After years of random phone calls and emails, I finally got the chance to reconnect with a very good friend from high school. We sat on the patio of a restaurant one night and discussed everything from personal life to philosophy to examining the effects of a post-modern society on the college population. One thread that ran through the latter topic was that of community. We were both amazed at how much technology has developed even in our lifetime, but also interested in the fact that some of the biggest websites today are social networking sites. Our world is one in which you can almost be entirely self-sufficient - able to learn just about anything online, purchase anything you want online, instant gratification in many ways - and yet what is the one thing that the majority of people reach for online? Community. Yet I would argue that we are starved for community even though we have access to it 24/7 at our fingertips.
It wasn't a coincidence that Adam was lonely even with all the animals of Eden. It wasn't because they hadn't invented Skype that church meant gathering together in one place with other believers. No, community is an essential part of the human experience. Community is about sharing in the struggles and joys of everyday life, helping one another, human interaction and contact, and the pursuit of things greater than ourselves. Community is not about how many wall posts you have, MySpace hits, or followers on Twitter. Hiding behind a cell phone or computer screen makes it easy to forget about what true community looks like. And besides, it means you get to do it all on your own time. Don't want to talk to John Smith right now? You don't have to! Don't want to disappoint your best friend by telling him you can't come to his birthday? Just hit "not attending" on the Facebook invite! Now, I have a Facebook and a MySpace, and I too do all of these things and more. And yes I am well aware of the benefits that it provides us. But it is important to remember a balance, and that while there are things that it helps us with, there are also dangers that it presents.
In a time of economic trouble, it has been interesting to watch as people begin to band together. We are all sharing in a national financial situation. I'm not sure there's a stronger bond forming agent than adversity. We are struggling together. And it is a time when churches, neighborhoods, offices, and whole cities would do well to pay attention to their communities, and to what it means to be a friend, neighbor, co-worker, pastor, brother, etc. The new CD I have been working on is partly inspired by these things. I will go into more detail in a later post after the CD is released, but for right now let me just say that everything from the message in the music to the products used for the packaging are meant to support and encourage community. Reply to a blog, attend a concert, write an email, call up an old friend, start a Bible study, volunteer at a homeless shelter, tutor... Whatever form it may take on for you, all I care about is that you are involved in the multiple communities to which you belong. Community cultivates humility, healthy suffering, service, and joy, among many other things. It is the way we understand God, it is how He chose to be with us, and it is the way in which we can strive towards sanctification in the face of trial.
So to my online community and beyond, thank you for being there for me, and I pray that the mercy I have had extended to me might be extended in return to all those in need. Extend community and all that entails, as Robert Benson would say in his fantastic book A Good Neighbor, "To those who have been given to you, and to those whom you have been given."
Perhaps the reason we don't value community is that it costs us so little now. We tend to value what we have to work and sacrifice for. All it takes is a few keystrokes and we've got "contact."
ReplyDeleteI look forward to hearing the new CD!
This old friend of yours sounds handsome, charming, and intellegent.
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