Being Connected

When I was growing up, somebody sang a song proclaiming that it was the “dawning of the age of Aquarius,” whatever that meant. These days, we talk more about it being the “age of connectivity.” By that, I mean that we live in what is called the most connected time in history. With the web, scores of social media platforms, computers, tablets, smartphones, and even gaming systems prevalent and expanding around the globe, we are “connected” to everybody and everything like never before in human history. In a moment, we can have a video call with someone 12 time zones away. In two clicks, we can access information that we could have never even known existed back “in the age of Aquarius” when I was growing up. We can play games with people in other countries, read message boards, participate in chat threads, etc. We are connected to each other and to the entire world like never before.

connected to what

Studies seem to indicate that we are also living in the most lonely, depressed, anxious, disconnected time of human history. Our interpersonal skills are deteriorating, our relationships are disintegrating, and our ability to cope with life in general is waning. In many ways, we are far less connected to other people in significant, meaningful, life-giving ways than we have ever been. It is almost as if our ability to connect technologically has been the means through which we have isolated ourselves from meaningful connections with others. We have moved from in-person conversations to email, text messages, DMs, postings, and likes, to communication by emoji. Many people are desperately lacking significant connections with others.

This has made me wonder about how this phenomenon may have applications in our spiritual lives. I wonder if this same thing happens in our relationship with God. We have all types of tools to help us grow in our relationship with Christ. These are great things. We have Bible apps of various types, print and online Bible study tools like concordances and Bible dictionaries, as well as commentaries, podcasts, online sermons, YouTube videos, etc. All of these things are really great. They are designed to help us grow and learn, and they will do that if we use them well. I sometimes wonder if they could possibly make it more difficult for us to hear the voice of God speaking to us. It is very easy to depend on what God has said to someone else and just go with that.

true connection

We should avail ourselves of great preachers and teachers of the Word, and Bible commentaries are valuable tools for us. We can learn much from others who have heard from God. We don’t, however, need to become overly dependent on what God has said to others, to the extent that we don’t even stop to listen to what God may be saying to us. While taking advantage of all the ways in which we can grow and learn from others within the Body through all the technology available to us, let’s not let our “connectivity” keep us from personally connecting with the “Creator of the ends of the earth.”

Let’s make sure we spend time in silence and solitude with God alone. Let’s open the holy Word of God with nothing beside it and read, study, and meditate on what God says. Let’s discover what God will speak into our hearts and minds through His Word. Let’s learn to listen deeply for and to His voice, to the exclusion of all other voices. Let’s be connected to all the good “out there,” but let’s make sure that we are, first and foremost, connected personally to Jesus.