12 Feb A Theology of Digital Media: Image, Presence, and Proclamation

66.5% of the world’s population uses the internet and the average screen-time is 6 hours and 40 minutes (Data Reportal, 2024). The rise of digital media has revolutionized how we communicate, connect, and form identity. Social media, messaging apps, video content, and AI-driven algorithms are no longer neutral backdrops to life; they shape values, relationships, and even geo-politics. This calls for a rigorous theological understanding and response.

Is digital media merely a neutral tool? How does God see our on-line lives? Can faith truly flourish in a mediated environment? These questions demand our attention.

Digital media is not morally neutral; it is a tool that both reflects and reshapes human nature, relationships, and witness. A theology of digital media must draw from creation, incarnation, and mission to assess its redemptive potential and dangers.

A. Creation and the Image of God (Gen 1:26–28)

We are made in the image of a communicative, relational, and creative God (Imago Dei), in other words, we are created in His “social image.” God speaks creation into being and entrusts humanity with naming, stewarding, and multiplying. Digital media reflects this creative impulse a platform where people design, shape, and share.

However, the same technology that enables creation also invites distortion. Identity can be fragmented through avatars, curated feeds, and performative content. As Andy Crouch notes, “Technology is most dangerous when it helps us do the things we want to do faster and easier, without asking whether those are the things we should be doing” (Crouch, The Tech-Wise Family, 2017).

B.  The Fall: Fragmentation and Mediation (Genesis 3; Genesis 11)

The fall introduces alienation — from God, one another, and our-selves. Digital media, while enhancing connection, often deepens dis-connection through disembodied interaction, voyeurism, and deception. In Genesis 11, the Tower of Babel exemplifies humanity’s use of technology for self-glory rather than God’s glory.

Digital platforms can become modern towers of Babel — monuments to human achievement and pride. They amplify the brokenness of the human heart and often serve as echo chambers that elevate self over truth. One way it does so is by curating content that we are most likely to appreciate, this includes posts, friends suggestions, news and other content. So, instead of exploring content organically, you are fed what the algorithm wants you to consume (sometimes it can be based on the users’ choices and at other times the platform or the donor/sponsor).

It is even more dangerous when most digital media apps run on the business model of keeping us hooked to platforms to either generate data for commercial use or to show advertising to sell products and the way they do that is by making things easy to use and by re-warding us with a sense of achievement. This allows digital platforms to become the “Babylon” of modern day where they exploit our time and attention for their profit and control.

Hence, we can see the reality of total depravity impacting the digital realm as much as it has impacted the physical realm.

C.  Incarnation and Embodiment (Jn 1:14; 1 Jn 1:1)

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). God’s self-rev-elation is not abstract or mediated; it is incarnational. The tactile nature of Jesus’ ministry underscores the importance of presence. As John testifies, “We have heard . . . seen with our eyes . . . touched with our hands” (1 Jn 1:1).

Digital media, by contrast, often mediates presence at the cost of embodiment. This raises the theological question: Can true fellow-ship exist in virtual spaces?

Bonhoeffer, in Life Together, emphasized presence and community. His theology of presence challenges the idea that digital connection can replace face-to-face fellowship. Similarly, Augustine’s principle: “Use things, enjoy God” (Augustine, Confessions) reminds believers not to idolize tools.

Communication within the Trinity — the eternal exchange of love and truth — models how communication ought to reflect relational, truthful, and loving engagement. Today all kinds of relationships are forged online from friendships to marital to business and professional. Digital media allows us to hide or distort our truth in newer ways. In such a scenario, how do we overcome the limitations – we need to be more intentional in our approach to add the human touch even more but also wise to recognize the deception.

This is where we need more re-search especially on the impact of virtual and augmented reality. This is also an area where generations differ. Gen Alpha has never seen a non-internet world, hence, their understanding of communication from their infancy is impacted tremendously by digital media and so they do not seem to differentiate between mediated and unmediated interactions as other generations.

In such a context can we limit incarnation to just a physical incarnation, is not our responsibility to take the gospel to “the ends of the earth” which in other words can mean the frontiers of human civilization. This in the first century would have referred to the geographical and ethnic boundaries but I believe in our day and age this relates to the newer realities where more of us are spending time, investing our minds, and living our lives.

D.  Proclamation and Media in Scripture

The Bible is itself mediated through various forms — orality, scrolls, letters, and eventually print. Paul strategically used letters to nurture and teach churches from a distance. The printing press catalyzed the Reformation, spreading Scripture and theological ideas widely. Luther’s pamphlets were the 16th century equivalent of viral content. This shows that media, when used wisely, can serve God’s mission.

Could digital media be today’s “Ro-man road”? With intentionality, platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and podcasts can carry the gospel far beyond geographical boundaries. But the content must be rooted in truth, not diluted for virality at the same time we must be willing to change our ways of presentation to better suit the medium.

E.  New Creation and the Hope of Redemption (Rev 21–22)

God redeems not only individuals but cultures and tools. The vision of Revelation includes people from every tribe and tongue, suggesting that all languages — including digital ones — can be part of God’s redemptive plan. Thus, a theology of digital media should not only critique but also imagine redeemed digital practices marked by holiness, truth, and mission.

Practical Implications for Individuals:

• Develop a media rule of life: schedule screen time, limit apps, prioritize devotion.
• Practice digital Sabbath or a daily digital audit: intentional tech-free days to reconnect with God and
• Engage online as whole persons: with truth, humility, and grace.

For UESI and the Church:

• Teach digital discernment as part of spiritual formation.
• Equip digital missionaries: con-tent creators, influencers, and pastors with theological tools.
• Integrate technology in worship wisely: livestreams can serve the isolated but should not replace embodied gathering.
• Regulate online meetings and en-gagements to avoid information overload and digital fatigue.

For Coders, Influencers and/or others involved in the develop-ment of Digital Media:

• Explore a biblical model for digital media to replace the current busi-ness model.
• Build safeguards into the plat-forms to reduce dependence and
• Maximise the “human touch” within the realms of artificial real-

“In a world full of noise, will we be echoes — or prophetic voices?”

Bibliography

• • (2024, February). Digital 2024: Deep dive – The state of internet adoption. https://da-tareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-deep-dive-the-state-of-in-ternet-adoption
  • Andy Crouch, The Tech-Wise Fam-ily (Baker Books, 2017)
  • Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together (Harper & Row, 1954)
  • Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (Anchor Books, 1959)
  • Augustine, Confessions (trans. Henry Chadwick, Oxford Univer-sity Press, 1991)
  • Tony Reinke, 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You (Crossway, 2017).
  • John Dyer, From the Garden to the City: The Redeeming and Corrupting Power of Technology (Kregel, 2011)
  • Shane Hipps, Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith (Zondervan, 2009)

  Shashank S. Rawat, is serving with the UESI based in Kolkata along with his wife, Asa and son, Caleb. He studied B. Sc (Computer Science) followed by Masters in Divinity.