Welcome guest blogger Dr. Jeff Garner on the “The Blog Church”
Technology is cool. Technology is not evil, its a tool, wielded to the lusts and longings of its master. Blogging, Twittering, and tech-necking whatever new gadget debuts on the fingertips of the USA can and should be used by the church to reach our community and world. I agree with much of what you say. But (i have to play advocate here) . . . it could be argued that in Scripture the only place where real community seems to happen in organic and healthy ways in around food. (but it could be equally argued that they didn’t have twitter either). In any event, in the post-resurrection Jesus encounters food seems to be the place where Jesus shows up most often. People gathering together, doing life together in intentional community is another theme of the early church. They just did life together. Moreover, Jesus reminds us that he is with us when we break bread and drink wine as we remember him. This is real and authentic community. I am sure someone will think up a way through an avatar to take communion, but it never will substitute for tasting the wine and bitter bread with other people of faith, looking into their fleshly eyes and seeing Jesus in them and remembering Jesus.
Yeah there are times when i want to just crawl in my techno-cave and not talk to anyone. Just e-verse (instead of converse) and text (instead) of talk. But I really need real people, real relationships not mediated by electronic gadgets but mediated in fleshly casings. I hunger for real people and real relationships in real face-to-face encounters.
So i guess i am saying that i think they would have twittered, texted, blogged and anything else together but i don’t think they would have quit meeting together or used technology as a substitute for human interaction. Doing life together whether its texting from 2,000 miles away or sipping tea over the same table. But if i can’t live in Sacramento with CJ and Jackie I love the idea of having community with them from San Francisco, that is where technology is great.
Dr Jeff Garner is the Senior Pastor at S.F Lighthouse Churchмебели in San Francisco California and you can find his blog here.
jakester
January 7th, 2009
whoa! killer post!
emily
January 7th, 2009
i love the point about the tendency to “e-verse (instead of converse) and text (instead) of talk.” very cool dr. garner
Andrew
January 22nd, 2009
I think we must look at the historical context of where life was centered in Jesus’ time. When one works when there is light outside, and really only takes time off to go to temple, the clear meeting time was at the evening meal. Many Jewish celebration centers around food so I think that it is only natural that Jesus would conduct so much business in that setting.
I like what is said how the technology we have now is a great medium to stay in community with people with whom we would otherwise be unable. Our society is clearly different and the church should adapt (not with theology) to the present times. I am sure the same thoughts posed here, were the same a few years ago when the church discovered the idea of a “video venue.” Granted in a video venue people are in the same room, but there was a removal of certain constants that the church had been used to, arguably for hundreds of years.
So I guess where my mind has wandered is to the idea that the traditional structure of the church (building, service template, etc.) is now in flux. We now have video venues, tents, online campuses (internet.lifechurch.tv/). Spending some time in Europe, I got the impression from many many people that the idea of a traditional church was rubbish. This does have considerable amounts of historical context; but how effective would a church of a tall stone building with people singing Gregorian Chants be in this culture? When doing an outreach at a school there was a boy that said something very important to our group: they were asking us about our churches back in the states and they thought it was really cool; then a boy says, “I like what you are describing, but we don’t have that here.” The church was failing in some aspect for the fact that it was boring and people straight didn’t want to go.
I am not saying that the church is doing nothing to reach people, because that is far from the case, but there was a bit of a shortfall. The great thing about the gospel story is that its relevance never dies. And on some level I think that we should strive to maintain a relevant delivery.