If my Internet Explorer Could Talk
So this week were discussing "If My Internet Explorer Could Talk." The internet has ushered in a new era of “intimacy” and “community.” YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Second Life—they’re all ways to create community. But our internet activity, although may reveal more about us than we would care to admit, cannot bring with it a place of TRUE community. Oh, (As Bryan stated in Creative) we may discover a place to “belong,” but will those relationships nurture care or accountability? We think we’re making connections with people, but we’re actually unplugging from this world, the one in which we were created to exist. The closeness we feel is completely imaginary, all in the mind.
My guess is that people use online communities as a means of "safe community." But just like "safe sex," it's all a lie. We may harden our hearts and hide behind a mask so that we don't get hurt, but what do we lose in the process? Isn't there a penalty for not being vulnerable? Perhaps forfeiting the love and acceptance we so desire because we aren't willing to give it first? May it not be like the old adage, "To have a friend, you must first be a friend."
This may be a little extreme, but isn't this a lot like porn? To the effect that it can never deliver on the "love" it so promises. It’s the false hope that this next contact will bring the longing that our heart desires. It's ironic that culture has, as the last Focus on the Family Magazine put it, made it both nothing and everything. They tell us that sex is no big deal, but at the same time convey the message that without it we are incomplete. Everyone know community is crucial, yet we treat it so causally as if it were "no big deal." How have we come to treat such a sacred thing with such disdain?
I think the most crucial part is that God made us three-in-one just as He is three-in-one. To connect only in the mind is purely one-dimensional. I think it's superficial to declare a recent online contact a friend. We’re denying the complexity of our nature. To say that we can build real community by mere mental thought is like saying sex is purely physical, or that worship is purely spiritual. We've bought into this lie that our separate parts can remain separate. God made us whole beings. I wonder if EVERYTHING we do affects our entire being? Scientist have even done studies to show how our thoughts affect our attitude, our emotions, even our physical health. I’ve personally found that eating is more than just a physical act. I mean, does anyone really LIKE to eat alone? How fun would Thanksgiving Dinner be alone—no matter how large the feast? There's something "intimate" about sharing a meal together. As Rob Bell reminded us, "Everything we do is as an integrated being."
We are indeed three-dimensional—to treat ourselves as anything less is to cheapen our value.
1 comment:
I figured as long as I posted on one, I might as well post on the other, too. Something that Kayla and I have struggled with since we moved to the bustling burg that is Karnes City (3,000 people) is finding connection with other believers. There are no Compass-like options for church unless we want to drive an hour and fifteen minutes to San Antonio, so we've had to adopt a local church here. We've been attending the Baptist church (as several of you know, my dad is a Baptist pastor, go back to what you know, right), and while we get meaning from the pastor's sermons, we haven't really been able to connect to anyone in the church. There are hardly any people in the same stage of life as we are. Most Sundays, Brenna is the only one in the nursery on Sunday mornings. The people are very nice to us, but there just isn't a group that we feel we can connect to like we did with the Greatest Small Group in Athens! Sorry, just had to give a little plug.
Anyway, we have really tried hard, because we don't have a real connection to anyone here yet, to strengthen our ties to our friends in Athens. I know that Billy and I talk once a week and more often than not, we end up discussing spiritual issues, and Kayla talks with several people and end up doing the smae thing. These are not people we met over the internet or through an online service, but real people who we spent time with and shared our lives with and worked to make a connection. It's not something you can do over a computer, it cheapens the relationship. There is no way to go through this life and all the trials it throws at you and expect to have sustaining and unbreakable bonds with other human beings through a computer screen without having first done it with a living, breathing, individual made in God's image. Hope this came across right, if not, maybe someone can make my thoughts clearer. It is kinda late here. Talk to you guys later!
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