Monday, September 14, 2009

AT THE WELL ... technology christianity

"With the world of Technology growing by leaps and bounds, a majority of our communication takes place via email, blogging, twittering, face booking etc... How can we make sure that we are living out Titus 2 in the cyber world so that the Word of God is not disgraced? How do we keep a balance between grace and hard Truth?"

I am joining the discussion this week over AT THE WELL as we discuss how technology affects the Titus 2 woman in today's world. Are you a techno savvy woman?

I have to admit, I am not really all that techno savvy. Sure, I have all of the techno stuff that seemingly we cannot live without these days. You know, a cell phone with the ability to text and a laptop computer with access to the web, face book, twitter, etc. But if truth be told, I usually have to ask my 14 year old to show me how to operate and maneuver with all of this communication technology.

Kind of scary, if you ask me.

But what is even more scary to me, is that these days, if you want the world to know all about you...all you have to do is create a website with a profile. Profiles can tell the whole world about your likes, yours dislikes, interests and abilities.

Today's technology has taken communication to a whole new level. It can reveal anything and everything about you to a world that does not even know you. It also takes the "person" out of communicating with those people that do know you. Why on earth do we need to have a face to face conversation with someone when we can just twitter, update our face book or my space account, text them, email them or send them a fax!

Now don't get me wrong ... there are good things that go on with this new technology. In fact in the 2 years that I have been blogging, I have seen how God is using the Internet to spread His Word and Truth among the cyber world. But I also have seen how very easily it is to blog, twitter, text or update a status and someone surely will misunderstand what you are saying.

It is so easy to mistakenly leave one word out in a message and the entire context will be changed. When this happens, people misunderstand, they get confused and sometimes even get hurt. "Choose your words carefully" is not just a saying that moms like to say ... truly in the world of cyber ...our words must be chosen carefully!

While we are trying to establish a connection with people online, I can't help but think about how Jesus established His status with others. When God wanted others to know about Him, He did not express Himself on a web page but He established Who He was in history! His status was known by how He dealt with people.

Look at the Israelites...we may wonder why God poured out ten plagues on Egypt and then delivered His people through the incredible act of dividing the Red Sea. And more significantly, why did He allow His people to become slaves in the first place?

The awesome power of God was established through an amazing series of events - from spectacular miracles to devastating tragedies. We can see God's character and purpose all throughout the Bible. We can see how He related to people, and how He had an understanding for people thru His relationship with them.

I can't help but think that sometimes we have removed the face of God from our relationships because we are too busy to truly get to know others. We have fallen into the trap of "technology Christianity" - we would rather text or email someone than to take time to have lunch or dinner or even take time to talk to them on the phone.

Sometimes we just have to have relationship with others to truly show what our status is.
"How will they know we are Christians ... by our love!"

CLICK HERE to read other posts on today's topic over AT THE WELL!

5 comments:

Donalacasa said...

I think another casualty of our IM and texting world is our loss of depth. I think we don't get to know people IN DEPTH. We let a person's Twitter and Facebook status define them and never know the depth of their pain or sorrow. We can only truly connect with people at the level the Lord wants us to one on one, a person at a time. We can't truly rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn over the internet. We can't meet the physical needs of those who are hurting (feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick) online. At some point we have to leave the technology behind and just show up in person.

Blessings!

LAURIE said...

Donalacasa....absolutely there is no depth on the cyber world. Sometimes the pain, emotion and joy can only be seen in the eyes or facial expressions. Thank you for sharing your comment with me and the readers. -God Bless

Wendy Love said...

Laurie,
I have come to your website via Nancie's "More than Conquerors". I agree with your comments about the cyber world lacking depth. Let's not forget God and that "all things work together for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose." God can still use it, if we want him to. And possibly depth is not what some are looking for on the internet. It can, if used well, be just plain fun.

Joyfull said...

Amen!! They will know us by our love. Great reminder that through all of the technology advances, we still need to reach out in love - in person when needed!!

annies home said...

this theme is a bit difficult for me because while I feel that I have lot about several different issues I also feel that you dont need to share all that you know about yourself and others yet you can teach those who may need a bit of help as well