7 “Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”
Genesis 2:7 (NASB)
Imagine if your athletic conference had a meeting, and they determined to make all your sports virtual instead of physical.
They decided virtual competition would cut down on cost. There would be no travel, no physical venues, no uniforms, no equipment and no injuries.
Instead of traveling to your opponent's field or gym, you would sit in your locker room and play against them on a screen. That would be crazy, right? But in a way, our lives are becoming like that.
Our lives are becoming more cyber-based and virtual. This is changing the way we relate to others, and it poses concerns since we are physical creatures made of dirt.
Imagine if Paul wrote a letter to the church in 2018 about our screen time, cell phone and social media use. Judging from his other letters, it would be blunt. It might go like this:
God did not make us virtual beings. He made us physical beings and placed us in a concrete world. So don’t give more attention to your cyber life than your concrete life.
You have been surrounding yourself more with social media “friends” than physical ones. You gain more information through Twitter and Facebook than through physical social interactions. You are more impacted by 24-hour news headlines and social media than by Jesus, the Scriptures and fellowship.
As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly beloved, use your screens in moderation for constructive purposes. Do not let them control you, instead control them.
Do not hear me wrong. We can love God and others and do kingdom things on our phones and computers. It’s not that all your time on your screen is a waste.
We can do “real” things on screens in the virtual realm. It’s just that we can become addicted to our screens without realizing it.
Your athletic conference is not going to make its sports virtual. God is not going to make your life virtual either.
As it is in sports, life is lived with the team, on the court or in the field, not staring at a screen.
Action: Print that fictional letter from Paul to the church on an actual piece of paper and tape it to your physical desk.
