LOST IN SPACE, DROWNING ON FB, MISSING FELLOWSHIP

LOST IN SPACE.

Whatever happened to the real sci-fi TV shows?

WARNING, WILL ROBINSON! For me the height of irony of that show is a futuristic robot (a.k.a. The Robot) crying out emotive responses of warning to the Robinson family of imminent danger, which in a sense should be heeded today.

The world of technology has advanced us in incredible ways in so many good and profitable discoveries. Who among us would not want indoor plumbing, electricity, microwave ovens, Q-tips, automatic drip coffee pots, and penicillin? Yet, there is a word of warning that I think the almost human Robot would cry out for today.

The industrial age and the age of technology have propelled us into a race to pursue the accumulation of things at the expense of lives lived out in fellowship with people. We pursue jobs that remove us from a lifetime of growing up with family, friends, and the establishment of fond memories in order to move across the land for better jobs, bigger houses, and bulging retirement plans.

This modern age has already robbed us of the precious margin (buffer room) we need in our intellectual, emotional, physical, and spiritual lives. We feel tired, run down, exhausted, overworked, over committed, and over burdened. But to what end? At the end of the day we accomplished numerous tasks, but there are many more awaiting us tomorrow. It never really ends.

We are overloaded with the busyness of duties with no room to spare for the delight of fellowship. We multi-task in the pursuit of activities thinking this is a worthy badge of honor, yet we starve ourselves of meaningful interaction with people and the quiet moments of silence and solitude spent with God for refreshment and worship. The most beautiful sunrise happened the other day in the little town of Street, Maryland that caught the corner of my eye, but I was too busy trying to get to work to actually stop for a few minutes and enjoy the work of God’s hands.

I am finding more and more that FB can be an addictive and dangerous substitution for real life—at least for me. I read posts that seem to me to be more about the promoting of the individual in subtle and some not-so-subtle ways. The reason I recognize that is because I catch myself doing the same. FB is not the real world and we can too easily present a façade of us that simply is not the real ‘us’. We present ‘self’ in the best of light to solicit praise, and also sometimes exaggerate situations of life to pursue sympathy. How much time is wasted playing games, etc., in lieu of meaningful dialogue and fellowship with people face-to-face? We were not meant to live in isolation.

This modern age has made communication instant and easy, but technological communication does not have the same effect as person(s)-to-person(s) fellowship. I enjoy FB and am glad to be a part of its community. I enjoy reading the stories and posts, and seeing the pictures and videos. I am especially moved and touched by the sharing of the stories that involve the people of God, doing the work of God, for the glory of God. I find moments to pause and pray in reading some of the posts. Some things make me laugh. Some things make me scratch my head. Some things make me think. But, none satisfy the need of my soul for relationship and fellowship.

My point is to slow down and to not allow technology and industry to rob us of margin. We must take the time to rest, pause to reflect, stop and watch a sunrise or smell a blossom, slow down and enjoy a meal over good conversation, write a hand-written note to someone you hardly see anymore, call someone and ask them ‘how they are doing’, make a date with our spouse, or just hang with family and friends. Yes, spending time with people can be a messy business. It does not take long before we realize we are all somewhat different and peculiar. We can get hurt and be disappointed. I wonder at times why anyone would spend time with me when I can be so annoying. Yet, without the interaction with fallible people we will never experience the beauty of fellowship and friendship, laughter and love.

My greatest memories all revolve around people. I have fond memories of good conversations regarding God and life over a cup of coffee and a cinnamon crunch bagel at Panera Bread. I love being around my friends socializing and fellowshipping during a cook out. I look forward to long drives with my wife over the summer to the Eastern Shore trying to find out-of-the-way restaurants. I have the most awesome friends in the world at both Calvary Baptist Bel Air and First Baptist of Aberdeen. It is with an almost child like impatience that I anticipate planned times of going out together with them. There are times that a spontaneous desire for fellowship will overwhelm me and I will start calling around to see who can come out to play. All of these involve real people with real conversation at real places.

Jesus never really seemed to have an interest for prime time. People wanted to draw attention to Him by forcing Him to be King. His response was to simply withdraw to a quiet place. He was more interested in pursuing His Father’s will, and the establishment of the Kingdom of God over popularity and notoriety. It seems that most of His time was spent with friends. He preached and ministered to large crowds, but His heart was largely revealed as He interacted with smaller groups and individuals. He took the time to fellowship with His disciples. He took the time to socialize with people at a wedding. He took the time to be with children.

He took the time to socialize with people in order to fellowship with people in order to share the things of God. We were made for intimate relationship with God. We were created for fellowship and interaction with people. Look at all the ‘one-another’ passages in the Scriptures. Acts 2:42ff tells how the people of God met regularly for fellowship, prayer, teaching, and the breaking of bread.

I have made the decision to intentionally fellowship with people for fun, food, and fellowship, and not let busyness be an excuse for missing out or technology a substitute for coping out. Some of you may soon get a last minute phone call from a certain person in Street, MD asking you to do something so pointless as to walk a promenade, take a ride to no particular place, plan a vacation together, fire up a grill, throw around a football, ride a bike, go out and eat, grab a cup of coffee to talk about what God is doing in your live, or watch a basketball game hoping that WVU beats whoever they are playing and that Duke looses to whoever they are playing. Yes, I will still be on FB, but not as much. I hope when I call you to come out and play that you aren’t too busy with FB that you will not.