The other day while I was riding home on the Staten Island Ferry I had an interesting technology moment. As the Ferry slowed to dock, the passengers began to congregate near the front of the boat. As I observed the crowd I noticed person after person being obsessed with their smart phones and tablets. I was actually tempted to take a picture with my Blackberry and post it on Facebook. It seemed to me that less than half the people crowded there were talking to anyone standing there. Many however were communicating with someone somewhere else.
“If a tree falls down in the wilderness and there is no one around to hear it does it still make noise” is a thought provoking question that has been asked for centuries. It makes us contemplate what makes something real. The answer of course is “yes. it still makes noise”’ because. my experience of it is not what determines its reality. Whether I or anyone else experiences the hearing of the noise of the falling tree the cause and effect of the event still happens.
We live in a media driven culture. Because of the proliferation of the smart phone in general and the IPhone in particular, we can record in picture or video almost any event of significance. Through the interfacing of social media like Facebook and Twitter or upload sites like Youtube for video and Flickr for pictures, almost instant global sharing of any significant moment in time is possible.
The recent death of death of Osma Bin Laden at the hand of Navy seals was greeted by scores of people ages 18-29 gathering in front of the White House in Washington and at Ground Zero in Manhattan. With their smart phones charged and ready, they sought to record the moment. Within minutes, the death of Bin Laden and this generation’s experience of it inhabited the cyber world now known as "the cloud".
The majority of people now in our culture were raised in front of digital media. Among them an interesting axiom has emerged. Stated simply it is “If I can’t post it or see on it on Facebook then it isn’t significant”. Reality has become dependant on what I can experience through virtual media. Its as if all of life is a movie and only by recording and posting it are we really a part of it.
Don’t get me wrong. I am a great consumer of the various media technologies. Here is the problem with all this though. My relationship with the Lord is real, dynamic and life altering. It is significant and it is not subject to Facebook, a picture can’t be taken of it and posted.
Matthew 6:6 reminds us regarding our prayer life, “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” Please note the reality of our private time with God. Matthew 6:3-4 speaks of our good deeds and reminds us, “But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.” Please note the power of our anonymously done good works.
I want to be real and genuine in my faith. The world of social media, smart phones and flip cameras cultivate superficiality. This occurs because we begin to become actors in a play for everyone to see. Thus, we start acting instead of living authentically. To some degree, participating in the unreal world of social media is unavoidable. Today, let’s keep in mind that the deepening of an authentic faith, a real faith occurs as I privately meet and respond to Jesus Christ not as I post what I want others to see of me on Facebook.
Dave Watson, An Urban Christian
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