I just wanted to make a couple comments about Matt Payne’s message in church today. You can find it on podcast by tomorrow on the website of Church!@bethany if you want to hear it.
He started the message this morning with a story that blew me a way. A few years ago a man was found dead in his home. That is not all that unusual, except the man was found holding a newspaper from four years prior. He died in his home and no one missed him or realized he was dead for over four years. How does that happen?
The main point of the day was about disciples of Christ doing life together. What stood out to me the most was the reality of how busy we all get and how little time we spend really building relationships with people. Think about your typical week for a moment.
- Do you just stop by and see a friend?
- Do you go visit someone in the hospital?
- Do you invite anyone over for dinner?
- Does your family have any meals together?
- Do you have close friends that you see every week that you can share your heart with?
I can honestly say yes to a couple of these but for the most part I get pretty wrapped up in myself and my endeavors and don’t really take time to be in community.
Besides being on Facebook or Twitter, what can you do to really connect with someone this week? How about just starting by going to your neighbors house to say hi?
good word, Brian. thanks for sharing. i definitely feel conviction about my lack of daily interaction with people from my day to day life. the line gets so blurred the closer i become to those from my virtual life (ie. your wife and lifegroup online).
I whole-heartedly agree! Even a FB or twitter message is better than nothing though.
I thought I’d commented here before…must be dreaming…
Like you, a couple of these I can say ‘yes’ to. Like Crystal, the line can easily get blurred…especially when your IRL friends start twittering because of the experience you’ve had with it…
Still, while we appear to be online a lot (and I am online at work), we still spend a huge amount of time with our IRL community…and just need to make sure we keep it all in balance.
That’s the really tough bit I’m finding.