I love so much of the convenience of twenty-first century living. I have just traveled from one side of the world to the other in under a day, entertained by a choice of up to a thousand movies and still able to keep in contact with family and friends by facebook, text and mobile as I went. But I have a nagging doubt.
The possibilities for the gospel today are incredible. This year will take me across five continents working on youth ministry strategies, and most continents a few times over. Then when at home, most days I'm making lunch time SKYPE calls sharing ideas and making plans with guys either just getting up or going to bed. And of course every week I'm uploading stuff like this and getting emails from folk in the most unlikely corners of the world. And that's just my little world. The more I hear about the more that's going on, the more excited I get. Surely this is the generation when we can realistically take the gospel to every living soul, and see Christ return. But....
I do have a nagging doubt. It's not the carbon emissions deal. Believe it or not the lifestyle Melissa and I live, means our footprint is lower than the average. My concern is less what we're doing to our world, and more what our world is doing to us. When I see national Christian leaders on their laptops and blackberries emailing through worship sessions, I wonder whether technology is our servant or our master. When I see young leaders twittering every feeling before they've had the chance to process it, I wonder whether their decisions are based less on reflection and more on impression. When I see young people avoiding the sounds of silence behind their Ipods, I wonder whether there is any space left for God's still small voice. Can He get a word in edgeways?
Tomorrow I go off line for a week or so as I drive into the Aussie outback. I can't wait. I'm excited about going back to a simpler way of life, where I can know my Father in the stillness. Would I want to live here? Probably not. Can I find a way to live intimately and deeply with my Father in our crazy instant and superficial world? I sincerely hope so.
Thursday, 9 July 2009
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1 comments:
Spot on Colin! I experienced first hand the devastation of people using 'technology' to find exactly what they are looking for. Problem is...what we want is not always what we really need.
I've also watched the techological 'buzz' people are getting from always being 'connected'. My fear is that its a more intense distraction than ever before and will make families more disjointed than ever. If I had real time access to everything the way our teenagers do when I was a teen, I wonder what I would have done with it? Scary.
The sexual images alone are desensitizing us...no wonder 'sexting' is becomming so popular. Our teens are growing up in a very very different world than us. They are having major trouble sleeping, eating, or engaging anything outside of the social network they have built around their laptops and cell phones. Countless hours staying in touch with everyone up to the minute. Crazy.
Maybe a NON- TECHNOLOGY summer camp needs to be started for teens with no access to cell phones, pc's, or ipods. Wonder if it would catch on?
I wonder how long before there is a huge backlash agianst this stuff? Have you seen this yet Colin? Perhaps the desire for teens to go on short term missions may be fueled in part by their need to break out of the mold they are living in...just some random thoughts my friend. I do think there needs to be continued dialogue around these issues. Silence, reflection, meditation is being replaced by 'connectedness', and I wonder what the cost of this is...hmmmm...Grace & Peace...Al
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