Social Media Not the Only Intrusion

"Turn in your Bibles to Acts 28," the teacher said.

A quick survey of the room showed general compliance...except for a man sitting to my left. He wasn't "turning" to anything, he was "swiping" to Acts 28. Instead of a traditional black, 3-inch thick book with the letters "Holy Bible" embossed (with gold fill) on the cover or a camouflage compact edition of the NIV, this man (who happens to be a great friend) was holding a black-covered iPad.

Even with the buzz of the iPad, the general disruption of this new toy was minimal. Perhaps no one noticed. Perhaps they weren't surprise. With free Bible apps and the ability to take notes that sync with you Mac, technology has infiltration Churches' "worship services" like water running down a hill. It is so natural.

An article by Henry Brinton USAToday.com, entitled "Are Social Media Changing Religion?", got me thinking about the way I and others in my church use technology during the service. (Let's assume all these uses are for worship and not checking the latest football score). The main gist of the article considers the impact that social media, denoted by openness and transparency, have on private "contemplation" and meeting with God. Essentially, Brinton asks, "If I can be alone with God in church, were can I be alone with Him?" Even more, "What is the effect of not being able to be alone with God?"

I have felt this way before...not because of my iPhone, but because of my responsibilities during the worship service. My church is small, but we think about the same things as churches with eight-figure budgets: Creating an atmosphere that facilitates worship. This doesn't happen automatically. There are people in the background that make things "run." Keeping things moving forward can be as much of a distraction as any external factor. For it isn't necessarily what happens during the service diverts my attention but the internal monolog about all that needs to be done and when it needs to be done.

What's worse is I'm not even a pastor. When do they get a chance to put their mental iPad's away an sit with the community of God to worship?

I long for the day when all worship will be motivated by the presence of Jesus Christ. There will no longer be need for flawed humanity to attempt to create an environment for worship, which happens naturally and fully by God's sustaining presence.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Coming this December...

See official trailer.

Illusions of Objectivity

I find this quote from Robert Oerter, posted on Exploring our Matrix, to be a classic example of the misplaced belief in and reliance on objectivity:

"If religion teaches us atheists one thing, it should be this: to be skeptical of claims that we want to believe. Some atheists seem to have fallen into the trap of believing in a pagan origin for Christianity because it suits their agenda, rather than on the basis of the evidence. We should instead be careful about all claims, until they are established on the basis of actual data and methodical scholarship."

 -- Robert Oerter, "How To Become God" from the blog Somewhat Abnormal

Everyone "wants" something. Theists want God to exist. Atheists don't. One question is, in what way(s), if any, does that subjectivity wrongly influence our conclusions. Admitting presuppositions is healthier than thinking we're the only one's without them.

To aim low or to aim high...that is the question.

As part of a teaching team for a multi-generational and multi-ethnic community at a small church, I am (along with the rest of the team) continually reminded by some not "to go too deep" or "talk over our heads."

While I wholeheartedly agree with the need to "keep the cookies on the bottom shelf" (as Howard Hendricks puts it), I wonder where one finds balance between keeping biblical/theological knowledge accessible and simultaneously pushing people to a deeper understanding of God and self.

On Faith and Theology, Ben Myers shares an excerpt from Karl Barth's The Epistle to the Romans on writing theology. It offers an interesting perspective of this issue:

Time for another post on writing. You often hear the mantra that theology needs to be simple and accessible, addressed to some anonymous general audience. Here's what Karl Barth has to say about this view, in his preface to the second edition of The Epistle to the Romans (pp. 4-5 in the English edition; translation modified):

"Those who urge us to shake off theology itself and to think – and more particularly to speak and write – only what is immediately intelligible to the general public seem to me to be suffering from a kind of hysteria and to be entirely without discernment [halte ich für eine durchaus hysterische und unbesonnene Ansicht]. Is it not preferable that those who venture to speak in public, or to write for the public, should first themselves seek a better understanding of their topic? ... I do not want readers of this book to be under any illusions. They must expect nothing but theology. If, in spite of this warning, it should stray into the hands of non-theologians – some of whom I know will understand it better than many theologians – I will count it a great joy. For I am altogether persuaded that its content concerns everyone, since the question it raises is everyone's question. I could not make the book any easier than the subject itself allows.... If I am not mistaken ..., we theologians serve the "laity" best when we refuse to have them especially in mind, and when we simply follow our own course, as every honest labourer must do."

The beauty of studying theology is to go beyond ourselves and the understanding that is shaped and limited by our own sphere of experience. To attain for new levels of belief in and understanding about God begins with goals that are out of reach.