The Spirituality of the Cell Phone

When was the last time you turned off your cell phone? Confession time - my cell phone is on 24/7 (during daylight hours my phone is set to vibrate and the ringer is on during the night). Now I do have a a very good reason why I do not turn off my phone. I am a pastor and keeping my cell phone on provides my congregation 24/7 access to me; and isn't that what being a pastor is all about?

The last time I turned my cell phone off and disconnected from the technology was during our Tuesday night session at Q. Shane Hipps was presenting that evening on "The Spirituality of the Cell Phone" and the organizers asked us to leave our technology behind for a few hours. Being the dutiful ISTJ that I am, I left my cellphone and computer behind in my hotel room. When I arrived at the venue that evening it was interesting to discover that the organizers had placed some "accountability partners" at the doors and they asked each of us upon entering if we had left our technology behind. Just in case we slipped up, they even had a check-in system in place where you could leave your phone or computer for the evening - nice touch! And I have to admit that other than experiencing a few phantom vibrations (am I the only one who has these?) in my pocket, my sensitivities that evening were heightened and I felt more present to the moment.

Here are a few questions that Shane raised for me that evening:

• What does it mean to be God-like (created in the imago dei)?
• What is desire and motivation behind the impulse to text, tweet and continually update our Facebook status?
• How can I become more fully present to the people in my world?
• What does it mean to incarnate Christ in a discarnate world?

Shane suggested that part of bearing the imago dei is the capacity to create. He told a great story about the invention of the mechanical clock (hopefully a true one). According to Hipps, a group of monks invented the mechanical clock as a means to more faithful and regularly "pray the hours." The advancement of technology was designed to serve their life of prayer and faith. And yet have you ever stopped to consider what happens when the technology reverses itself on us? Instead of "praying the hours" do we now "punch the clock?" Or view "time as money?"

What is up with all the texting, tweeting and moment by moment updates on Facebook? What is the motivation behind this impulse (or perhaps compulsion)? Personally, I have come to realize part of my own motivation has to do with the shadow side of one of my StrengthFinders themes of significance. People strong in the significance theme want to be very important in the eyes of others. They are independent, want to be recognized and have a strong desire to make a difference in their world. Does my significance somehow increase with every text, tweet or Facebook update? Is my own capacity to make the world a different place somehow measured by how many friends I have on Facebook (and who those friends are)?

In his book, Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith, Hipps writes: "Christianity is fundamentally a communication event. The religion is predicated on God revealing Himself to humanity. God has a habit of letting His people know something about His thoughts, feelings, and intentions. God wants to communicate with us and His media are many: angels, burning bushes, stone tablets, scrolls, donkeys, prophets, mighty voices, still whispers, and shapes traced in the dirt (13)." I would add that the strongest communication event is the incarnation. Eugene Peterson translates John 1:18 as follows: "No one has ever seen God, not so much as a glimpse. This one-of-a-kind God-Expression, who exists at the very heart of the Father, has made him plain as day."

Shane provoked some thinking on my part on the difference between mediated interaction and face to face interaction. Is one to be preferred? Is face to face always the best way to communicate? How can I leverage technology to enhance and strengthen my relationships? Can a text, tweet or status update on Facebook draw us deeper into the risk and reality of our common life in Jesus Christ? Later today I am going to do a little Facebook experiment. Of my current 358 friends, how many of these friendships are actually grounded in a face to face relationship and encounter? should I have two categories of friends - mediated and face to face?

I would love to hear your thoughts on any of this. There is a ton more I could write about this session, but I have to run - my cellphone is buzzing.

Stay connected...

Q: Power and Privilege (Andy Crouch)

Last week I had the privilege of traveling to Austin, TX and participating in my second Q. Q describes itself as a gathering where innovators, church leaders, social entrepreneurs, and cultural pioneers come together to explore the church's role in positively contributing to culture. The format of Q is unlike any other conference I have attended. Each speaker is literally "on the clock" and given 18 minutes to present their big culture shaping idea. Over the course of the three day experience I had the opportunity to hear over 25 presentations - it's like drinking from a firehose. But it provides plenty of fodder for thought and reflection and I am looking forward to sharing some of my processing and reflection here.

Due to a nightmarish travel experience with Northwest and Delta, I missed the morning session of Q and arrived just in time for Andy Crouch's afternoon session. Andy is the author of Culture-Making and was one of my favorites at last year's Q and I awaited this year's talk with great anticipation; he did not disappoint. "Power, Privilege and Rank" was the title of Andy's talk and my guess it was the essence of a book that he is working on right now. Here's a sneak peak.

Andy stated with a great question: "what happens when culture-making actually works?" Have you ever stopped to reflect upon success and the implications (both positive and negative) of successfully accomplishing something?

Andy threw out his own working definitions of some important terms. The first was "creative power" which he defined as "the ability to propose a new cultural good." I believe all of us possess creative power; it's one of the characteristics of being created in the image of God. Today I spent some time reflecting on my own creative power. I love to create worship and learning environments and it energizes me to use my creative power to catalyze missional initiatives and new kingdom ventures. What about you? What creative power has God entrusted to you and what is the context for the release of your creative power and energy?

The second term that Andy unpacked was the concept of "rent," but not the kind of rent that you pay your landlord or Avis. Andy defined rent as "the excess income you can demand for what you would do anyway." For example, David Beckham as a high degree of rent when to comes soccer. While he commands millions to play the game, he most likely would play the game for the love of it! While reflecting upon this I thought of two other high rent people: Chris Martin from Coldplay and Giada De Laurentiis, the everyday Italian wonderchef. Again my suspicion is that Chris Martin would be making music even if he wasn't playing sold out venues and Giada would be creating magnificent meals even without the bright lights of TV.

Are there any areas of rent in your life? And if so, how might you leverage that rent for the purposes of building for the kingdom of God? This is something I am thinking quite a bit about lately, especially as I have entered my second half of life.

The final term Andy leveraged was privilege which he defined as "the continuing benefits of past successful exercises of creative power." Here are some questions I have been considering:

• In what ways am I banking on or coasting on past successes?
• How often am I aware of the incredible privilege I have as a white, male living in the United States in the 21st century?
• How am I measuring furitfulness in the present?

Two last words from Andy, the first a statement and the other a question:

"Jesus is not satisfied by the past but is interested in creating new pathways of creative shalom."

"We all have privileges as sons and daughters of the Most High God - are we willing to prodigally spend it on behalf of others?"

Stay connected...