THE OPPRESSION OF THE VIRTUAL WORLD
There is no debate that the world we live in today is dominated by the virtual world. Interactions, transactions, socializing, wealth and even crime is predominantly in the virtual world. In a short time, we have come a long way from bursts of exposure to the virtual world through movies and televisions to a world dominated by the virtual world through the internet, mobile phones and virtual reality. As companies like Facebook, now appropriately named Meta, get in to the development of the metaverse, we will shortly see a world that, by man’s choice, is oppressively dominated by the virtual world.
Consider most people today- they wake up to looking at their phones, spend more time on the screen than on anything else and cannot make through a day without wireless connectivity. True, the world has adapted to a state where the routines have to be done through the virtual world and life in a general sense is dependent on the virtual world. Schools, banks, companies, all function through the virtual world and there is perhaps no going back on that dependency. But what is also true as an offshoot is the fact that the virtual world dominates our thinking and our opinions, it determines our value, and has far reaching consequences on a global scale.
While it is true that the virtual world is here to stay, we determine whether the virtual world dominates and oppresses us or serves us for our needs. It is in this context that Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:19-23 becomes relevant,
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
First what do we treasure? As we interact with and live to some extent in the virtual world, we should be careful not to treasure anything including all that is available in the virtual world above God and the eternal life that awaits those who believe. Getting the priorities right is made possible by having the discipline to nurture our relationship with God with a passion that far exceeds anything else. Do we sacrificially make time for prayer, Bible study and Christian fellowship?
That discipline needs to extend on to what we allow to get in to our systems through our eyes. The eyes are never satisfied and getting in to a pattern of feasting with our eyes on all the pleasures that the virtual world offers ensures that we as a whole- our minds and our souls are placed in darkness. This darkness engulfs a person as a whole and threatens to shut him off from the very source of light that is in Christ Jesus.
We don’t have to be dominated by the virtual world. However if there is domination and oppression, it is by our choice.
