It makes me want to wretch.
I’m a fan of Twitter. I own a Facebook account. I sit typing this on a blog. I am forever greateful for the conversation I’ve had over the web and the friends I’ve been able to reconnect with over New Media. Several awesome ministry opportunities have come my way via FB that I otherwise wouldn’t have had. The list goes on; you get the idea…
Churches and individual believers need to utilize the New Media in creative ways to engage the culture.
But Twittering in Church? Heavens ta mergatroy–this is going to go down in Church history as one of the sillier reactions to culture. Our history is fraught with times when we have uncritically embraced a part of culture. In this instance, the pastors are well meaning, but their plans are ill-conceived.
Isn't God gr--SQUIRREL!
For one, the last thing I need when trying to listen to God is more chatter. That is exactly what Twitter specializes in: noisy banter. When I listen to a speaker, if a couple is flapping their jaws next to me, it is distracting. If 50 couples next to me are doing the same, the noise completely hinders my ability to hear the speaker. The principle is the same no matter if the chatter is happening in the digital world. This strikes me as mule-horse common-sense.
I know God is sovereign and can break through the thickest human wall, but that does not mean we should go about purposely erecting them. Jesus, when He was on earth, often retreated to silent places of solitude to focus on God. Seems like God prefers that way of getting to us.
Talk about the sermon afterwards, but during the sermon and worship service, shut up and ponder. Marinate. Chew. Listen.
A lot of the tweets are banal and utterly trivial.
“So glad they are doing Lenny Kravitz.”
“Nice shirt JVo.”
“Sometimes healing hurts.”
Are you kidding me? Even the non-trivial tweets (sometimes healing hurts) are incredibly vapid. If this is what passes as “experiencing God,” I’m outta here. Moreover, Twitter in church flattens worship; placing the banal thoughts next to deeper thoughts treats them all the same. It levels the playing field. Everything is an inch deep and mile wide. It’s similar to what has happened with the local news–a 1 min story on a heinous murder is followed by the latest 2 minute news on Paris Hilton, which is followed by a short blurb about the Mayor’s most recent prognostications on the economy, which is followed by a 3 minute information piece on how breathing can kill you. A 90 second piece on the day’s Brangelina sighting tops it all off. No effort to put the pieces in a hierarchy or order them in importance. In a world of rapid fire information, everything becomes the latest Brangelina sighting.
Reducing worshipful thought to 140 characters sucks the life out of it. I simply don’t need more bumper sticker Christianity. Putting slogans on cars is enough. Bringing them into the worship service goes way too far.
John Piper puts it right: there is a difference between communion with God and commenting on communion with God. He goes on:
Preaching and hearing preaching are worship. Preaching is expository exultation. The preacher is explaining the Bible and applying the Bible and EXULTING over the truth in the Bible. The listener is understanding, and applying, and joining in the exultation. Hearing preaching is heart-felt engagement in the exposition and exultation of the Word of God.
This is a fragile bond. The fact that an electric cord is easily cut, does not mean that the power flowing through it is small. It produces bright and wonderful effects. So it is with preaching. Great power flows through fragile wires of spiritual focus.
Perfume can break it. A ruffled collar can break it. A cough can break it. A whisper can break it. Clipping fingernails, chewing gum, a memory, a stomach growl, a sunbeam, and a hundred other things can break it. The power that flows through the wire of spiritual attention is strong, but the wire is weak.
(Citation on Piper: Boundless)
Piper really nails it when he comments,
…use Twitter before and after corporate worship to say what you take in and take out. But when you are in corporate worship, Worship! There is a difference between communion with God and commenting on communion with God.
Don’t tweet while having sex. Don’t tweet while praying with the dying. Don’t tweet when your wife is telling you about the kids. There’s a season for everything. Multitasking only makes sense when none of the tasks requires heart-engaged, loving attention.
“Rich, if you don’t like Twitter, don’t participate. That simple. Beg off.”
Ya ya, I get it: don’t rain on others’ parade. If they are aided by it, who cares, right? I take issue with the concept of this aiding anyone. Sure, an individual here or there might benefit, but the overall effect on the congregation as a whole is likely to be deleterious to worship. Usually, when you bring distractions into worship, distraction is what you get. Do we really need more opportunity to indulge our ADD-ness? As Motte Brown says,
Some of us have a wire that’s been weakened by years of cultivating a heart that loves distraction. So much so that the very weight of my iPhone in my pocket tempts me to check, to quickly peak at all those wonderfully colorful apps and all their potential.
The mindset you cultivate becomes you.
Heck, I even take issue with the very concept, not just the pragmatics and consequences of it.
There is something about this that soils the holy gathering of God’s people on Sunday. I don’t care if it’s “way cool.” Whatever happened to “let your words be few (Ecclesiastes 5:2)”?
HT: Boundless
