What We Depend On Will Eventually Show

We had problems with e-mail in the office yesterday. I am not sure exactly what was wrong, and I am positive that I do not want an explanation of the problem…I would not understand it anyway. However, not having e-mail caused me to have a few thoughts on God and community—hope this makes sense.

#1 - I Realized How Dependent I Had Become On Technology.

Technology is not a bad thing; in fact, I love it! I love the fact that my home has air conditioner. I love the fact that I can talk on the phone anywhere I want (sometimes!!!) I love the fact that I can listen to hundreds of songs that seem to all fit in this little thingy called an I-pod.

BUT—yesterday I realized how much I depend on technology by the fact that I was frustrated because the computer would not work right. As many of you know—I am A-D-D, and a person like me cannot focus to well on things, unless it is a problem—and then we tend to hyper-focus. I guess I must have tried to figure out the problem about 15-20 times…and that is funny to me since I know nothing about computers.

I finally went home so I could send out some e-mails and check a few things…and there was instant relief. Technology was once again a part of my life and I could rejoice.

So I had this thought this morning…and I am pretty sure it was from God, “Hey Perry, what if you depended on the Lord the way you depended on technology yesterday?”

OUCH!

What if I were to be that dependent upon God? How would that look? I know that He is the Vine and I am a branch—but I was challenged to continually surrender every singe minute of my day and depend on Him more than my computer or cell phone—WOW—that could relieve some major frustration!

#2 - I Realized How Technology Is A Bad Substitute For Authentic Community.

I spoke on community this past weekend at New Spring, how we all need one another. However, yesterday, if I wanted to communicate something to someone…I had to actually remove my rear-end from the chair I was in, walk to their office, and have a conversation with them.

AND God used that to rock my world and challenge my leadership style!

It is so easy to sit in an office and fire an e-mail off to people…and I would argue that it is necessary at times; however, why do we choose to communicate in that manner with someone who is merely 20 feet away from us? Have we gotten that lazy…or do we fear face to face contact?

Technology has opened many doors for me, I have been able to meet some fabulous people through blogging and e-mail; however, I do not mistake my internet world for community. As a communications major in college I learned that the majority of communication, around 90%, is non-verbal.

I am basically saying this—it is easy to sit behind a keyboard and type. There is no one to hold you accountable for your actions. You don’t have to deal with any heaviness you may cause with your message. You can get it done quickly, without any interruption…however, it’s just not my style!

Jesus called us to love one another…and in order to do that I would argue that spending time with one another isn’t just a good idea—it’s essential. And when I say time I do not mean creating anonymous names in a chat room and being superficial with people you never meet. I mean getting involved in the lives of others! We have so many opportunities to touch someone’s life—and we choose to drop an e-mail?

Please don’t get me wrong…I am not boycotting e-mail! As I have said…I love technology; however, it just became very clear to me yesterday to not allow technology to substitute community!

Those are my thoughts—hope they help.