Much of the world is practicing
social isolation as we await the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s
probably easier for those of us who are introverts to begin with, but
it is detrimental to all of our relationships. Until about a decade
ago I practiced social isolation as a way of life. Over the past
several years I’ve learned that I not only need relationships, but
I want them too. So when the country started shutting down, I felt
the loss like everyone else. But now that we’re a few weeks in, I
find myself reverting to the old habits—don’t talk to anyone,
don’t make any effort to connect with people, accept the fact that
relationships cause pain and just avoid them altogether. Why wish for
a real conversation with a real person when that is so difficult to
do right now?
But I don’t want to go back down
that path. I’m discouraged and frustrated with isolation. The
longer the church goes without meeting in person, the harder it will
be to convince people that this is not supposed to be the “new
normal.” It may be a good time for trying new things, but we can’t
assume that new is necessarily better.
Think about all the forms of
communication that pastors need to monitor if they want to connect
with all their church members. Recently I was listening to a podcast
about technology for church leaders and one of the speakers made the
comment that “email is dead.” That may be true for younger
generations, but not for everyone. I choose email to communicate 95%
of the time. Generational differences in communication are well documented. That can add to the feeling of
disconnection and isolation for many of us. (Sometimes I wonder if
all my emails are vanishing in cyberspace.)
Although we may be reaching a
different niche of people with livestreaming services on various
social media, there are a significant number of church members who
are completely disconnected. The tech gurus hopefully will tell you
that you need to show people how to use new methods, but they ignore
the fact that some people don’t even turn their computers on for
days or weeks at a time, if they even have computers. My fear is that
the church will become further fragmented if stay-at-home orders
remain in effect much longer. It’s easy to “do church” if all
it requires is opening your internet browser. Some churches will
continue to livestream even when regular services resume, and a
percentage of Christians will think that means that the assembly of
the church doesn’t really matter. Some churches have already
alienated older members by the way they’ve pushed technology
“solutions,” and those members will find churches that feel more
traditional and accepting of their preferences. Generational divides
may become even stronger.
I was in the midst of writing this
when I read Colossians 4:6 (ESV): “Let your speech always be
gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to
answer each person.” It hit me that “how you ought to answer”
nowadays is not just the words you use but the technology you use.
We’ve gotten creative out of necessity, but are we too quick to
adopt the “easy” way? Have we weighed the costs of the potential
collateral damage?
As I listened to multiple podcasts
this week on technology options, it became increasingly clear to me
that if church leaders invest all their time in utilizing all the
“must-have” technologies, there won’t be any time left to
actually minister to the people they are called to shepherd. “If we
speak eloquently to the webcam, but have not love, we are noisy gongs
or clanging cymbals. If our website is polished to perfection and has
every possible tool, but have not love, we are nothing. If we enable
text-to-give and meet our budget every week, but have not love, we
gain nothing.”
Are the things we’re doing
actually contributing to loving one another or are they just filling
the web with an overabundance of words? We all need wisdom in these
strange and unsettling times.
“If any of you lacks wisdom,
let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it
will be given him” (James 1:5).
© 2020 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise
indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The
opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or
employer.
