Our Electronic Fellowship

Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor.  For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.  But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.  Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how cann one be warm alone?  Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.  And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12 NKJV

There is a popular joke about the social habits of our youngest generation.  The joke revolves around two friends sitting side by side on a couch having a conversation.  However, in this conversation no words are uttered, for the only communication between the two is via text messages!  Now, those of us with teenagers may be able to vouch for the truth of this joke.  I'm here to say that I have seen it with my own eyes!  Where and when did elctronic messages take priority over face to face conversation?  Along the way we seem to have lost some of our ability to communicate with others.  This is especially apparent in our younger generation who, sady, most of their communication skills that they have developed have been through a keyboard.  In my interactions with young people, I've noticed almost a slight anti social behavior developing.  To me, they seem almost overly shy and unable to communicate well with others.  However, put them in front of a keyboard and they suddenly become quite the social butterfly!  It seems that our advances in technology have come with a heavy price.  Not only has this affected the very way we communicate with one another, but the very way we worship and fellowship as well.  At the same time our local churches are despairing over a lack of attendance, there has also been a increased effort by these congregations to gear many of their worship services and classes into digital formats.  Did you happen to miss the service on Sunday?  No worries, pastor pulpit pounders message is available in audio format on the church website, along with your Sunday morning bible study.  Did I mention that churches were lamenting poor attendance in recent years?

Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, annd sold their possesions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.  So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.  And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Acts 2: 44-47 NKJV

It's no secret that one of the key activities of any church body is that of the fellowship of its members.  For it is here where one finds the support, prayer and friendships which our Lord has called on us to bestow on others.  It is also here, unfortunately, where we have seen a decline in the past few years.  How can there be fellowship without people around?  Now, that is not saying that people will still not fellowship outside of church hours, but this is usually not the case.  The traditional view of fellowship is that of believers coming together at church on a Sunday morning.  Now, a family may wake up on a Sunday morning, drop into their local Starbucks and then on to other weekend activities.  And why not?  The sermon they missed out on will be posted on the church website anyway.  If they are indeed close to other families within their congregation, then they will simply text them later to see what they missed.  Sadly, in larger congregations, the first inclination of declining attendance will be noticed in smaller than usual offering collections.  One of my very favorite scriptures of church fellowship is found in Acts 2.  Here, the physician Luke tells of a gathering which can only be described as "The perfect church."  Want to know how to do church?  Your example is found in Acts 2.  However, this gathering was less about church and more about a community of believers.  Building and developing such a community of believers can be a long process.  For many, it's easier to just listen to a sermon on MP3.
So, how did we arrive at such a point in our church history?  Well, I blame both technology and ourselves for where we've arrived today.  Yes, technology makes communicating with our friends and neighbors that much easier, but it comes with a price.  Along with this convenience we've sacraficed that personal interaction and fellowship with others which we once enjoyed.  Is our community of believers destined to become simply a contact list?

~Scott~