Electronic Courage

It used to be that we would say things behind people’s backs that we wouldn’t say to their faces. But as we barrel forward on this information superhighway, we’ve found a new way to do it. Instead of saying things behind people’s backs, we just say it on the internet where everyone (including that person) can see it. We tweet our gossip, and we make slander our Facebook status. Often we regret the things that we have said, but by then half the world has seen it and it is too late.

My friend calls it “electronic courage” and I think he is right. It’s an epidemic for our teenagers, but it is frightfully common for adults as well. It is almost like we live in two separate worlds, the real one and the electronic one. Somehow we feel that actions taken in the electronic world won’t affect the real world, but they do. They hurt people, they destroy relationships, and if we’re Christians they taint our reputation and our effectiveness for Christ.

Common sense says that if we wouldn’t do it in person, we shouldn’t do it online. Jesus tells us in Matthew 18 to go talk to the person who wronged us if there is a problem, not to share it with the world through the internet. The things we say and do online have real world consequences, and if the actions we take on Facebook are not a reflection of what Christ taught, then they are not the kinds of things that we should be saying.

The Frustration Index

I heard some people on the news the other day talking about the nations "frustration index." This was in reference to the difficulties in our economy and the 52% disapproval rating of president Obama. They were rating the nation's frustration, which I think is an interesting thing.

I myself have experienced some frustration, lately. My computer has only been working properly for about a day in the last two weeks. You may have seen my ranting on twitter. When I had to take it into the shop for a second time, it was the same day I had heard about the frustration index on the news, and I noted that my frustration index was getting pretty high. It's difficult to do my job without my computer, having to steal away or work through lunch in order to get things done.

But then I realized that frustration and stress are really just another way to say that I don't trust God. If I really believed that He was omnipotent and had my best interested in mind, I wouldn't get frustrated with the inconvenience of having a messed up computer. I would just remember how good He really is.

So that means the facebook status updates and tweets about computer frustrations will need to end. As will the blog entries.

Oh, I guess that means we're done here, then, doesn't it?

Pining for Home

We all have that special place that we love to go to. For some of us it’s the lake, for others the beach. Some prefer the city, while others just love to get out to the county. Some people get to live at their special place, while others only get to visit every once in a while.

For me, that special place is Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I grew up visiting as a kid, and I even lived in Florida for a few years and got to visit a lot. Now that I have a family, the desire to visit that special place grows even more. Lately, I’ve been feeling the bug harder and harder. Living so far away now, and with the expenses to get there, stay there, and play there so high, a visit seems far off. So in the meantime I watch movies, read books, and participate in internet sites that remind me of that special place.

The reality is, I’m not going to be there for some time, but I know that there are some little things that I can do to feel closer to that place. Maybe there’s a place out there that we’re not at, or maybe there’s a person we’d like to see that we can’t. Regardless of our particular circumstances, there’s probably something that we don’t have now that we wish we did. God is trying to teach me contentment, and one of the things that I’m learning is that I can’t always have what I want, but in this age of information and communication, I can often have little reminders that get me closer. I’ve seen how much technology has blessed our lives, and it allows me to be content here, even though I’d really rather be there.

Virtual Church

I love to tell stories. I get paid to speak. I love communicating. I thoroughly enjoy telling people all the things that happen to me that are awesome, and I find some solace complaining about the things that aren’t. As human beings, we love to tell each other the events of our lives, we love to share our feelings, we love to cast our dreams. We want people to know when we are really happy, and when we’re really sad.

In fact, Romans 12:15 tells us to “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” I think this is the first example of our modern “blog culture.” As I write this, I wonder who cares about my stupid stories or my spiritual experiences. And then I look at the blogs around me and I see people more often than not doing one of two things, rejoicing or weeping. The blog gives us an opportunity to rejoice over hundreds of miles with people we don’t even know who are rejoicing. It also gives us the chance to weep for the same.

As we spend time together through technology, our experience can be an exercise in narcissism, or it can be an opportunity like never before to be a community of believers that is not limited by space. In a virtual community we have the chance to connect with old friends and make new ones without stepping out from behind our desks. I believe that our new technology can give us something that the world has never experienced before, a universal church that can rejoice and weep over big things and small things that happen to its members halfway across the world.

Will you rejoice with me over this?