"Membership in the family of God is neither inconsequential or something to be casually ignored. The church is God's agenda for the world. Jesus said, "I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it." The church is indestructable and will exist for eternity. It will outlive this universe, and so will your role in it."
- Rick Warren
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
A few years ago, I was musing on what an alien scientist studying our race would think of us. In particular, I wondered what said scientist might think about our worship, and by "worship" I mean what and/or who our gods are. At the time, my guess was that the alien would identify as our gods the celebrities and sports teams that we pack the stadiums for, paint our faces for, and (sometimes) debase ourselves for.
Lately I've been thinking that an alien observer visiting today might have a different opinion. I think they would point to our smartphones as the guiding lights of our lives. There are people (maybe you and me) who spend every spare moment intently focusing on that glowing little altar. We use our smartphones for guidance, tell our smartphones what's going on in our lives, beseech them for help, complain to them, confess our sins to them, tell our deep secrets and deeply felt needs to those little devices (which then broadcast them to the world). They know everything about us and, indeed, with modern search engines, about nearly everything.
I want to emphasize that this post isn't meant to coax guilt out of you where none should be. These are my observations, colored by my own personal struggles in this area. But I think there is a new, and fundamentally unhealthy condition that is vexing some, maybe many, in the human family, at least here in the affluent West. This condition is Meta-Life, and, for some of us, it can limit our ability to experience real, normal, Regular-Life.
Meta-life manifests itself in this way: when one is going through one's day, enjoying enjoyments, thinking one's thoughts, attending to the duties and obediences that are called for, dealing with hurts and struggles, perhaps worshiping the Lord, serving others, spending time with loved ones, etc, Meta-Life makes sure that the biggest draw on our attention is not the aforementioned enjoyments, thoughts, duties, struggles, worship, service, or loved ones. Instead, the desire that our attentions orbit around is the overwhelming urge to broadcast our status to the world.
Meta-Life calls out:
"Serving at the food bank."
"Hanging with the fam! #godisgood"
"Worship was great today!"
"At the concert! #ladygagaftw"
"Locked my keys in my car. #epicfail"
And on and on. It's easy to begin living in Meta-Life, to the detriment of our engagement in Real-Life
I recently decided to give Twitter another shot. The first time I looked at it, a year or two ago, it made no sense to me. Why on earth would anyone need to know or even care what I'm doing or thinking? (I know, I know, I'm blogging right now about what I'm thinking. I don't claim to be consistent!). But I decided to give it a go, and now I understand it better. That Twitter feed is intoxicating. I found myself checking it multiple times a day, in spare moments, down times, and even times when I was supposed to be doing something else. I even tweeted a bit. I would think about what I might tweet, even in the midst of the experience. Last Wednesday night, after a great prayer time at church, I tweeted about the great prayer time at church. Confession: during the prayer time, I was thinking about tweeting about it. #justshootme.
I got caught up in the Meta-Life. This morning, it hit me: what a colossal waste of time all this is. It's time I should be spending doing other things: spending time with the Lord. Thinking about my job and how to be a better leader there. Praying for my children. Blessing my wife. Planning for the Bible studies I'm teaching this weekend.
I'm backing away from the ledge.
This post may mean nothing to you. You may be someone who can live comfortably and productively in the Facebook newsfeed and the Twitter stream, and, because of the gifts you've been given, your presence there may even be helpful to others. I, on the other hand, am having to re-evaluate. I've been in the blogosphere for seven and a half years, and have often debated internally as to the value I was giving and receiving there. I've been on Facebook for several years, and, though the evidence for its use for God and for good in my life was even weaker than blogging, I remained there, passively watching the lives of good friends, acquaintances, and (to be honest) near-strangers drift by in a million pictures, statuses, comments and notes. And I've delved deeper into this world with my recent foray into Twitter. For me, it's all vanity and chasing after the wind. It's there to fill a hunger for meaning and community that is meant to be filled in other ways. It feeds a desire to live a safe Meta-Life of my own fabrication rather than a real life with its own real joys, sadnesses, dangers, defeats and victories. Meta-Life is not content with 1,000 "friends". Real life can thrive in a community of two.
