What if we spend more time to know than to be known? This is something that I’ve wrestled with in my mind, but have had a hard time articulating. We have so many outlets in which others can hear our words, see our status updates, twitter with us, and feel and process thru our angst. From blogs to twitter to YouTube to facebook—there are many opportunities to be heard and known. But what can all this lead too? I think there is an allure to build our own kingdom, create our own groupies, and strive entirely too hard to be known. I’m not sure this is a new issue, but with the technology that is now readily available to anybody, it’s becoming drastically obvious. One of my co-workers, Lee Coate did a blog post on the Christian Celebrity Syndrome and I think there is something to that on why we do what we do with technology and networking. I’m not anti-technology by no means, but with all things there should be appropriate balance and a motive check regularly. I’m not sure any of us would jump up and admit that we’ve got some weird agenda with what we’re doing, but I think it lies deep within most of us.
The sole reason why I’m writing this is because I just put my daughter down for a nap and my son is sleeping as well. For the first time all day I’ve got some peace and quiet. My initial reaction was to open up facebook and see what’s going on and if someone has commented on my status or some of my pictures. And in that moment I realized—I’m always struggling to get some time alone with God. I’m always griping about my schedule or the pressures of ministry that make things difficult for me to connect with Christ. But here I am logging in on facebook—when I’d be much better off to sit on the couch and know God a little better than I did yesterday. Not to know God so I write a real engaging blog piece, but to know God because He is God and for a very strange reason He freaking loves me to pieces. I think we’d all be better to know Him than for others to come to know us.
Bottom Line: Spend more time knowing Him than having yourself be known.
Jeff
The sole reason why I’m writing this is because I just put my daughter down for a nap and my son is sleeping as well. For the first time all day I’ve got some peace and quiet. My initial reaction was to open up facebook and see what’s going on and if someone has commented on my status or some of my pictures. And in that moment I realized—I’m always struggling to get some time alone with God. I’m always griping about my schedule or the pressures of ministry that make things difficult for me to connect with Christ. But here I am logging in on facebook—when I’d be much better off to sit on the couch and know God a little better than I did yesterday. Not to know God so I write a real engaging blog piece, but to know God because He is God and for a very strange reason He freaking loves me to pieces. I think we’d all be better to know Him than for others to come to know us.
Bottom Line: Spend more time knowing Him than having yourself be known.
Jeff
