Navigating the Technosphere: Arks of Connection and Babelian Towers of Counterfeit Community

Never Alone - Part Four

“Okay everyone, we are going to start the Jesus story now” proclaims Kelly, a 20-something, exploring her call to ministry as one of the pastors of Living Room Church VR. Our little avatars break off from conversations around the digitally built living room, hovering over to Kelly, then forming a circle around her.

“Last week we took a portal over to Egypt to walk through the split sea, this week we are heading to the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem where Jesus healed a person experiencing a debilitating form of paralysis… everyone ready to portal?”

Over the past months we had taken portals to many Biblical locations, including Eden, Babylon, the Nile, Galilee, the Temple in Jerusalem, and even the Tree of Life in the new creation! As someone on the team tells the Jesus story, we literally walk through the places where these events happened in 3D, as our digitally fashioned avatars. We witnessed the fish swimming on both sides of the wall of water, and the skeletons of Egyptian charioteers on the sea floor, as we followed Moses through the great liberation.

Young gamers built these worlds with codes and pixels like founding members of churches past who used brick and mortar. This was their contribution to the community. In this hyperreal electronic environment, people came out about their sexuality publicly for the first time, shared in the Lord’s Supper, were baptized, and even experienced healings. Young people who might not be comfortable standing up to deliver a sermon in a cathedral on Sunday morning, crafted liturgies, led worship, and facilitated sermonic conversations for the first time.

Sadly, Altspace VR, the digital real estate where we spent years building community and the Biblical worlds that served as the container, was shut down on March 10, 2023, as Microsoft decided to close the platform. We attempted to relocate our church to a new building—Meta’s Horizon Worlds—but the community never really flourished in the same way.

Nod, Babel, and Noah’s Ark

The Bible provides a complex perspective on technology, illustrating both its potential for good and its capacity for harm. In Genesis, we see humanity’s early relationship with technology and its role in shaping human society. Cain’s descendants, in the land of Nod, use technology to build the first city, create musical instruments, and forge tools (Genesis 4:16–22). However, their technological advances are used in isolation from God, distancing themselves from divine presence.

Later, in the story of Babel, the people use the technology of brick-baking and mortar to build a tower that seeks to unite them and elevate their status, but their intentions are self-centered, aiming to “make a name” for themselves (Genesis 11:4). God intervenes, scattering them and confusing their language, showing that not all technological advancements foster authentic community, particularly when they are used to elevate human pride and exclude God.

Nod and Babel reflect the dangers of technology when it is used to create counterfeit forms of community, focused on self-sufficiency rather than authentic connection.

On the other hand, Noah’s use of technology in building the ark demonstrates a redemptive use of human creativity. The ark serves as a means to preserve life and sustain human and animal community amidst the flood, showing that technology can be harnessed for good, especially when it aligns with God’s purposes (Genesis 6).

So then, technology can be used in an attempt to live life apart from God… “alone together” in the words of MIT sociologist Sherry Turkle.[i] And technology can also be used to build genuine, God-centered community. Technology can be a powerful force for good, but when used for selfish or isolating purposes, it can lead to disconnection, alienation, and the creation of counterfeit communities.

Hyper-Connected Loneliness

We live in a time of unprecedented connection, and yet paradoxically we have never been so alone. In a world where information flows instantaneously and relationships are only a click away, isolation has somehow become the great soul wound of our era. Technology, especially digital devices and social media, promises connection, yet often delivers an illusion of intimacy, a shallow echo of real relationship. As we have become more “connected” through the devices in our pockets, the depth of our relationships has simultaneously diminished, particularly for young adults, youth, and children.

On the surface, the network society should enhance human interaction—more friends, more communication, more access. Yet, the very infrastructure that binds us together seems to dismantle the social fabric, resulting in a disconnection of our ability to live from the heart. Our capacity to create meaningful, deep relationships has eroded, even as we are always online, constantly receiving and sending data at the speed of light.

In his research, Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation outlines a disturbing pattern: the increasing mental health crisis among Generation Z. Haidt’s analysis suggests that giving children unregulated access to smartphones and social media has turned out to be a mass experiment in mental illness. The effects have been dramatic. Depressive episodes among U.S. teens have risen by more than 150 percent, particularly due to the rise of smartphones and social media. Haidt argues that these digital tools have shifted children’s development in unhealthy ways, making them more susceptible to loneliness, anxiety, and isolation.[ii]

The withdrawal from social spaces into digital realms has led to a rise in “internalizing disorders,” among youth, such as anxiety, depression, and feelings of hopelessness. This reflects a generation turning away from a true depth of community. This trend correlates strongly with the abandonment of free, unsupervised outdoor play and the increasing pervasiveness of the virtual world. Instead of running through neighborhoods, climbing trees, eating dirt, scraping knees, and learning the social dynamics of face-to-face play, children and teens now inhabit a world dominated by digital connections, fragmented attention, and sleepless nights fueled by screen time.

