Billy Graham on Technology as a Pointer to Christ

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27 Jan 2010

Billy Graham is an amazing communicator, and his 1998 TED talk on technology and faith (embedded below) is no exception. In it he is witty, articulate, and convicting.

His basic message is simple: technology brings amazing benefits to humanity, but it’s failure to alleviate the brokenness of the human heart ultimately point us to our need for a Savior.

What I appreciate most about his talk is that Graham did not give it to a church audience who would immediately agree with him. Instead in his audiences are some of the greatest technological minds ever gathered, many of whom are no friends of religion. It’s a classic example of how a speaker can appeal to an audience’s sensibilities, gain a sense of trust, and then finally address the person of Jesus Christ.

Billy Graham’s 1998 TED Talk on Technology and Faith


Personally, I found it very moving to see how Billy Graham’s life of integrity gained him this rare audience. He used a subject the audience was interested in – technology – and took the time to validate its importance while also gently showing how its limitations direct us to the Savior. Amen, Billy.

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19 Responses to Billy Graham on Technology as a Pointer to Christ

  1. Avatar

    Ryan Burns

    January 27th, 2010 at 12:13 pm

    Thanks for digging that up John. That was the best 26 minutes of my day. There is no way Steve will be topping that this afternoon.

    Reply

  2. Avatar

    Adam

    February 1st, 2010 at 11:51 am

    Watched this late last year and really enjoyed it. I thought the same thing about Mr Graham’s life of integrity. I also appreciated that “you can’t take the evangelist out of the man.” And I got the sense that no one would want to, not even a roomful of tech gurus. It would have been inauthentic if Mr Graham had avoided the Gospel. It would be like pricking the thumb and telling it not to bleed.

    Reply

  3. Avatar

    Danny Vanderbyl

    February 1st, 2010 at 6:33 pm

    Thanks for the post. It was worth 26 minutes!

    Reply

  4. Avatar

    Adam

    February 9th, 2010 at 3:35 pm

    How did The Electronic Gospel conference go?

    Reply

    • Avatar

      John Dyer

      February 10th, 2010 at 8:27 am

      Adam, it went really well I think. Shane Hipps is a fantastic presenter, and the sold out audience really seemed to be interested in his packaging of McLuhan. I think some of the audience was a little thrown off by his discussion of issues related to the emergent church vs. reformed theology, but even then I think people could at least agree that part of the problem was a different media bias. I’ll post my stuff when it become available.

      Reply

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About this blog

John DyerI'm John Dyer a web developer working on sites like Best Commentaries, Bible Web App, Dallas Seminary. I'm also a seminary graduate and teacher at Irving Bible Church.

This blog is about the the role of technology in the redemptive movement from the Garden to the City. I believe technology is an amazing testament to the creativity embedded in the imago dei, but instead of assuming technology is always a neutral tool, I believe it - like culture in general - profoundly influences us.

Upcoming Posts

  • The Cornwall Alliance: Technological Theory at Work
  • Learning from Buber: I-Thou and I-It
  • Prepackaged Communion and Albert Borgmann’s Device Paradigm
  • Technology is Kinda Like Money
  • What Can Hard Drives Teach Us about Forgiveness?
  • Approaching Technology like We Approach Money
  • Aristotle’s Ethics and the Goal of Online Relationships
  • Speed and Suffering
  • Technology Metaphors in Literature
  • I marginalize my father through technology

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