This book really preaches. It is one of those books that doesn’t just tell you how to do it—it is doing it while it is telling you how! If we look at our computer screens and refocus we can actually see our own reflection on the screen (or the outline of our reflection)—this reminds us of who we are and that we are not our computers (and our computers are not us). This “magic eye” methodology—the training of the eye to see what is there but normally overlooked—is how we need to approach the technological advances of today as well as how we live our lives as the Church in the world.
We must walk the line however fine it may be between observing the 2nd Commandment of not making for ourselves graven images and using images to convey a message. The methods we chose speak a message themselves as Marshall McLuhan was quoted, “the medium is the message” (25). Even the television screen is a part of the message. Media is not neutral. Instead, “it has the power to shape us, regardless of content, and we cannot evaluate them solely on their content” (26). As we “extend” ourselves through our various inventions the more the world changes—how we live, practice our faith and imagine God. This caused me to revisit an old belief and begin to loosen its hold me—that the message and the medium are separate; that the medium can change but the message must stay the same is no longer a valid belief.
I have told my children the story of Narcissus and have now added how his problem wasn’t that he fell in love with himself; but rather he failed to recognize himself in the water/mirror. He became numb to his image and couldn’t see the mirror and he eventually died. Had Narcissus understood that it was water reflecting his own face, the mirror’s power would have been dispelled and he could have gained control over it. I also told them the story of how Perseus used a mirror/shield to see Medusa’s reflection so he could kill her and bring peace to the land. “…when we remember that technology is simply an extension of ourselves, it takes much of the power away from the medium and returns it to us” p36.
We become what we behold. The tools we use to think actually shape the way we think. The same applies to our faith as well. The printed word can use subliminal messages to control people without their knowledge. “Regardless of what is being communicated, the printed word whispers subliminal messages (you’re an individual) as we read. The subject matter (remain objective) could be anything. Regardless of the content, we are (think abstractly) powerfully shaped by the form (think rationally) of the words alone”p55.
Our challenge: prioritizing (filtering), meaning making (mosaic barrage), and responsibility (overload). Authority, truth & meaning—these three. Can they be established with clarity and certainty? “If we are not alert, the Information Age may stunt our growth and create a permanent puberty of the mind” p72. Beliefs should change the world. Our theology and practice are deeply informed and shaped by our media and technology.
Facebook erodes relational intimacy. Intimacy is created when we do something with someone we don’t do with anyone else. The illusion of closeness while remaining anonymous—Facebook. Anonymous intimacy has a strange effect. It has just enough connection to keep us from pursuing real intimacy. AUTHENTIC COMMUNITY INVOLVES HIGH DEGREES OF INTIMACY, PERMANENCE, and PROXIMITY! What happens when intimacy can be gained without permanence and proximity?
What happens when we choose cotton candy as a normal meal? As our only meal? = Facebook. Where eating and being together is nice but not essential. Facebook. Being in touch versus truly connecting with others? Facebook. E-conflict--“if your brother sins against you, don’t email (or text) him about it!” Anonymous intimacy and distant hostility—Facebook. This has not only become possible but is encouraged by our culture.
Paul didn’t demand that others agree with him—-he just lived it (the message and the medium are one). Does technology matter to God? Does He talk about it at all? Use of media in the Bible = the tabernacle furnishings and no graven images = “exactly like the pattern I will show you” = The chest, the atonement cover, the cherubim, the ark, the lampstand, tabernacle, altar, courtyard, priestly garments, atonement money, washing basin, anointing oil, incense…(Exodus 25-30). If God is so concerned about such things in the Bronze Age, how about in the iPod age?
But God spoke through His greatest medium ever when He came Himself—perfectly united medium and message. “Jesus is God’s perfect medium—and the medium is the message! And we, the church, ARE the message. The church isn’t to be a message of perfection—but of a community of humility, repentance, and authentic hope. Technology is an extension of me and an amplified imitation of my humanness—created in God’s image, they are also extensions of God—Who found perfect expression in Jesus…and then the body = the church…and me. Go ye therefore and BE the message!
Perhaps a good sermon title today would be, How The Good Samaritan Turned OFF His Cell Phone.