what i don't like about computers is that they do what i say...and not what i mean...
example: i mean to hit the "control" button but hit the "CAPS LOCK" BUTTON AND ALL OF A SUDDEN GIANT LETTERS DOMINATE THE SCREEN...i LOOK AT THE SCREEN AND SAY, "tHAT'S NOT WHAT i MEANT!" AND i correct my mistake...
here's another example: i want to correct one letter but i inadvertently hit the button that removes the entire word..."that's not what i meant," i mumble to the one-eyed monstor...and then i correct my mistake...
now i know i shouldn't be so hard on the mACHINE (OOPS, DID IT AGAIN)...after all...it's just a tool...it can't read my mind (though considering what it cost...it should at least keep me from making the same mistake over and over)...a computer computes...it doesn't think...it doesn't question...it doesn't smile...shake its monitor, and say, "elena, i know what you are trying to do...you don't intend to be hitting the delete button...removing the very letters you want to keep..if you'd look at your screen you would see that...but since you won't and since you and i are good friends and you leave me plugged in...i'm going to give you what you need and not what you request..."
computers don't do that...computers are legalists...impersonal pragmatists...push a button and get a response...learn the system and get the printout...blow the system and get ready for a long nite...
computers are heartless creatures...don't expect any compassion from your lap top...they don't call it a hard disk for nothing...
so...i'm sure you are wondering...where is she going with this??
well...here it is...
some folks have a computer theology when it comes to understanding God...God is the ultimate desktop...the bible is the maintenance manual...the Holy Spirit is the floppy disk...and Jesus is the 1-800 service number...
call it computerized christianity...push the right buttons...enter the code...insert the correct data...and bingo...print out your "own" salvation...
it's professional religion...you do your part and the Divine Computer does his...no need to pray (after all, you control the keyboard)...no emotional attachment necessary (who wants to hug circuits?) and worship?? well...worship is a lab exercise...insert the rituals and see the results...
computerized religion...no kneeling...no weeping...no gratitude...no emotion...it's great - unless you make a mistake...unless you err...unless you enter the wrong data or forget to save the manuscript...unless you're caught on the wrong side of a power surge...and then...tough luck...you're on your own...
religion by computer...that's what happens when...you replace the living God with a cold system...when you replace inestimable love with pro-forma budget...when you replace the ultimate sacrifice of Christ with the puny achievements of man...
when you view God as a computer and the christian as a number-crunching, cursor commanding, button pusher...that is religion by the computer...
how it must break the heart of God...
by the way...my computer still drives me crazy at times...it still does WHAT I SAY, OOps, and not what i mean...i push the wrong button...i pay the price...for that reason...i refuse to call it what the manufacturer does...it is not a personal computer...it is cold...detached...and could care less about my happiness...
a personal computer would be different...in fact it wouldn't be a computer at all...it would be a friend...a friend who gives me what i need instead of what i request...a friend who knows more about me than i do...a friend who doesn't have to be turned off at nite and on in the morning...
a computer like that? too much to ask...i know...
a God like that?? still too much to ask...but that's what He is...why else do you think He is known as your personal Savior?
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