Editorial: The Curse of the Cursor

No, it is not a misspelling. This is not about a man who uses profanity but about far more subtle and prevalent problem for Christians. Perhaps renaming the editorial, The Domination by the Double-Click, would have conveyed the message in a better manner.

The Value

This article is being typed on a computer. It will go for editing via the Internet; it will return via the Internet; it will, after a few more cyberspace journeys, go to a printer via the Internet. To rail against the Internet here would be hypocrisy of the worst kind – the obvious kind!

All who work in business, attend school, or serve the public in a myriad of other ways are fully cognizant of how valuable the Internet can be as a source of information, a means of rapid communication, and an avenue for dissemination of information. Some assemblies, as well, with websites have been able to use them to profit. There can be little debate of the potential for good that the Internet has. The fact that men have “perverted that which was right” (Job 33:27) is only a reminder that fallen human nature will turn everything to its own evil ends.

The Vileness

One of the greatest evils, if not the leading one, is the pornography and pollution which are readily available on the Internet. The most sordid and wicked of things is only a double-click away from each of us. Some have had embarrassing moments by an accidental click on what seemed like an innocuous website. Others have been lured by curiosity; still others, mired in self-pity and conditioned by a self-pleasing society, have taken the bait, only to be drawn into the vortex of the addictive nature of pornography. Each exposure demands more to satisfy and to thrill! In the quiet and isolation of a den or study, with all other family members asleep, the temptation can be enticing and easily fed.

The Villainy

But even those not drawn into the mire and debasement of pornography on the Internet face another insidious potential. Time magazine recently said that the average U. S. Internet user spends three hours per day on the Internet. Three hours! Where is it spent? How is it spent? Is it consistent with the principle of “Redeeming the time” (Eph 5:16; Col 4:5)? Is it consistent with the stewardship of our time (1 Cor 7:29)? Do we really need the chat rooms, the lengthy IMs that go on for hours, the mindless games meant to entertain and amuse a bored public? Have we no better way of “spending” the hours God has given us?

Some may have to make rules to impose self-discipline on themselves. Others may need to resort to accountability to others such as is available through “Covenant Eyes.” For most, however, it is a matter of responsible stewardship of our time in light of eternity.