As medium’s like Twitter and Facebook become features of our day to day lives, I can’t help but wonder how it effects our thought processes. It is no secret that the forms by which we communicate and express ourselves becomes the very forms we think in. Authors tend to think in outline or proposal forms, bloggers tend to think about blogging their experiences, as well as painters, musicians, soldiers, etc., all have modes by which they process reality. In this sense, I wonder if the mode of Twitter and Facebook status updates run directly contrary to the Gospel? These modes thrive on insignificance. They can certainly be used for much more than that, but at their best they relay cliches, meaningless information and endless updating on general life activities (e.g. I am brushing my teeth). They are purposely limited to terse and often undeveloped thoughts – so what if this forms how we process the Gospel?
It is not that this is somehow bad in itself. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not down on social networking as a concept – but what if we start thinking in this mode? I can’t help but notice that bad "Christiany" forwards have rapidly turned into bad "Christiany" Tweets – and suddenly I experience a barrage of poorly thought through superficial tid-bits that are supposed to…well, I’m not sure what they are supposed to do. It seems to me that this kind of medium provides further temptation where American evangelicals are already most tempted – to a Christianity that lacks depth, thoughtfulness and discernment. Am I overstating this, or should we be really concerned about the use of certain mediums as hallmarks of our existence?
5 Responses to The Christian Life by Cliche: The Internet and Spiritual Formation
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Growing up, Kyle Strobel knew all the "right" answers. The Christianity he experienced in the church was reduced to theological precepts and moral codes. He tried typical spiritual growth formulas but faith remained stagnant, even stale. Sound familiar?
In Journey with Jesus, spiritual director Larry Warner guides us through the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius similarly to the way he's been leading people through them in person.
… said Kyle on a blog for an online Christian community.
I am reminded of Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death. We are most certainly altering the way the culture as a whole thinks and interacts, and therefore how the constituents of that culture live. There is reason for concern. Of course, I think these mediums are more a result of the cultural modality before they are a definer of it, but there is a feedback loop. We are shallow, therefore we tweet useless junk. But as we grow accustomed to shallow junk, we no longer expect or search for things of greater value to the same extent.
We have more ways now of distracting ourselves from reality and watering down our lives. We aren’t forced, however, to engage in them.
Postman was certainly prophetic wasn’t he? What I find particularly interesting about blogs, as a different sort of thing than twiter or facebook updates, is that the most well read people I know read and write blogs as well. They plan a genuine role in the new academic environment. It isn’t unusual to hear, "Hey, have you seen the blogs today?" in the same kind of tone that you would hear, "Have you seen the new journals." They are not as substantive usually, but they play a role. My worry is more to do with the role they play the masses. I think you are right – this is the fruit of a generation which has given itself to easy to remember three point take-a-away sermons.
That said, I am not against this kind of technology being used for the laity, but I just wonder what role it could/should play to be helpful.
There is a great recent article on msnbc.msn titled Blunt the Email Interruption Assault – if you Google it it will come up. I won’t do it justice except to say that it supports Neil Postman’s worst fears. Our fragmented thinking is fracturing our ability to think and execute, not to mention meditating on Christ and living sacramentally.
A few years ago a friend of mine at M.I.T. analyzed the deterioration in decision-making within academia and found the same thing.
How often, in a small group Bible study, have I seen the inability of folks to hold a Biblical paragraph that runs a few verses in tension? Many times.
A parishioner once remarked to me, “Pastor Bob, all of this outside stimuli is like electronic cocaine.” I haven’t been able to improve on that assessment.
Agreed, tweets and status updates can be quite absurd and shallow, but I can’t help but wonder if twitter may be the re-opened door to the genre of the proverb? Short and sweet wisdom has not been in fashion for some time, but could twitter be its avenue back into a culture where hyperexplaination and information hold the highest value?
I tend to disagree on the lack of depth that one can convey in these social media outlets. Here are a few snippets from friends in the trenches that have used these mediums to spark amazing conversations…
” Preventative maintenance is much better than disaster relief. Take care of your soul.”
“1st thing to begin to destroy a relationship is the lack of communication. Are you communicating well with Jesus? Both sharing your heart & hearing His through His Spirit & His amazing Word.”
“Do you have any stories this week of God answering prayer? If not, why? Are you praying?…Are you praying what’s really on your heart?…Are you praying what’s in line with God’s heart for you..for others? Sometimes God’s not answering prayer because were not asking. Check out I John 5:14-15.”
I guess I feel like social media often gets a bad wrap b/c of its brevity but sometimes that is all one needs to be reminded of how big God is.
Remember when postmodernism came on the scene and everyone freaked out about relativism. The issue was that if there is no truth then God will somehow get lost. GOD GET LOST? I think the church had to take a deep breath and rethink how big God is and how He is in everything.
While I agree to a point I think that social media can and is being used with a unique depth that is showing others who God and Christianity are.