Wednesday, November 12, 2008

by Justin Buzzard

Continuing the Ten Topics series I’m teaching this fall, tomorrow night I’m delivering a message titled, Facebook: Technology and Relationships. This message explores technology’s impact on how we do relationships and how followers of Jesus ought to engage technology.

Because of its extreme popularity (especially where I live), I’m focusing the discussion on Facebook.

In preparation for tomorrow night, earlier this week I took a tour of Facebook’s headquarters in Palo Alto, a 15 minute drive from my front door. My friend/fellow church member/Facebook employee showed me around 3 of Facebook’s buildings in downtown Palo Alto. They run a slick operation.

Just like the Google campus, Facebook headquarters serves up tasty free meals to all employees and nearly every floor is set up with kitchenettes housing all the snacks and drinks you could want. They even had my favorite smoothie flavor in stock: strawberry-bannana.

More impressive than the food was the dry cleaning. Facebook offers a free dry cleaning service to all employees. And, more striking still–not a single Facebook employee has an office. All employees sit in rows or clusters of desks. Entry level administrators have desks next to high-level managers. When I walked past Facebook Founder/CEO Mark Zuckerburg, he was sitting at his little desk working away on his computer smack in a sea of other desks and employees.

Anyways, I’m looking forward to talking about the intersection of Scripture and Facebook tomorrow night.

If you’re interested, here’s the “homework” people are doing in preparation for tomorrow night: Facebook.pdf

Facebook: Technology and Relationships. 11/13/08

The Technology Lens

* Technology (most, not all) is neutral and can be used for good or ill

* Cave paintings

• Art or war plans

* The Wheel

• Drive to church or drive-by shooting

* Internet

• Dispense truth or porn

* Approach technology with this lens: neutral, good or ill

We’ve grown up in an age of unprecedented technological development

* The 2-3 generations before us experienced significant technological change, but not to the same degree as what we’re experiencing.

* Examples…

* The technologies that have taken off during our lifetime have radically changed how we do life, relationships, family, community, work.

* How many of you could do your job without a computer?

* How many of your lives and relationships would radically change if you didn’t have a cell phone, email, and access to the internet?

* How many of you go to public places and are fully present with the people you’re with and the place you’re at, never distracted by your cell phone, ipod, etc.?

We must see our engagement with technology as a discipleship issue

* Following Jesus means letting Jesus influence all of your life, everything about how you do life

* The 2 wrong ways to react to technology: The Bear Hug & The Cold Shoulder

* The Bear Hug: unthinking use of technology

* “Everybody has an iphone, I must have one.”

* Zero thinking about the impact this technology will have on you and others

* The Cold Shoulder: ignoring, retreating from technology

* “Technology is worldly, I won’t be corrupted by it, I’ll stay away from it.”

* Escape to the hills! Amish mindset.

* Problem with this line of thinking: you’re still using technology!

• The Washing Machine vs. The Washing Board (both are technological developments)

* The 3rd way: The Side Hug–thoughtful engagement with technology

* Matthew 22:36-40

* Give a Side Hug to technology and ask it this question: How can I love God and love other people through this technology?

* Christians are called to thoughtfully engage culture as a means of loving God and loving others.

* The concept of Leveraging

* Rather than look at dozens of technologies today and how they affect relationships and how we’re to engage with them as Christians, we’re singling out Facebook because of its present popularity.

* We could do a whole message on the Microwave, Netflix, the Answering Machine, Hybrid vehicles, etc.

More… http://www.buzzardblog.com/buzzard_blog/2008/11/thinking-biblic.html