Crosspoint

I say I watch football games on Sunday afternoons, but that is not entirely accurate. In reality Ive got a book in front of me that I will be reading as I listen to the game. When the crowd and the announcers get excited I will look up and watch that play as they show it on replay. If everything gets quiet I will pause my reading to see who it is that has been injured. This way, when discussing the game with others I can say I saw it and can talk intelligibly about any of the major events of the game, but at the same time I dont feel as though Ive wasted my afternoon in front of the TV.

This past Sunday, however, there two commercials that somehow grabbed my attention and caused me to look up from my reading. The first one depicted Congress as a group of firemen. The one leading the session asks the rest through his Nextel, What do we do with the budget? With Nextels familiar beeping they all reply, Pass it. With that beep going back and forth they continue: What do we do about the roads?
Build em.
Theres a lot of paper here says we need clean water. All in favor of clean water?
Aye
All opposed?
Silence.
Nextel is promoting through this commercial instant communication. Apparently actually having the cell phone ring and going through the inconvenience of answering it is too much of a hassle these days.

The next commercial is some reporter up in the frozen north with his laptop. Hes going on and on about how with AT&T wireless you can connect to the internet anywhere in the world. Meanwhile, the abominable snowman is lugging around a huge block of ice in the background. As the beast finally shrugs its shoulders and walks off the reporter ends with saying, Im Joe Schmoe and I just found the internet.

The fact is, we are living in a society that has the potential to be connected like no other before. With a webcam and a microphone I can use my internet connection from anywhere to video conference with friends all over the world for as long as I want. I can remember just a few years ago having to spend a small fortune just to make a short phone call that had a fairly bad connection. You can see people walking down the street or shopping in Walmart and think theyre talking to themselves until they turn their head and you realize they are talking to their sister in Seattle or their brother in Boston.

But in spite of all this technology, western culture is more disconnected than ever. Chat rooms are a poor substitute for a face to face discussion. Cell calls do not qualify as social visits. Technology making the world smaller does not counterbalance families living farther and farther apart emotionally as well as in physical location. The world is recognizing this disconnected void we all feel. That is why commercials can be so successful promoting better and quicker access. The problem is that no matter how good it gets, we will never get there traveling that direction. Technology is only a tool, not a solution.

In small groups on Sunday night the question came up, What brought you to First Assembly, or what made you stay? Across the board people answered, It felt like home. I felt welcomed. I felt connected. The more a person loves God, the more it shows in the way that they love others. This is the sign of a healthy church. If a church is successful in connecting people with Christ, that church will grow as the people connect more richly with each other.

One of the signs that our world is growing more evil through time is its increasing disconnectedness. We can live successfully as an answer to this world full of evil by having a heart that is deeply connected to Christ. The stronger that connection is, the richer our engagements with others will be as well.