I’ve been spending more time in IHOP lately, especially the evening hours.
Turn your eyes from looking at the worthless. Even the permissable is not beneficial.
They were singing that chorus the other day in IHOP-KC and I was struck by it immediately. So often we waste time watching useless stuff that just … wastes … time. It might not even be bad, necessarily, but it is just worthless, meaningless. I have found myself doing that so many times – starting on some celebrity story and then suddenly it is an hour later and I have really done nothing at all except put a bunch of stuff into my mind which has not edified me, has not done anything to feed my spirit… Permissable, sure. Beneficial, not at all. We’ve become a culture of trivia, having lots of information but on a shallow level. Too afraid to plunge the depths of spirituality, of God of our destinies. And if not afraid, far too busy.
The other day I was part of a group that was talking about fasting food and how difficult it was, but how important it was in moving the heart of God. I mentioned how it might be beneficial to fast Facebook, mostly as a joke, but the reaction of the room was so unanimous that it was almost funny. There were gasps and snorts – such an unthinkable thing! To not get on Facebook? Goodness. It was stated that fasting food would be easier and more preferable! Then I was reading an article posted on an IHOP musician’s blog and he had a quote by John Piper which really struck me as well.
“One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time.”
And it’s not just those – they are easily picked on because they are popular right now. My friend Chad (an avid Facebooker) was quick to point out that there are many other things that can take similar places in our lives – like fiction books, movies, TV, etc. He’s right, but the truth is that social networking sites can have a tendency to consume us – as we scroll through the hours of video, photos and conversations of daily life of our hundred of friends. Books and media can do that, but I don’t think to the same extent and are not quite as accessible as getting tweets on your phone and Facebook updates all day long. At what point do we stop and say, I need to get off this thing and live real life… not this virtual construct. I need to stop being bound to things which take me from places of prayer and become a man of prayer.
So … taking our eyes of worthless and shallow stuff that is not beneficial. It’s a good thing to consider because the Christian life has to be about depth. It has to be about something more than the mundane and banal. James says to prove your faith by your actions. It’s definitely what I am planning to continue to work toward.
First of all, I”m amazed that people would believe it is easier to fast food than Facebook. Maybe they haven’t fasted food before? Personally, it would be much harder to fast food than not go to Facebook — but that’s me.
I’d agree with Chad in that we have many distractions to choose from. I don’t know what kind of uses Facebook is most known for but currently, I’m paying attention to my brothers’ and sister’s updates on their life. Some of it is fluff but other things, like family events, important job interviews, or even the death of a loved one has it’s merit. Liz and I are pursuing a friendship with our families and Facebook has been a way for us to be informed, and therefore connected, with their lives in what they say.
Prayerlessness is the direct result of a disconnection with God. It happens when we’re distracted but usually, we’ve disengaged long beforehand. When we stop pursuing God as our first-love, then it’s easy for the inferior pleasures of the world to be magnified in our own experience. We lose sight, disengage and wander.
It’s a bit harsh to transfer that responsibility onto social networking sites. We have to look deeper.