Chapter 11 is covered by Adam Shields as part of our Group Blogging Project discussing the book Flickering Pixels by Shane Hipps. If you need a quick overview to what Flickering Pixels is about, please go here.
In my previous post for chapter 2 , I said that I had a bad taste in my mouth because of previous videos that I had seen with Shane Hipps; turns out that the previous videos were all based on this chapter. Luckily, this chapter has more detail than the videos. I decided that I couldn’t really respond to this chapter adequately in one post so I am dividing my response into two posts. This post is about the danger of virtual communities to Christians. A second one about outreach to non-Christians is on my personal blog.
The summary of the chapter is that Hipps believes that “virtual communities” are far more virtual than communities. They present a real danger both to the individual and the community because they inoculate people against the very concept of biblical community. He discusses it using the illustration of cotton candy, all fluff with virtually no real content, and what content there is, is basically just sugar. In some ways I really agree with this. Virtual community is of necessity a shadow of biblical community. This has to be true, because virtual community includes only some of the senses, it often does not have the deep context of biblical community and it allow people to hide in ways that biblical community does not.
My response is that most community that happens in real life is also not biblical community. It is completely possible for people to hide their real selves in real life community as well as virtual community. (We all know of pastors that were having affairs, while putting on a good show to the community.) So while we as Christians should strive toward biblical community, we should be doing that in both Real Life and Virtual communities.
In the world we live in, many people have lost access to real life community for both good and bad reasons. I am a stay at home nanny. I also work out of my house part-time as a consultant for non-profit organizations. Almost all of my contact with adults during the day occurs either through phone or internet. I have made a choice that my ability to stay home with my two nieces is more important than being present in person at a job. Technology has allowed that to happen. I know that there are times when a real life conversation would be better than a phone or internet one, but because of distance, time, or other reasons I have to chose the lesser of the options (because I have made a prior choice that I find more important.)
There are also bad reasons that people prefer virtual community, they want to hide, they are painfully shy and don’t want to put forth the effort to push their boundaries. The reality is that most choices are a combination of both good and bad reasons. So what should we do? My vote is that we should continue in virtual communities, but make every effort to turn those virtual friends into real life friends whenever possible. My wife keeps my accountable on this point because she refers to my twitter and blog friends as “fake friends” until I have met them at least once in person. One meeting is not enough to build real community, but it is a start.
This past January my father-in-law passed away. My wife found much solace in her virtual community. Many of her real life friends were able to reach out virtually in ways they could not in real life. For some of them, there was physical distance. For others their own loss of a parent made it difficult to actually talk to my wife in person, but they were able offer up prayers, short notes and comfort virtually in ways that they literally could not in person. There was also a third set of people, ones that were primarily virtual friends that made the effort to be present in person. We had a friend drive four hours from Nashville just to be with us. Other friends that hadn’t been seen in years and were for all practical purposes were only virtual friends even if they were physically close, made the effort to come and see her in person.
The reality of life is that it is complicated. Technology is not going away. We will continue to have ever present cell phones, twitter, facebook and real life communities. What we need to be striving for is a biblical community, whether it be in real life or virtual (or for most relationships a combination)
[Image from Therefore]
Phillip Gibb says
I agree that the virtual community can be detrimental, but only in isolation. As an extension it can be very effective in reaching beyond the closer and more 'physical' community. It can certainly be a crutch and it can most certainly be a place where you can better express yourself. But one thing is for sure and that is that it can hammered down the walls of distance and culture – and made the world a way smaller place.
SCBubba says
Good stuff, Adam. I like how you point out that it is just as easy to hide in (or from) biblical community in real life as it is in virtual life.
I am a part of several communities of both types. I tend to drift between them pretty easily and there are several people that are in more tan one of the communities I belong to. I really enjoy the conversations and sharing that goes on both online and in person. I really enjoy when a virtual connection becomes a "real friend" as you put it because we met in person.
I only see danger in virtual communities in so much as there is danger in anything that can draw us away from the 2 greatest commandments. I've been in both types of communities that were drawing me away from God and both types that helped me draw closer. In all cases, it has more to do with me than it did with the technology involved.
Going to read "part 2" on your blog now…
Josh Wagner says
I like how Hipps has stated before that we can't emphasize one thing over the other, then says that we should emphasize one thing over another. Now, okay, I'm oversimplifying to make a point, but we should try to maintain balance in everything. As said above, virtual communities are great additions to real ones, but they can't replace them. Nor, in this day and age, can we totally reject virtual communities.
Good post.
Adam_S says
I think that is one of my frustrations at this point in the book. At this point in time, virtual communities are a part of the world we live in. I assume that Hipps will address that at some point.
Jim says
I spoke last week on exegetically-guided technology using Acts and Thessalonians as a basis. I think that we need to use the same biblical principles that apply to everyday life to developing online community. The technology and strategy should not drive our biblical mindset. There is an inherent danger when we make Scripture say what we need it to to back up our strategy. Live by Scripture and let God work out the details.
dewde says
I'm going to repost some of my comment from last chapter because it so applies here as well…
I ran a website dedicated to helping teens that struggled with porn addiction for a few years. It was basically a tribe of mostly Christian teens that felt confined to their own minds. They had youth group and bible studies and high school cliques and youth pastors and mentors and well meaning parents… but what they didn't have was a safe group of peers, or adults, where they felt they could say, "I'm not perfect and I struggle with pornography."
We cried together. We prayed together. We held each other up and encouraged each other. We celebrated each others victories and grieved each others defeats.
In the span of 3 years we intervened in several suicide threats, a few sexual molestation accusations, parents who didn't care and parents who over-reacted. We had cutters and liars and homosexuals and heterosexuals and chronic "self gratifiers". We had teens that made Craigslist dates. You name it, we saw it.
For most of us, we never saw each others faces. We were just digital words on a screen. We loved each other in a pure, clean sense of the word, and we love each other still even though I turned the community over to the next group of leaders.
Online relationships can be more real and authentic than real life ones because when you open yourself up and be completely honest and transparent to a group of strangers for the first time… you have nothing to lose. We can be our real, honest selves almost immediately without the fear of losing the love or respect of a Mom or a Dad or a friend forever.
Part of the problem with the online world is that you are free to be anonymous and you find yourself doing things you would never do in front of other people. But part of the beauty of the online world is the same exact thing. It can be a liberating place to find a rag-tag band of lost souls just like you where you can finally be free to say, "I hurt" and know that the person on the other side of the screen will not judge you because they have made the same mistakes and have felt the exact same pain.
peace|dewde
Susan_Stewart says
Hmmmm … I just notice my comment didn't show up.
This chapter gave me pause to ponder. Am I neglecting face-to-face relationships? I can't answer that right now — requires more meditating.
I do believe that Christians tend to not use some methods because of the evil that makes the headlines. Frances Schaffer talked about Christians giving over politics, entertainment, and law to the secular world by not taking part. I think he would say the same thing about the Internet. It's that dance between being in the world, but not of the world.
We can reach some people who would never cast a shadow on church door. But, like anything, we can only present to them when we are willing to invest in each person. We're back the key – realtionships.
Hey, dewde. Great stuff you were doing on your website. You're so right some teens need a safe place to be honest with themselves and others.
Back to pondering my own question.