If The Early Church Had Social Media...

If the Early Church had the technology we have today, I don’t think it would have lasted too long. If Paul had sent a rebuke to the Corinthians in an email, a juicy extract would have been tweeted and sunk the Corinthian ship. If Paul and Barnabas sorted out their differences on Facebook that missions venture would probably have crashed. If Ananias and Saphira were part of the real estate LinkedIn group…

Years ago I was asked to speak on the topic, “What is the church doing with technology?” and, in my opening address, I pointed out the error in the question. The real question was “What is technology doing to the church?” Technology can be a good thing, but it can spread darkness at the speed of light. I suspect I wrote more this week than the average New Testament writer did in a year, but it does not mean that my work will last. Today we can do more: more YouTube broadcasts, more tweets, more TikToks... but will our “more” last for eternity?

I sometimes long for the days of thoughtfully crafted letters rather than hastily-dashed-off emails and direct messages. We all get quick responses, rapid requests, and fleeting comments that toss bricks but do not build the house. Let’s weigh our electronic words carefully. (I suspect heaven has unlimited storage and every idle email, comment, or electronic missive is being reviewed for spiritual spam.) Can we be more considered, more careful, and more civil? Perhaps we should return to non-social, more-civil media. If all the apostles had sent was tweets and texts, we would have lost the written rudders of society.

PS: I do have a relationship with Siri, and love my technology, most days.