Part 4: The Big "I" World

We looked at the i-World and how it has become ubiquitous. We considered how the focus on information can cause us to miss the life and joy around us. Digital information access is a lot like a cultural phone booth, where individuals can "call" anywhere and get info, but where other actual people are kept out.

That little “i” in iPhone has turned into the Big “I” with which Christ-followers are so familiar -- after all, the failures of man in every age are there for all to see.

This current culture shift offers a great opportunity to tell our digitally hooked friends about the other great illusions that have separated us from the reality of our need for authentic human connection and spiritual depth that can only come from a relationship to God through faith in Jesus, the Messiah.

Consider the lady at the grocery store whose kid was getting ready to jump out of the cart while mom texted -- oblivious in the digital world to the real world of crashing kid. Ever nearly caused a pile-up because you were I-ing while driving? Big I.

Or the youngster trying to see his homework on a screen the size of a deck of cards – he was about 3 inches from the screen. When asked why, he said, "I have to do it. All the kids do it." Creeping up on Big I, this kiddo might do anything online that his friends do...juice bar with porn on the side (Portland, OR)?

Or the girls who go into deep depression at the relative number of friends they have on facebook compared to the most popular ones in their class. Big I. In our day it was the prom date ranking -- today, maximum friends one never actually sees in person.

Or the woman, in love with her iPhone, has her iPhone stolen in Paris, finding that her entire life has been stolen in the process. Sadly, the Big I, believing that her i-world is impervious to disaster. In our day it was the buddy who told all your secrets, or the friend who read your diary. We know the Big I.

The Unintended Consequence of the iWorld

Today, i-technology has changed the world and has made communication instantaneous and ubiuquitous. But it also has focused many individual users internally focused and tunneled, locked into a tiny reality, thinking in little bits.

There is no balance in that kind of thinking. There is no influence from experience. There is no synthesis of external plus internal information; no assimilation of multiple, simultaneous sources of information. Just a small, tight focus on oneself. I think we used to send people to counselors for that problem…

We who have lived through our version of the Big I and found it wanting can help prevent the logical outcome of this culture shift - Myopic Self-Worship -- the same old besetting sin in a new, pernicious form. Satan has only a few cards to play, but, man, can he find interesting, sneaky ways to play them.

What to Do? Engage!

Let’s make a pact to step back into the reality of the messy world we live in, not the manufactured digital world which, of necessity, has been packaged, and managed, and delivered to us by someone else and may be a lie.

Let’s think of OUR God, OUR world, OUR opportunities to serve, OUR neighborhoods, OUR families, OUR issues and problems to solve and let the “I” go for a little while in favor of real community.

The i-technology may be producing a generation of “I”-hogs – only interested in others if there’s something in it for “I.” Only finding things relevant if they relate directly to “I,” Only worth sacrifice if it benefits “I.”

Let's enter our culture as weary warriors of our own years of Big I struggle, and help revitalize face-to-face discourse and discussion of meaning and life.

Let’s get together and talk about ideas again – create community in your home or neighborhood – a group that gets together and talks and studies face-to-face about what the Bible is and says, heroes of the Bible and heroes of America, real American history not regurgitated pseudo-history, or how our government works, or what's going on that you can positively affect in your kids’ school, or your church, or even to pray for God's blessing on your families.

There is a spiritual reality in every person's life. That reality can be pushed down and disguised by the noise of everyday living. Give up some texting and online time. Turn off your phone and put it in your pocket. Take a good look at your girlfriend, wife, boyfriend, husband, children, or best buddy if he or she is still there!

In all this work you do, and in all this struggle, consider Jesus who can make all the difference in our understanding of the world.

If you're going to be online today, Why not start your day online with the Bible (http://bible.org/) -- it's out there in cyberspace waiting for you. Don't know anything about Jesus? Go to http://www.jesus.org and there you will find a varied, interesting, and Biblically accurate view and answers to many, many questions that people have about Christ, Christianity, and God in general. Use the access to find the Truth.

Read "More than a Carpenter," or Charles Swindoll's biography "Jesus". They are good overviews of Jesus. Spend time imparting Truth to your children from the Bible. Chances are they will not receive it from any other source. Parents are the primary teachers of spiritual and ethical values. It's not too late to start! Go to the Book of Proverbs and get some advice.

Teach your children to turn the digital world off and spend some time looking at what God has made. Walk with them. Go camping (I know, but just go. You will change and so will they.). You can start at a state park where they rent cabins... Oh, go on and get a bike.

Deal with the Big I

A tight focus on ourselves causes loss of perspective, loss of awareness, loss of historical connection, and disconnection from the context into which our bits of information fit. Those consequences are very, very real.

I-solation causes people to forget why we have rules of law, or families with moms and dads, or allies, or national interest in a republic vs any other form of government. They forget to learn any history. They expect results without effort.

There is a generation of God's offspring blindly becoming totally self-absorbed, spiritually bereft, ill-equipped people with few historical, moral, or geographic moorings. They will not know until it is over what they have lost.

Can Christians stand by and let this happen?

Get engaged. Share the gospel with every person you can. Use the AWANA gospel app to reach people in the iWorld. Take EvanTell's evangelism training at www.act111.org and hit the bricks!

The Lord works in every part of history and He is working here now -- every member of the Body of Christ can help re-engage someone who is drifting into "I"-solation.

Beware the idol of "I" whose priest is in your hand.