Mobile technology has advanced in leaps and bounds. One specific technology is called “haptics” (from the Greek word that refers to contact or touch). Haptics technology has been defined as “the science of touch.” It’s about giving the user a “realistic experience” in performing certain tasks with a mobile device. By the use of motors or actuators, vibration is generated to simulate sensations from the “real
world.” Here’s one extended description:
“You’ve probably experienced haptics in many of the consumer devices that you use every day. The rumble effect in your console game controller and the reassuring touch vibration you receive on your smartphone dial pad are both examples of haptic effects…. users feel the vibrating force or resistance as they push a virtual button, scroll through a list or encounter the end of a menu. In a video or mobilegame with haptics, users can feel the gun recoil, the engine rev, or the crack of the bat meeting the ball.”
I think haptics technology is wonderful. It does heighten our experiences with our mobile devices. It improves usability, enhances realism, and restores that mechanical feel to the devices. But one thing cannot be denied. The experiences are only simulations. They only mimic the real thing. However close our experience with the mobile device is, to the vibration of a car’s steering wheel or of a bat hitting a baseball, it still is not the real thing. It may be realistic, but it still is not real.
In technology, realistic simulation may be good. But not so in the realm of the spiritual life. Scripture often warns followers of Christ against the teaching and practices of false teachers that may lure people away from Christ or cause them to drift away without even being aware of what is happening. (See, for example, 2 Timothy 3.1-5). It does not matter how close to genuine Christian devotion their teaching and practices appear to be. Mere appearances do not impress the Lord. The experience of being able to fulfill religious practices and obligations dutifully, or to have a good grasp of doctrinal matters with advanced acumen, (though commendable) is still not the same as following the person of Christ faithfully in all of life. As Paul would put it: We are to avoid those “having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3.5 NIV).
There is no value in substituting “religious experience” for following Jesus—simply and consistently. Let our discipleship be real, not just realistic.
—Keith Y. Jainga