This post may mean nothing to you, and it may even offend you. If either of these is the case, it's likely that you aren't wired the way I am and that the social media are a benefit to you, and if that's the case I'm happy for you.
For my part, I'm going to make some changes. I'm not sure exactly what they are yet (although I'm pretty sure that, for the time being at least, I've twitted my last tweet).
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Comments on "Life vs. Meta-Life":
4. jez
- 11/17/2010 4:05 am CST
In a way it's a good discipline to distil announcements to 250 characters, or whatever the limit is.
In another way it's an Orwellian restriction on language, and therefore thought.
I don't have a twitter account so I don't know about how distracting and time consuming it is. I'd imagine that proper blogging takes more time, both planning and typing, but it's maybe more rewarding?
6. Brandi
- 11/17/2010 10:07 am CST
Great post, Bill. Very true and well-said.
I love this line:
Meta-Life is not content with 1,000 "friends". Real life can thrive in a community of two.
On a humorous note, when facebook first came out and our Daniel (our son) saw the word, he asked, "What's fake book?" ;-)
7. Shrode
- 11/17/2010 12:31 pm CST
hmmmmm.
Good stuff.
Hey Bill,
I love to hear you think. I'm glad I read this.
Of course, the fact that it's good is a minor chink in your argument. Self-refuting? No. But as far as written communication benefits others, I'm for it.
You do a good job of showing the perils of our modern "social media". One must wonder how social it really is.
That said, this blog has benefited me in so many ways, I couldn't possibly list them all.
Maybe you just need to stay away from twitter. I admit I jumped on the twitter wagon for a little while, but I dropped off a few months ago, and I just haven't had the strength to get back on.
I want to challenge you as you contemplate this, to think about communication. Is communication, in and of itself, good or bad? How can it be used in good ways? Especially written communication. I'm so glad for letters - Paul, and C.S. Lewis were letter writers, and I'm really glad. A written record of communication is so valuable.
In what ways are blogs, emails, microblogs, facebook updates and messages etc... like handwritten letters of old? And in what ways are they different?
I think the answer to those two questions will help you in your quest to figure all this out. :-)
8. Shrode
- 11/17/2010 12:35 pm CST
Oh, I forgot to mention journals and diaries. Same question. Society and individuals have benefitted from handwritten journals and diaries.
In what way are all these electronic ways of recording what we are doing and thinking like and unlike the journals and diaries of old?
I seriously do challenge you to spend some time pondering that.
I'm hoping that once you do, I can just learn from your conclusions, then I won't have to think too hard about it. :-)
Again, I really liked your post. The difference between life and "meta-life" is a fascinating concept and I plan to chew on what you have written here for a while, which is why I don't have much more of substance to say yet. :-)
Good post!
9. Andrew
- 11/17/2010 1:14 pm CST
Jumping onto Shrode's comment, it will be really interesting to see how biographies and elections look in the next twenty or thirty years. Imagine writing a biography about a famous author and having thousands and thousands of posts to go through from the blog the author had as a teenager, or stumbling on that person's facebook. It will probably serve more to confuse than anything, but I think biographers will have a much wider range of information to go off in the future. I admit, it's somewhat exciting, especially as someone going into scholarship for a living.
10. Riley
- 11/17/2010 2:54 pm CST
IMHO, as with most things, it's finding the personally-defined place of freedom in Christ and God-glorifying action that puts you in the place of most effectiveness for God's glory, loving Jesus, and proclaiming the Gospel.
Am I at that point of most effectiveness? No.
Social media can puff up and conceive pride. But so can being anti-social-media. The ultimate goal is to glorify God, and I do believe many people can do this in the meta-life. But glorifying God in the meta-life is only possible if your meta-life is centered around Jesus and God's glory. If it's not, it's self-worship and self-idolization. I think it's perfectly possible for someone to glorify God through a tweet, or a blog, or a Facebook page. But the second it becomes about declaring the glory of me, then it's a problem.
