Christ in Forms: Technology
This sermon was delivered by Rev. Jonathan Oh at Tokyo Union Church on Sunday, March 15, 2026 as a part of a sermon series “Christ in Forms”. Members of West Tokyo Union Church joined this service at Tokyo Union Church during the weekend of the Women’s Conference.
Passages:
Colossians 1:25-28 (NRSV)
25 I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
Hebrews 10:19-25 (NRSV)
A Call to Persevere
19 Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Sermon Outline:
Announcement: Before we begin our message, since we are talking about technology in our series Christ in Forms, we’re going to experiment with an AI-based interpreting service. You can follow the AI-translated text into Japanese on the screen. We will still provide our standard LINE translation with the QR code found in your bulletin.
Illustration: Snap shots… typing prompt into OpenWebUI about… “Tell me about the history of telecommunications and computing technology in quick snapshots.”
Alexander Graham Bell
Teletype
Ringtone
BBC Archive: Information Superhighway
AOL Instant Messenger
Steve Jobs: iPhone announcement
Instagram Ad
Gemini: Imagine my home
Slate: Live Different
Technology: Our world has been constantly transformed by technology. From our ability to transmit voices across cities, prefectures, and countries… to our ability to instantly send messages and control our homes… from clapping on our lights to speaking them into turning on, we no longer live in the way we did even just a few years ago. (What you just saw were just snapshots of our advancement in the way we connect and communicate and operate.)
Series: We’ve been going through our sermon series, Christ in Forms, where we seek to see Christ in various forms of artistic expression. Today, we are going to dive into technology, seeing how it relates to us in our daily lives, and where it fits into our call to follow Christ and to be a part of the community of His followers.
History: Technology has been something humans have been developing for millenia. Everything from the ability to till and plant, irrigate, weave, ride, transport, transmit, call, and fly… God has endowed us not only the ability to think but also to be creative, to engineer new solutions and develop better ways to work, communicate, and even develop understanding of our amazing world. This is one aspect of how we humans reflect the image of God - the Almighty, Omniscient Being who is powerful and knowledgeable beyond our understanding - and we are fortunate to have been given the ability to produce new things and new ideas.
Computers: Computers have completely revolutionized the way we operate. As a kid, I was always called a nerd for being all into computers (maybe my fashion sense was also part of the problem), but computers were seen as something for those who were specialized - not for normal people. And now, look at where we are. We all walk around little computers in our pockets, serving as media-rich silos, with customized algorithms specifically designed to cater to our interests and time. It was only in 2007 when Apple introduced the iPhone, and now, according to the International Data Corporation, more than a billion smartphones have been shipped each year worldwide for several years. Close to three-quarters of the world have possession of a smartphone at this point.
A New Age: We are coming off of what was known as the digital age, which really picked up during the 1990s as computers became more mainstream. It was considered the third Industrial Revolution, but now, we are at the forefront of a new industrial revolution - the Intelligence Age. And what is kicking us off in this new Intelligence Age is Artificial Intelligence - or AI. AI has taken our daily operations into something totally different - automation and ease of life. We find that using Artificial Intelligence could be very comforting or affirming. We get answers instantly. We get interaction in ways that are immediate, affirming, and positive. Things that we have not been able to think up ourselves are now being explained right before our eyes - just by asking a question.
Today: We are more connected and more efficient than we have ever been at this point in life. We have seen such dramatic changes to our world to where it would seem that we would be living the good life. And yet, the reality is that in some aspects, we are more isolated and more disconnected than ever before. Our society is speaking less with each other and more past each other, shouting more and listening less. We find ourselves turning more to our technology, posting more, scrolling more, playing more, rather than being present, slowing down, and connecting to the world and the people around us. We want to be affirmed and not confronted.
Research: In fact, a paper published in October 2025 from researchers at Stanford University found a disturbing trend. “Sycophantic AI Decreases Prosocial Intentions and Promotes Dependence.” The paper pointed out that AI systems are “excessively agreeing or flattering users”. Their study showed that the models were affirming the actions of users 50% more than humans do, and it led to people less willing to repair interpersonal relationships, being more convinced of how they are right rather than reflecting on where they could be wrong. I actually found this trend to be personally disturbing through my own observations when I used AI on some of my recent technical projects. The constant “you’re on the right track” or “you’re thinking like an engineer” just seemed really bizarre to me - and fake, and yet, more people are actually becoming more accustomed to this pattern and are seeking this affirmation more and more through AI chats.
Reality: Here is the reality of our use of modern communication technologies, whether it is social media or AI - they actually serve as a mirror of who we are. It reflects the people who are contributing to the system. This is true for social media, and it’s true for artificial intelligence. We want to be validated and affirmed, and that means, even if it takes us in a direction that is away from what is rooted in truth, we are more likely to choose that because it makes us feel like we are right. Technology is an amazing thing. It has transformed our lives in ways even a few generations ago would have loved to have experienced. But technology, in and of itself, is only a tool, and there are growing implications of how those tools are being used.
