Continuing with the series "Con Artists," I will be discussing another false message which modern society has managed to instill in far too many people, including far too many Christians. This is the message that brief and distant social interactions can still be considered a "connection" with others.
According to Alexa (a website which tracks website statistics), Facebook is the second-most popular site in the world, being visited by approximately 45% of all internet users. I'll state that again, in case you missed it: almost half of the people in the world who use the internet use Facebook. Perhaps even more stunning is the way this trend has caught on among young children. According to Consumer Reports, in 2011, 7.5 million children under 13 years of age, who aren't even allowed to have accounts by Facebook policy, were using the social networking site nonetheless. As of April 2012, Facebook had over 900 million users, making it the third largest country in the world. And the company just recently saw one of the most explosive IPO's in history, even though its business model of "advertising revenue" seems to baffle even many business gurus.
So, why do this many people (almost three times the population of the US) flock to Facebook? The same question could be asked of any social networking site: Myspace, Google+, even Microsoft's recently launched So.cl. I believe the answer lies in the innate human desire to feel connected with other people.
Loose Wires
One could say that humans are wired for social interaction, that we are all created with some need to connect with others on one level or another. Sure, this looks different for everyone, but it is still true. And it's biblical. In fact, the very first thing in the whole Bible of which God says "it is not good" is the seclusion of the man He had created. (Genesis 2:18) So there we have it- man by nature needs social interaction.
It can be seen that, as far as the Bible is concerned, a person's connections have two overarching categories: his connections to his fellow man, and his connections to his God. The first four of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-11) outline how he should conduct his interactions with God, while the rest (12-17) all deal with his interactions with the people around him. A large portion of the Pauline epistles are dedicated to resolving conflicts among individual Christians (see: 1 Cor. 11:17-34, Col. 3:18-4:1, Gal. 2:11-21, etc.). Furthermore, it is not missing the mark to claim that the overall message of the Gospel is that we humans messed up our relationship with God, but He made our relationship right again. The Old Testament is full of pleas from God for Israel to repent so that He can be their God, and they can be His people (see: Jeremiah 7:23, 30:22, Ezek. 36:28, 2 Chron. 7:11-22, etc.). God wants to interact with us! And we need to interact with Him.
A Cheap Substitute
What pains me about the modern world is not that it has failed to embrace this aspect of human nature. What causes me such grief is how we have chosen to embrace it. The problem is not solely relegated to Facebook and other social networking sites. The same problem can be seen with video games, parties, and text messaging. As a society, we are obsessed with short bursts of inane social interaction. We prefer a brief online message over an hour-long conversation. One might even say we are addicted to this kind of social interaction. But, just like every addiction, this comes from a thing which tries to fulfill some desire and comes short.
Besides undermining our friendships, this addiction has affected something even more important- our relationship with our families. I don't even have to do research for this; I see it around me every day. Children turn down the invitation to spend time with their parents so that they can eke out more time on Facebook. And the parents don't care- it gives them an excuse to check Twitter instead. Families sit silently at the dinner table while each member stares at his or her phone, sending text message after text message to their friends. Instead of calling Grandma for a new great recipe, Mom checks Pinterest. Throwing football with your brother pales in comparison to grinding out another level on World of Warcraft. And Dad is glad they're all finally being quiet so that he can watch TV. Now, I grant that all of these things in and of themselves are not bad things. Certainly, they have the potential to be very good things. Nevertheless, I doubt the world would hurt for a moment if all of humanity suddenly deleted its Facebook accounts.
The Fix
I'm not sure if my flippant tone is conveying adequately the gravity and immediacy of our situation. But with the realization of this problem comes an even more glorious realization- the solution has been in front of us the whole time, if we would just look up from our cell phones to see it! I have already discussed how the Bible lays out a plan for correct relationships. And let's face it, if your earthly relationships suffer, your relationship with God is likely proportionately out of whack. "Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen." (1 John 4:20)
So, here is my challenge for this week. Try to have real relationships with the people around you. Start with your family- they can be both the easiest and the hardest to get along with sometimes. Then move to your church family. These people should be willing to work with you toward this end. And once you've gotten these down, start blessing the other people in your life by your very real presence. Don't know where to start? Start by un-cluttering your life with all these other meaningless interactions. If you do not read your Bible every day, I challenge you to take whatever time you use on [insert social interaction tool here] and spend half of it each day instead in God's Word. This shouldn't be that hard, but the more difficult it seems to you, the more I suggest you need it. We Christians have to lead the charge for saving modern relationships, because no one else will- they have too much to do for their legions of adoring fans on Facebook and Twitter, their family on Mafia Wars, and their friends on How I Met Your Mother.
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