Regarding your comment about meta-life, I don't think meta-life is an evil (and I don't think you were saying it is an evil). I tweet a good amount, yes. I don't have many 'followers', because my tweets post to my FB (although I bet most of my FB friends have hidden my posts since they are often frequent!). I don't really understand the whole Twitter conversation thing, or its practicality, in fact that random crazy-linked conversation I had with you and others on Twitter was the first real Twitter 'conversation' I've had with anyone. That being said, I do spend too much time watching the Twitter feed; seeing whats new in the blogosphere, reading tech blogs that will ultimately have no effect on my effectiveness for Christ, etc. I waste a lot of time online. And in that sense, I find your article very convicting.
That being said, I think there is a possibility for your real life and your meta-life to both be genuine and reflect the same heart and the same mind. I have a close group of friends that are in my missional community here, and I converse with them and hang out with them and 'live life' with them on a regular basis. Real, ugly, bare, life. That has been convicting to me because I was used to living meta-life inside of my closer relationships. So God has used that to break down some of my pride and self-righteousness. But I think there is a way for my meta-life (i.e. my social media life) to be real as well. That doesn't mean every time I sin I tweet about it, but that means maybe.. I tweet and post with the goal not to better myself or my image but to make connections with others that will ultimately glorify God (a convicting challenge for me).
I think the apostle Paul had a meta-life of sorts. In the epistles, which certainly (ultimately) weren't intended by God to be one-on-one letters to individuals or even churches, but as spiritual bread for ALL Christians, Paul constantly calls himself out on his own faults and his own shortcomings, and points to God's glory and the Gospel. He doesn't write with airs, he writes with humility. He doesn't right with self-righteousness, he writes with Christ-imputed-righteousness. He writes to the glory of God. And these were very "meta" writings. Although the analogy is a bit of a stretch, I think it's good to take some pointers from there. It's possible to have 'followers' or 'readers' or 'viewers' who see or hear your material. But the more that material points to the one true God, the more you are a channel for God's glory to be made known and his kingdom to be advanced and less of a channel for people to worship you instead of Jesus.
I'm a failure at all of this. But by His grace, God can and still does use me, and I think he can use all believers for his glory in the meta and in the intimate. Both need to be real, and both need to be centered on God's glory.
Sorry for the length...
11. Jared
- 11/17/2010 7:08 pm CST
As with all things permissible but not always profitable, being convinced in one's conscience is vital. I commend you, Bill, for knowing yourself well enough to obey the conviction about this stuff.
We should all heed Paul's warning to Timothy to "keep a close watch on yourself."
12. shaun
- 11/17/2010 7:25 pm CST
This comment may mean nothing to you, and it may even offend you.
Before the internet, there were just as many people talking to themselves loudly so that others could hear. We've been spoiled for too long by a publishing culture based, at least partially, on merit, and now there's nothing to filter the online conversation. On my worst days, I agree with Alex Portnoy who would have said this about Twitter if he were around today: "It isn’t their fault they were given a gift like speech — look, if cows could talk, they would say things just as idiotic."
I liked this post a bunch, but I must take issue with one point--I bet alien anthropologists have smartphones too.
13. shaun
- 11/17/2010 7:30 pm CST
This comment may mean nothing to you, and it may even offend you.
Before the internet, there were just as many people talking to themselves loudly so that others could hear. We've been spoiled for too long by a publishing culture based, at least partially, on merit, and now there's nothing to filter the online conversation. On my worst days, I agree with Alex Portnoy who would have said this about Twitter if he were around today: "It isn’t their fault they were given a gift like speech — look, if cows could talk, they would say things just as idiotic."
I liked this post a bunch, but I must take issue with one point--I bet alien anthropologists have smartphones too.
15. Evan
- 11/17/2010 9:11 pm CST
I don't say that any communication device by itself is the problem, but I believe what it is doing to a fairly large number of people clearly is:
Witness this article released today about what USC students did when Bill Nye passed out during a speech. And note the even worse bystander response to a recent murder in New Orleans noted later in the article:
There are benefits to documenting news and events; but I think we have went way overboard as a society. Documenting and communicating about our lives has in many instances replaced living our lives.
Or as C.S. Lewis pointed out along a similar line in Surprised by Joy, "..to attend to your own love or fear is to cease attending to the loved or dreaded object. In other words, the enjoyment and the contemplation of our inner activities are incompatible."
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