I wish to paint you a picture of authentic community experienced through the use of technology. There is plenty of debate on whether true and authentic community can be had over the internet, in chat-rooms, through social media sites, instant messaging, Twitter feeds, podcasting or even old fashioned snail mail. The purpose of this post is not to dive into the theology, pros/cons, relevancy or implications of such a thought; although I may lightly hit those areas because they’re inevitable. As I said, I just want to paint you a picture of what I experienced and I personally believe was authentic community through technology.
Since I was in jr. high, I have held to a life verse; Philippians 1:3. “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.” I hold on to this verse because I have always found it important to remember those who have guided me and impacted me along my journey in life. Much of those “remembrances” involve communal experiences where I was able to glean from their actions, not only their words.
Fast forward to earlier this week when I received an email from a church member who had been in communication with a friend and former member at Preston Ridge who had expressed how much she missed being with us during our worship services and Bible studies. The current church member made it known that over the holiday’s another former church member had made it back to Preston Ridge for a visit and was able to sing a duet with me during that time. Upon hearing this, I was contacted to see if there was a recording of the duet I could pass along so this former member could “experience” this reunion and time of worship. I was excited to share this recording. I had been given a copy after the service so it was as easy as emailing the .mp3 out. The next day I received a response reading, “Friends, I can not tell you how blessed I was by this! Thank you BOTH for sharing!! Miss you all!!”
Let’s go back to Paul at the beginning of Philippians and let me post a couple of verses from his introduction. Verse 3 says, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you…” Later in verse 7, “For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart…” and then in verse 8, “…how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.”
Are you making the connections yet? Is this idea of community in scripture coming to life for you as it did for me this week? I replied to her telling her how much joy it brought me to be able to worship in song with my friend and servant because in “all my remembrance” of him, I felt joy and I longed to see him again “all with the affection of Christ Jesus.” And in turn, this “partaker of grace with me,” down in south Texas expressed a longing for our church here in Frisco because she had us in her heart. And because technology allowed us to share with each other and send word to a former servant in our local church, I believe we experienced authentic community. It’s an up-to-date version of Paul’s courier Timothy and certainly echo’s the many times Paul expressed his love, longing, joy and confidence in “all the saints in Christ Jesus.”
I was blessed by being able to lead worship with a friend and former servant in our local body. She was blessed by receiving word of things happening in a place she still had in her heart and longed for “with the affection of Christ Jesus.” And we were able to share all of these things together with great joy. Rest assured, a communal experience happened via technology between saints. Just ask us. The same happened with Paul’s letters whether it was to ignite change, warn, encourage or praise.
How then can we use even more current trends than email? What about social media like Facebook and Twitter or a blog or Podcast? Should we not embrace these technologies and use them to saturate our circles and communities with love and truth instead of acting disinterested or focusing on all of the misuse? If you can’t have a meal with someone because they live 3 hours away, communicate with them through Facebook by posting pictures or write a blog about you week. Post prayer requests in your status bar (there are several up right now, even one from our Pastor’s wife) or mention a band in a tweet with a quote from a lyric that has blessed you. I have received blessings back from some of these bands because they are able to see how their prayers and struggles and joys are affecting others in a way we’ve never been able to communicate before. Families in our church are using Skype to connect with their grandkids half way across the nation. Ask them if authentic community can be had with technology.
Does the medium shape the message? Yes. Can 140 characters be taken out of context? Yes. Just as one verse can be used out of context from a whole passage or book. Can an inside joke posted on your Wall be construed in a negative way. Yes. There are always dangers because man is fallen. But as I said above, why not saturate the current popular mediums with truths and struggles and joys and stories from your own life and see how it might impact others because community (in person or not) brings us together and is a central part of our journey as Christians. How are you connecting with others? How will you begin to broaden your connection with others tomorrow?
Very true words, Jeff. If Paul used the means of communication available to him, how much more do we carry the responsibility to share the gospel through a culture saturated with communication.