with a heightened awareness of this fact that can move Christians to the forefront of some discussions. Does technology influence our thoughts or actually control what we think? It’s crucial we consider the difference.

First the phone, then the radio, then TV

Alexander Bell patented the telephone in 1876. Twenty years later, the technology for “wireless telegraphy” was patented. Technology has been changing the world for 140 years and continues to do so. 

A telephone was once considered a great luxury, only found in the home of someone with considerable wealth. It wasn’t until forty years later, during the 1920s, that homes were commonly wired with phone lines. I remember when my parents bought a home with a second phone jack, which meant they could have a phone in their bedroom as well as the kitchen. It was the same phone line, but two locations in the house to make calls. I had all my phone conversations in the kitchen, using a wall-mounted phone. I still remember my dad coming home one day in a foul mood because he had been trying to call my mom to tell her he was running late, only to get a busy signal each time. (I had two sisters who used the phone too!) Now, everyone has their own number, their own privacy, and the ability to make phone calls at any moment, anywhere, and leave a message if needed. How has that impacted our marriages, our parenting, and our family time together? What conversations exist because there is no accountability to someone who might overhear? How much time can our kids spend on their phones simply because no one else is waiting to use them? We live in homes that don’t often require us to consider others’ needs. How has that changed us as people?

According to a Wikipedia article, in 1923, one percent of U.S. households owned at least one radio. Eight years later, a majority of homes had a radio, and that number reached seventy-five percent by 1937. I remember my mom and dad talking about the excitement their families had felt when they first bought a radio for their homes. Dad talked about rushing to get all his chores done so the family could sit together and listen to Abbot and Costello, Amos ‘n’ Andy, or Fibber McGee and Molly. The radio also brought news from the war, and everyone had someone they knew and/or loved who was fighting overseas.

The Golden Age of Radio soon transitioned to television. Only about one percent of households had a TV in 1948. That percentage grew to over fifty percent by 1953. Almost every home had a TV set by 1960. It was then that people began to be influenced by more than “words.” People began to dress like those they saw on television rather than those they saw every day. Father Knows Best set standards for family values, clothes, and hairstyles. 

People and families have changed because of technology. Parents, kids, and neighbors used to gather on a front porch each evening to talk. Later, they gathered around a radio to share a program and laugh together. Next, they gathered around a television to talk about the way the stars dressed, cooked, vacuumed, or went to work. I Love Lucy suggested life in the big city and the idea of marrying someone who wasn’t from the local neighborhood or school. The cultural differences were part of the storyline. 

Now, people carry their individual phones in their pockets or purses. We listen to the radio in the car, but we can “stream” only the kind of music we choose to hear. Typically, households have more than one TV, so kids can watch what they want while their parents do the same. And again, we can “stream” only those shows that we choose to enjoy. Sadly, we can watch shows and movies we would never have gone out in public to view and would never have watched with children present. 

Now, we have tablets and computers

We are still a decade away from fully understanding the impact that tablets and computers have had on people. Young families today are navigating these waters, trying to raise their kids while guessing at the impact these technologies will have on their futures. 

How has technology changed us? 

What happens to the family when they don’t share their time? What happens to our minds if we only hear one side of the issues of our day? What happens to the kids when their parents literally do not know what they are hearing, watching, or thinking about? 

Those may be the most important thoughts we will have this week. What happens when technology controls and influences our thoughts and perspective more than God?

God knew this day would come

One of the most miraculous things about Scripture is the fact that it says the same things to people today that it did to every generation of people that has existed. The truth we find in our Bibles is still the truth our great-grandparents and their great-grandparents heard. It might be the only truth that is able to bind everyone together in the future.

God intentionally preserved biblical truth so every generation could navigate the world. His word might be sitting on our shelves, contained in the music we choose to stream, watched on our televisions, and witnessed in the movies we watch. We can also access his word in the phones that we carry everywhere we go.

God is available to us in the same technology that entertains, informs, and influences the world.

Today’s question: Does technology influence or control your thinking?

Scripture taught our grandparents, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7 KJV). Most of us will probably read that verse in a version of the Bible that says something like, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7 ESV). 

I like the King James version that describes the Spirit-led Christian as a person with a sound mind! Our world could use more of that kind of thinking. The ESV is a direct translation of the words Paul used. 

God gave every Christian the Holy Spirit, the very nature, character, mind, and power that enabled Christ to live a sinless life on earth. We do not speak often enough about the unlimited power each of us has been given to handle the joys, fears, changes, and influences that are part of living on this side of heaven. 

We will all be influenced by the things in this world. That’s why God provided the control of his Holy Spirit in our lives. Anytime you see the words “self-control” in Scripture, you can think of that as “a self, controlled by God’s Holy Spirit.” 

More changes are coming

Consider how technology has changed the world in the past 150 years. Think about how technology has changed you and those you love. Then imagine what changes could lie ahead. The Holy Spirit is the power our Creator God has given to his children so that through us, he can change the world.

Hear the Spirit of God say what he has always taught his kids, “This is the way, walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21). Teach that truth and expectation to all you are able to influence. Technology has dramatically changed our culture, but God’s unchanging Word is for every generation. His truth has always been, and will always be, perfectly the same.