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I am having difficulty explaining this in a short way, but will give it a shot. Forgive me if it is longer than the 140 character limit of a “Twitter Tweet.”

Since the 1980s, there has been an onslaught of technological advances that have affected our connection with the world in which we live; our connection to our immediate real-world neighborhood and community. We have moved away from direct, face-to-face contact with people and have allowed technology to become the go-between. The front porch conversation that we see on the Andy Griffith Show is totally foreign to our culture. It is not unusual to see two people in a restaurant “dining together” and each person is staring at their cell phones while ignoring one another. We don’t shop at the marketplace and meet real people anymore, but do so by pointing and clicking and having the package arrive on our doorstop.

We find it much more convenient to text or email rather than call, or easier to call rather than to visit. We have even found ourselves satisfied at clicking “like” rather than saying to someone, “Hey, I love that picture you just posted. When did you go there?” Unfortunately, I can spend my whole day “liking” people’s status update, wall-posts, pictures, or comments on Facebook and pretend or feel like I just had a day of meaningful interaction with all of my friends.

The convenience has evolved and the form factor has become smaller. Handheld mobile devices have made it even more convenient.

I have allowed myself to become seduced by convenience and have put my comfort above people.

Due to the nature of the technologies, e.g., text messaging, Facebook status posts, email, wall posts, etc., we have lost the ability to dialogue sensibly. Millions of Twitter posts are made each day, all within the 140 character limit. This means that people are communicating entire thoughts in just a few characters. No longer do we endeavor to be thorough and explain in a comprehensive manner. Our world is challenging us to be as brief as possible.

Think about the use of the word “okay.” Okay which has historically been accepted as just two letters, “ok,” now has been shortened to just one letter, just “k.” Incredible! In a text to my wife, I found myself being too lazy to type the extra “O”  in “OK.”

We have become people that are desensitized and have lost touch with our neighbors and we suffer from meaningful dialogue. The cell phone text/email/chat has invaded our lives and is here to stay. Because of media, we have come to know celebrities or YouTube strangers better than our neighbor, or as Brian recently shared, we know how to get around Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment better than the guy next door.

Having painted this picture, we can’t help but wonder how this effects the Gospel. How can we share the Gospel narrative when the world expects message brevity? Also, as we become more and more disconnected, the places for sharing the Gospel become more difficult to find. Somehow, we have got to find ways of becoming more connected with people. There are no easy answers to this growing disconnect. We at least need to reflect upon the effects it is having in our body and find ways to engage people in non-technological ways, face-to-face.

May the Lord grant us wisdom to navigate in this new world.

Think about it, as I am typing you this message, I realize that my trying to communicate this to you has taken the way of what is most convenient, a blog post.  ”Hope that’s k with u”

- Allen