Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!
– Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
There is a question that has been rolling around in my head lately. Like that song that gets stuck and without even realizing it, you keep singing or in my case attempting to sing the words. Maybe this question isn’t even one that I need a definitive answer on. Maybe it’s one of those questions that I need to ponder upon, leading me to observe those around me, allowing myself to come to my own conclusions. When I get there, I can now choose how I apply those conclusions to draw closer to Christ as well as others in my life.
So what’s the question?
Is technology the enemy of community?
I recently heard a story about an old Irish community and a thermos. The story goes like this… Once a year during the fall, the families of this Irish community would come together and all go out turf cutting. Turf cutting was an important process to prepare for the upcoming winter providing fuel to heat their houses. Families of fathers, mothers and kids would all participate collectively so no one would go with this necessary commodity. Days and days would be spent away from their houses working together. Each family had a specific day where they would maintain the community fire and keep a pot of boiling water going for tea breaks. The cutting was done by hand and the work was tedious, but it was a time to socialize with friends and neighbors.
Then one year a man showed up with a brand new thermos, something that no one had ever seen before. It was all the rage and everyone rushed out to buy one. With everyone having their own thermos, there was no need for a community fire. Without the community around the fire, people quickly figured out that it was more convenient to go out by themselves and only cut what they needed. It wasn’t long after that the social event of turf cutting was exchanged for a solitary task.
Was it quicker to just cut your own turf? Yes. Was it more convenient to bring a thermos full of tea? Absolutely. But in the end, what saved them in time cost them in community.
We are really no different. Instead of a thermos, we have the convenience of a smart phone.
There is no doubt that smart phones are a technological marvel. It is a gateway to convenience and efficiency, a labor saving device that opens the entire world up to us and it fits in the palm of our hand. Communication has gone from the antiquated times of face to face interaction or at the least talking on a telephone that was physically attached to a wall. Now the only distance we have to go is the distance between our pocket and our hand. Even less if we have a smart watch. No longer is a two way conversation even necessary when we can simply send a text on the same device that is interconnected to the world wide web. Information galore in the blink of an eye without any human interaction to slow things down.
But it gets even better. The days of having to take all that time to develop relationships can now be exchanged for social media. And I don’t even have to leave the house.
Speaking about leaving the house, Sunday mornings have been freed up through online church. Why go through the arduous process of waking up on Sunday, getting ready and driving to church when I don’t have to? And if I don’t like what the pastor is saying, there is no awkwardness, I simply scroll to another online church that is telling me what I want to hear.
The convenience of a smart phone is truly incredible. But what is the cost?
We were created in the image of God, who exists within the eternal community of the Trinity.
Technically is great, but without proper restraint it can cost us our community. Community in our neighborhoods, at our work, in our churches, even within our families.
But after all, it’s just a thermos.
Jason Metz, lead Pastor
