12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful,
unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage
one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you
may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in
Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very
end.
~ Hebrews 3:12-14
NIV
I've returned to
this passage time and time again while living in a culture, 21st
century America, where folks often are "bowling alone" as Robert Putnam
put it in his important sociological study. Are Facebook or other
social networking sites one way in which Christians can "encourage one
another daily"? Perhaps. But surely this is not enough! Where is the
dynamic, deep face to face fellowship and resultant joy which one can
see in Acts 2 and during many other times of Church History?
I
see encouraging signs of deep community or deep church (as Jim Belcher
calls it) among the Amish (for all their faults and fundamental
problems related to understanding culture properly) and the "new
monastics".
I do give thanks for the small ways in which
I've experienced this with my 'nuclear' family, a weekly men's group
and with some other friends. I submit that Facebook and other sites
can be a tool to enhance what should already be there with respect to
friendships & community (but often is not).
1 comment:
If we agree that all interpersonal communication is mediated, it seems obvious that the more conduits the richer the communication. Hence, FB and other "virtual" experiences are meaningful, but ultimately impoverished by their lack of dimension. DH
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