Pursuing III: Frightening Biases and The Glory of 'Me' in Social Media

This is the third post in a series exploring the idea of Pursuing others and building relationships.  Check back each Thursday for more.  For the entire series, click here.   

Frightening Biases

Have you ever heard anyone ask, "Would Jesus have had a facebook? Would he have 'tweeted'?" ?  You won't get my answer, because I think this debate is pointless.  Having these social media outlets is not a moral issue; these technologies are simple tools, which happen to be very popular right now.  


I gathered these thoughts after a very challenging article by Shane Hipps.  I suggest you read it.  In fact, if you don't, you prove his premise that our generation is moving towards communication by short, simple statements and sustained illiteracy is becoming a thing of the past.  Here's his article.   

The article says some concerning things.  He explains how every technology we use has an innate bias; a pronounced side-effect.  For instance, in major cities, the technology of public transportation biases people to walk more, compared to smaller cities.  Facebook, Twitter and every other social media are simply technologies, neither good nor bad, but with key innate biases.  And the ones Shane brings up are frightening.  

First, he digs through facebook.  Essentially, facebook teaches us to be narcissists; although facebook is for 'connecting', our lengthy time spent creating our profile, which is how others see us, is leading us towards narcissism.  We end up staring at our own image in the water more often than others', just like Narcissus.  "Many of these technologies create a condition of absence in a world desperate for our presence."

And then there's Twitter.  Now, the interesting thing here is that there actually are good, profound quotes and experiences on Twitter.  BUT, the average lifespan of a tweet is less than an hour!  "Twitter has no patience for time.  Twitter bypasses these things so it can express... This does not make Twitter bad, invalid or useless.  It simply means twitter is a medium more likely to convey cliché's rather than deep aphorisms of profound insight."  We read, we are entertained and thought-provoked, then forget.

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So... what?

After reading this article, I had to take a deep look into why I updated my facebook status, and why I continued to tweet my boring life.  Also, why did I spend hours reading material I've long forgotten?  What was I seeking? What are we seeking?  

For a while, I was seeking a savior.  I believed that once I found that perfect quote or that awesome article, I wouldn't need all of this input.  I'd be set.  Yet, after what, 3 years now, I can barely remember the last tweet I read.  In a snowball of information, the profound is lost in the 'cute', the 'trend', and the endless hyperlinks...

So, back to the original question.  How would Jesus have used twitter, or facebook?  Would he tweet out his sermons?  Would he poke his disciples?  I don't think he would.  

It's interesting how many people Jesus, who himself came to pursue all mankind for his Father, turned so many people away, and wanted to keep things on the DL.  There was no 'You're invited, come to the sermon on the mount!!!!' facebook event and he never tweeted his location for the crowds.  In fact, I see the opposite.  

Check out these verses:

Matthew 8:4 - "See to it that you say nothing to anyone, but go..."

Matthew 9:30 - And Jesus sternly warned them, "See that no one knows about it."

Luke 8:38 - But Jesus sent him away saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you."

Luke 8:56 - And her parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.

There's a lot more, just look around...

I'm not sure about you, but it's simple pride for me.  I want people to see me, to retweet me, to think "OMG, that Bryce guy, he is hilarious!"  So, I've really had to check myself lately - facebook and twitter are fertile grounds for me to become more and more prideful, more and more narcissistic, building up my image, my glory, me.  

How does ANY of that line up with the gospel?  The Bible says I am dead, it is only Christ who lives.  In my pride, I build a castle of sand, just waiting to be washed away...  When Christ lived, he was homeless a lot, had few real friends (and even they left him in the end), ate from those he taught, walked everywhere rebuking people for their sins... He was no celebrity, and probably not very well-liked.  He did not try to grab any glory for himself, "did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing...(Phil. 2)."  

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Well, I got a little off-topic here, but that's alright.  I hope this post challenges us to re-think why we're using social media, and how we could use it to bring glory to God, not ourselves.  I decided to add it to this series because I have learned that online-only relationships are hardly worthy of that word.  They are nice, cute, but in the end, bring each party little but entertainment.  

Before you go and join a monastery we'll talk next week at why we MUST influence.  

Why Pursue? A Disturbance in Perspective

This is the second post in a series exploring the idea of Pursuing others and building relationships.  Check back each Thursday for more. For the whole series, click here.  

This week, some visitors came to my small group.  My plan was to leave a little early, but I became entranced by their call to be missionaries in Papua New Guinea.  In a nutshell, their function would be a supporting role to the missionaries out in 'the bush'.  This may not sound like a big deal, but let me recount what I learned about Papua New Guinea.

