Contemplate or Exploit: Andy Crouch on Technology, Formation, and the Innovation Bargain

In this Forged conversation, Andy Crouch argues that “we either contemplate or we exploit”—a bracing claim that frames his vision for stewarding our humanity in an age of technological convenience. Drawing on a biblical account of the human person as heart, soul, mind, and strength, he contends that genuine flourishing is found through the relational, embodied labors of home, church, and school. Crouch names the “innovation bargain” as a crucial lens for reckoning with technology’s costs, and he calls listeners back to shared household rhythms and focal practices as ordinary disciplines for becoming more fully human.