Digital Distortion

This issue isn’t just about the loss of meaningful connection but also about the distortion of the very essence of relationships. What was once community formed with others in the same zip code, facing challenges together, growing through shared experiences, has been replaced with a more convenient, but sometimes shallow, form of interaction. The constant pressure to curate the “perfect” image on social media, to perform our lives for an audience, can leave people feeling more disconnected than ever. In the search for validation through likes and comments, we overlook the deeper human connections that give our lives depth and meaning.

Instead of developing emotional resilience through outdoor play, conflict resolution, and shared activities, today's youth are often left navigating their mental health struggles in isolation, their lives mediated through screens. The omnipresence of smartphones and social media can create a sense of constant comparison, alienation, and fear of missing out, as we measure our worth against the curated lives of influencers and peers.

Haidt’s research suggests several strategies to mitigate these negative effects: delaying smartphone access until high school, restricting social media usage until age sixteen, and promoting phone-free schools and more unsupervised play. These reforms aim to restore some balance in the lives of youth, giving them the space and time to develop emotionally and socially before being thrust into the digital whirlpool.

The Healing Power of Real Virtuality

Yet, technology, while contributing to these problems, also offers pathways for healing and connection. The church, in particular, has a unique opportunity to shape how technology can be used for good. For instance, our team is committed to the power of blended, digital communities. We planted Living Room Church in AltspaceVR, so people across the globe could gather in a shared digital space, experience worship, and engage in meaningful conversations. This experience, along with others like it, demonstrates that while technology has its pitfalls, it can also foster genuine relationships when used intentionally.

Though virtual, the relationships built in this space were real, and the impact of those connections transcended the digital medium. As Manuel Castells named two decades ago, virtuality is not less real than reality. Digital technology creates “real virtuality.” Digitally built environments can be a kind of Noah’s Ark, that can nurture connection and community. Unfortunately, the church has equated “online church” with streaming worship services, a form of digital colonialism that offers little in the way of real relationships.[iii]

As we move deeper into this digital age, we must be cautious of creating a Babel-like society, where technology is used to build a tower of self-reliance, disconnected from the greater good. Similarly, today’s digital networks can foster a culture of isolation where technology becomes a tool for avoiding true connection and meaningful relationships. We become “forever elsewhere,” distracted by the noise of digital worlds, instead of being present with those who are right in front of us.[iv]

This is the tension we face: technology is not inherently bad, but our misuse of it—our tendency to use it as a substitute for authentic community—leads to the fracturing of human relationships. Whether through social media, death by comparison, or endless scrolling, the screen becomes the barrier between us and the flesh-and-blood communities that God calls us to nurture. The same screens could be portals to relationships, containers of true community.

In this era, we must be intentional about how we use technology. The key is not rejecting it, but rather learning to navigate it in ways that strengthen our communities rather than depleting them. Just as Noah used technology to build an ark that preserved life and community in the midst of the flood, we too can use our tools to create digital environments where real relationships can thrive, where people can find belonging, purpose, and healing.

Technology, when used wisely, can build arks of connection that shelter us from the floodwaters of isolation. But when we misuse it, we risk constructing towers of counterfeit community, making us reach for heights that leave us spiritually empty, disconnected from each other and from God. In the face of this epidemic of loneliness, the call for the church is clear: to be a place where the healing power of true, incarnational community is felt. We can offer the gift of withness in both onsite and online ways. Our physical presence can be extended through the digital third spaces we choose to cultivate.

True connection, the kind that heals and sustains us, is found not in the speed of our digital devices but can only happen at the pace of relationship. Slowly, in places where we can truly be known and loved. This is the kind of community we are called to build, in every generation and through every medium. Through the gift of presence, we can we truly combat the epidemic of loneliness that threatens to engulf us all.

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[i] Sherry Turkle, Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other (New York: Basic Books, 2017), 238.

[ii] Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (London: Allen Lane, 2024), 22–23.

[iii] Manuel Castells, The Rise of the Network Society (Oxford and Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2000), xvii–xviii.

[iv] Turkle, 3.

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