Faith Question: Here’s the question that we face. Just as new technologies have impacted how we communicate, how does it impact the way we are able to live life as followers of Christ?
Fallen: We see the brokenness of who we are because technology puts a magnifying glass to our thoughts, words, and actions. We see how technology can contribute to the ever increasing volume of how we yell and shout at each other. Our netiquette and our use of emerging AI technologies contribute to issues of how we live and use our world. We are drawn to what conforms to our own image rather than the image of God.
Positive: And yet, we can also see that technology helps us to better see Christ. During the pandemic, Tokyo Union Church had to hold services completely online. In fact, it was exactly six years ago today that we went live with our first online broadcast. Until then, TUC had no way of going live online with worship services, but through that experience, the leadership invested in the technology that allowed us to develop the online worship service experiences that we have today. It was our window to each other. Our congregation stayed connected, engaged, and supportive, and we could see that the Lord was working in us as the body of Christ, even though we physically weren’t sitting together in the pews. We still have hundreds of people joining us online for each service in addition to those here at Omotesando, and our online engagement through our social media feeds continues to grow. Our church stands at an important point now of deciding how this technology impacts our community and making key decisions on how to invest and support this part of our church body.
AI: That includes the use of AI. Members of our community, including our staff, are using AI to find better ways to serve this body. Simple, direct, meaningful ways. Whether it is providing a transcription or context of a Bible discussion, or searching for known writings about Scripture regarding a certain topic, or seeking ideas for how to discuss a difficult subject, one would argue that this is a way of showing love through AI - ai via AI. Tools like AI CAN be powerful and CAN be useful in building up the body of Christ.
Central Message: Technology is a key tool for us to serve each other and to connect even when we are not together in person, and our desire to use this technology should be driven in two ways. First, we are commanded in Hebrews 10 to not neglect gathering with others who are in Christ. The reason? Because we are forgiven, sprinkled clean by the blood of Christ, that we have confidence as children of God of the hope that we have in Christ. Through Christ, we are connected to one another, and that should bring us together. We should desire to be together because of Christ. As Paul writes in Colossians 1:27-28 that it is Christ who is in us who is the hope of glory. It is Christ that we proclaim. While we can see the brokenness of humans reflected through our technology, through the loud feeds of social media and the silos that drive us into affirmation-only thinking in our chats with AI, we can also be reminded through our use of technology that we are still reflections of God, that we bear the image of God through our development of these technologies as well as our interactions with one another. When the world sees that we will continue to stay together no matter the circumstances, no matter if we disagree on some things, no matter if this world seems to be falling apart, when they see that we love each other, they will know that we are Christ’s disciples. Technology can be a tool to help us love each other better. And think about this… even if your kind word, your insightful post, or caring message touches just one person today who is hurting, who is grieving, who is needing help, that is a way God can be using you through technology to shine the light of God’s love and grace.
Application: This sermon is not an endorsement of a particular type of technology or how they are being used. And there are questions of implications of using tech - both positive and negative. As we delve into the Intelligence Age - or Society 5.0 as the Japanese government once called it in a report a decade ago - it will challenge our society in a way that we haven’t seen before. Yet those challenges can not and will not destroy the hope that we have in Christ. As we seek to think creatively about how to use technology in new ways, it should help us to better proclaim this hope that we have as we continue to gather as the people of God. Some people might see us and might say that we are the crazy ones, but because of our calling in Christ, in a similar slogan that Apple once used, as believers, we are to “Live Different”.
Conclusion: Let me encourage us to prayerfully keep our eyes open to the way Christ is working through the art of technology. One case that I am following right now is a missional approach to virtual reality, where people in the United States and Japan are being linked through this virtual space, and those in Japan are being exposed to the Gospel through those conversations. We should be open to opportunities like that. In addition, there’s a way you can participate in our outreach online at TUC. (I even give you permission to break out your smartphones.) Like, comment, and subscribe. Like our Facebook and Instagram pages. You can find those links on tokyounion.org. Comment on the posts that you see. Search for Tokyo Union Church on YouTube and smash Subscribe on our channel. Share with your friends about our community. And for those of you not on social or are taking some time away, that’s okay - the use of technology is not a mandate - it’s simply a tool for us. We are called to proclaim the hope that is within us, and by gathering in different ways, whether in person or through a Zoom call or through texting, we can use technology in ways that can build others up and point to Christ. And AI can be used in ways that can help others understand better what it means for us to be the body of Christ. Let us seek to be the light reflecting the hope of Christ in us so that when we engage in using technology, through this form of art, we are able to better see Christ.