I'm not sure if it's a product of hitting my 40's or not, but I find that I am more drawn back to "the way things used to be" than ever before. It's funny how I can tell stories to my kids and my students of how we didn't have computers, satellite TV, or cell phones when I was a kid. A text was a book that we read. The Atari entertainment system was brand new and so limited in what games you could play that boredom set in rather quickly. My brothers and I spent our summer days outside with our friends and we only came home when we heard our mother calling us. Sure, I liked to watch TV, but I don't recall being camped out all day in front of it much like kids camp out in front of TV and computer screens today. Every paper that I wrote in college and most of graduate school was banged out on an electric typewriter.
Man, this makes me sound old.
But as you read this don't think that I am slowly evolving into one of those grumpy old guys who will fill the rest of his days sitting in the back of the room, arms crossed, shaking his head at the way this generation is going to pot. In fact, the opposite is true. I have a whole lot of faith in this generation. That is why I have spent half of my life in student ministry and it's why I continue to strive to connect with students on a daily basis.
Things have certainly changed, but all of those changes don't have to be bad. When I was a student in youth ministry in the 1980's, I can remember lugging my over-sized Bible to church every Wednesday night and Sunday morning and actually using it while I was there. I realize that today entire translations of the Bible can be neatly stored on your cell phone (I have them on mine), but my concern is not where your Bible is kept but rather if you are even using it at all. Over the years I have noticed that fewer and fewer students come to a youth gathering or church worship service prepared to even look into their Bibles at all. Those students pastors that that I know who focus their youth meetings on Bible study and not so much in entertaining games or slick visual productions are becoming the exception to the rule. There doesn't seem to be this desire to treasure God's word and many church leaders and parents are doing nothing to change that.
This speaks to a breakdown we are experiencing in the way that we communicate today. Sure, we can talk to anyone anywhere at anytime, but that doesn't mean that we are advanced when it comes to communicating with each other. When I was in middle school, my parents installed a separate line in our house for me and my brothers to use so that we wouldn't clog up the main phone line that my dad needed for his business. It wasn't anything fancy; this phone was plugged into an outlet in a hall closet and it had a cord long enough to reach into our bedrooms for privacy if we needed it. Anytime I wanted to call a friend I usually had to speak to his mom or dad first before they handed the phone over. Today this is almost unheard of. Phone calls which gave way to email have given way to texting, chatting online, and things such as Skype.
Hear me on this: I use all of this technology and it has saved us a lot of time and money, but I still value face-to-face interaction. Interpersonal communication has given way to a form of impersonal communication that frees us from the responsibility of ever really getting to know people beyond a cyber level. You can have thousands of friends on Facebook, break up with your boyfriend or girlfriend via text, and even talk computer-to-computer via Skype or FaceTime without ever leaving your room or taking the risk of maintaining eye contact. I can't imagine replacing all of those nights talking into the wee hours of the morning getting to know my future wife in favor of chatting with her online or sending her countless texts. There simply is no substitute for genuine face-to-face conversation with real people.
Where have all of these things led us? I'm afraid they have taken us beyond just the realm of our personal relationships with each other and they have now caused us to tread dangerously in our relationship with God. Online sermons and podcasts have taken the place of authentic community where believers not only gather to be instructed from God's word but where they also can meet in small groups to live out their faith and lives together. As I meet with young people one of the main concerns that I hear from them over and over again is that their prayer life has become more difficult and unsatisfying. Are we just now realizing that God cannot be reached by this dependence we have placed on all of our technological advances?
I realize that people are busy but we cannot be too busy for each other or for God. Our growth as a people of God is in danger of being stunted by all of the shortcuts we've taken to make life easier. Take some time to put your cell phones down and log off of your computers. Place your iPad or other tablet back in its protective case and power down your iPods. If your TV shows are so precious then DVR them and watch them when you get some time. Now, take some time to be with your family, friends, neighbors, and fellow believers. Go outside or have them in your home and spend some time talking about life, dreams, hope, faith. I promise you that the memories you cling to when you get older will be comprised more of the value you have placed on real communication and people than it will be of any chat room you've joined or text that you have sent.
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