Imagine a big island with 6 million people, and Hawaii-like jungles.  Now, take out all infrastructure, and rewind history to when people were separated into tribes; precisely 865 small bands of people, with a distinct language, living in an equatorial jungle.  That's Papua New Guinea.  There are currently 320-ish tribes living as animists, cannibals, or both, unreached.  

Back in the day, the first missionaries to go to the jungles were killed.  But, a second group was invited to live with a tribe.  They learned their language.  They shared the gospel.  A church was built.  Disciples were made.  And more missionaries went to more tribes.  Now, the husband that talked with us would provide construction of houses in each village, while the wife will work as a nurse to the missionaries.  They are committing four years of their life to simply support the missionaries living among the tribes.  

What possible motivation would it take for a couple to commit this amount of time and effort, losing all 21st century comforts, just to help people who are visiting villages?  

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I didn't walk away that night with a call to be a missionary.  But, my perspective was severely challenged.  I realized there are some KEY issues that I may 'say' I believe, but my actions prove me wrong.  What I saw in the young couple was that they DID believe these things.

1. Without the gospel, people who die will be in Hell. Forever.  
If I truly believed this, wouldn't the gospel be the only thing I ever talked about?  They are going to Papua New Guinea to literally save people from Hell.


2. ... and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."  (Acts 20:35)
I have found I like to receive, and take for myself... Meanwhile they are giving a huge amount of time and effort for people they've never met living in a jungle.

3. We are sojourners here.  
My lifestyle does not reflect this - I'm digging in, building up my nest.  They are living with eternity in mind, knowing that no treasure here lasts, and that people are eternal

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Wow, so that wasn't really where I thought this post would head, but I want to close with one final piece of motivation: your own story.

I am scared to think of the person I would be if it wasn't for someone who pursued me for Christ.  After years of attending church, I finally understood the gospel because my youth minister pursued me, and formed a relationship with me.  Without him or someone else pursuing me for Christ, I would NEVER have chosen God's way.

But, he did find me.  Someone formed a relationship with him, and before them another... all the way back to the disciples and Paul, telling everyone... even back to Jesus himself, pursuing others for His Father.

With this legacy behind us, isn't it our turn to pursue others for Christ?

He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves." 

(Luke 10:2-3)

Why Aren't you Getting to Know Me?

This is the first post in a series exploring the idea of Pursuing others and building relationships.  Check back each Thursday for more.  


I recently read a compelling article from one of our Forge speakers.  Check it out, then come back here.  


His premise was about loving people, despite their reactions to our love.  


"You see, somewhere along the line we got it in our heads that the call to love the world was simultaneously a call to make the world love us."


"But it’s important for us to remember that love does not have to be reciprocated in order to be authentic. When we define love as a transaction or exchange, it rapidly turns into something self-serving and conditional. Loving you so you’ll love me is not the same thing as loving you."


"Their response must have no bearing on our love.  We are called to love, not necessarily to be loved." 

His thoughts reminded me of a similar lesson I learned last year.  But it wasn't about love; it was about pursuing and relationships - a lesson I had forgotten.  Through this short series, I hope to remember and explore why we should pursue relationships, reciprocated or not.

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Our group had just survived a pretty tough week.  I can't really go into details as I'm sworn to secrecy.  But, during a meeting to work out some of our tensions, someone brought out the idea that people were 'slipping through the cracks.'  Many in our group felt overlooked, un-loved and forgotten.  When this was voiced, I felt like part of that 'forgotten' group - I felt like there we were, a couple months of living together, and no one had really pursued a real, deep relationship with me.  


Luckily, during a talk with one of my closest Forge friends, I was hit with how selfish I had been.    I had put zero effort into building relationships with others, and then there I was feeling sorry for no one coming to build one with me.  I just wanted to take and take, and not give anything.  


Still, I think I would have been upset if I had tried to build relationships and still nothing was reciprocated.  Then, I would have felt like I had some grounds to condemn the other Forge members, right?  


Later in the year, we got "Lantzed."  I don't remember the exact discussion, but it had something to do with people feeling like their 'needs' weren't being met; basically, the part two of our previous talk.  Matt reminded us that Jesus lived, ate, and built into his disciples all day, every day, for three years.  Did He ever feel like some of His needs weren't being met?  Without getting all theological, I would say a resounding "Yes!"  Still, He pursued them fully, teaching them, leading them, giving all He had to make them into leaders; however, their behavior did not limit his efforts.

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I understand we are called to love all, despite reciprocation.  But, I've already forgotten this lesson.  I find myself still waiting for others to build into me.  So, I want to focus on pursuing, and post my thoughts as I struggle and learn here.  On this blog, what I want to explore is:


-What is pursuing? What is the difference between love and pursuing? 


-How did God pursue us? 


-How did Christ pursue us? 


-Why pursue others, and how can we pursue others?  


I'm hoping to have a post on these topics each Thursday so be sure to check back next week.