Technology and community...

Having just delivered a talk to parents about the issues surrounding online communities and their children I have been struck by my own question...'how many Facebook friends do your children actually know?'

I have lots of Facebook friends and have only ever accepted people I know or knew when I was younger...but do I really know them? Do they know me? A lot of my school friends remember the me from school - I wasn't a Christian then, and although I do not hide it on my profile, I guess half of them wouldn't really know how much of my life is affected by my beliefs...that I am a living Christian, not a dying one...

This leads me to two thoughts...
1) Should I cull all those friends who don't know the real me? Or...
2) Shall I proclaim the real me a little louder? Is Facebook really the forum for that?

This line of thought has also led me to consider the change in community that I see in children everyday. Chatting face to face is no longer the only real way to engage in friendship, fellowship and community. Many people now strike up friendships online and not in person. So much so that we refer to an 'online community'. But is this really a community?

I find it amusing (and a little astounding) when I see Facebook telling me to leave a message on so and so's wall because we haven't spoken in a while...fact is I have usually just had dinner with them and their family!! So i now feel a little concerned for the emphasis that is being put upon the online community...of course it is a community of sorts but never can it replace the fellowship of personal contact and conversation over a coffee, surely?

I do not know what God thinks of the cyberworld as such but I do know that the Bible puts strong emphasis on community and the Church of believers. Throughout the Bible there are verses that proclaim the importance of visiting and serving others...

Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

(Romans 12:13)

With this word fresh in my mind I feel prodded to engage more in face to face fellowship, rather than online fellowship. I shall endeavour to send birthday cards rather than leave a simple line on a wall in the hope that I have done my duty as a friend...how much more would a friend benefit from the thought and time spent in sending a card?! I would also like my new house to be a beacon for God, a place where people feel comfortable and able to come to whenever they want...a place of hospitality, not for my ego or for compliments, but for the love of God who teaches us to extend a hand to those who need it, never considering that the favour should be returned.

So to return to Facebook...I need to use it less for convenience on my part in engaging with others, and more about glorifying God through the friendships I have by extending the hand of hospitality. Sorted.

I believe that technology has a place within a community, but do not believe that it can build up a community or edify it...only good old fashioned love, time and conversation can do that.