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# Four Reasons we need a 'Theology of Presence' - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture
- URL: https://mereorthodoxy.com/four-reasons-we-need-a-theology-of-presence/
- Published: 2011-04-20T05:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-18T17:25:03.000Z
- Description: While Christians are currently very excited about technology and our ability to use the tools responsibly and for the proper ends, the purpose of some of those technologies will be determined in part by the nature of who is using […]
- Author: Mere Orthodoxy
- Tags: Matthew Lee Anderson

1. While Christians are currently very excited about technology and our ability to use the tools responsibly and for the proper ends, the purpose of some of those technologies will be determined in part by the nature of who is using them. Subordinating our understanding of technology beneath a theology of presence orients us toward the *people* using tools, rather than the tools themselves. This isn’t an either/or, but I think we’ve got to get the order right.
2. There’s a deeply depersonalizing edge to contemporary technology that an account of presence cuts against. You can see it in the shift within evangelicalism from *communion* to *communication*. While communion is about the proper relationship of persons, communication (a derivative term, though not a bad one) is about the proper transfer of information.
3. Currently, the only way which we can notice or attend to others’ *presence* online is if they are *active* in some way. As online engagement increases, we run the risk of letting that sense of *activity* and *doing* overwhelm our more basic *presence* and *being.*
4. Distractions are increasing and we need to think through what *presence* looks like as a mode of life.