Society and technology have evolved. Things are not the same as they used to be a decade ago, and I'm not here to judge this process as a whole. I personally think that, in general, various aspects of life have improved a lot when looking back to past generations.
That being said, I think we can all admit that we live in times of excess. We have such easy access to high-reward stimuli like drugs, food, news, games, shopping, sex/porn, online gambling, short videos and social media in general. Some of the things listed here might be problematic in their content itself, but that's not what I'm dealing with here. The fact of the matter is that we are all vulnerable to excessive consumption, bingeing and addiction.
For me, the central issue is that, different from other addictions and excesses that in past times would cause you to live on the margins of society, these vices are finding lodging in the very fabric of our society. And not participating in these vices is what actually drives you to the margins.
I would not be calling these things "vices" if they were improving our lives (in this case, they would be virtues). And as I said, the problem is not the content itself but the ways of consumption. We are constantly seeking pleasure, and this unceasing pursuit of pleasure is leaving us empty, anxious, depressed and sad.
Now, if the biological effects of our current lifestyle are alarming, there is an even more alarming effect, which is the effect of this lifestyle on our spiritual life. The church these days needs to minister to dopamine-addicted, highly anxious, depressed individuals. And many times, we have the "blind leading the blind" situation, as many pastors and church leaders are trapped in the same vicious cycle.
There is a growing complaint of Christians who find it hard to find pleasure in God and a life of simple devotion to the word, prayer, fellowship and sacraments. More and more people seek "church experiences" of all kinds that will provide them with some sort of "spiritual high" that will at least match the level of pleasure they find in their daily lives. And this bliss needs to be low-effort and quickly accessible.
And with churches moving in this direction and offering this type of "experience," a threefold problem is being developed. First, as with any addiction, you always need to increase the dose, and these churches will be constantly struggling to keep up with this game. Second, the Christian life for the people involved in these movements becomes this unceasing pursuit - not of God - of "spiritual" highs, and true satisfaction will never be achieved. Third, and probably the most critical point, this is not the Christian life that pleases God; it does not honour Him and does not produce true holiness.
That being said, the moment we are living right now does not call us just to find a healthy and theologically sound church. We need not only a church-liturgy reformation but also a "life-liturgy" reformation. If we only change the structure of the church gathering, it will cause us to feel that there is an enormous chasm between us and God. If we want to find pleasure in God again, in a life of simple devotion and biblical/"low-dopamine" church gatherings, we must rethink how we live.
John Piper, an American pastor, likes to say, "God Is Most Glorified in Us When We Are Most Satisfied in Him." I agree with him. Unfortunately, many Christians will say they find satisfaction in God, but their satisfaction is in the experiences, not in God. I hope you can see the difference and will choose to strive alongside me to recover true satisfaction in God amid this frantic world we live in.
Nino Marques
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