Connecting to Others
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:19-25)
Christians used to meet together daily in homes. Then as ages passed and technology increased, Christians became involved in the daily chores of life, or the intense actions of education and training, or the excesses of recreational time, to the point that they were not longer able to spare the time to gather together weekly, much less daily.
Yet we are in an age when connecting to others is more possible than ever before. In less than a decade technology has made it possible for us to find our ancestors (ancestry.com), reconnect with old classmates (classmates.com), find lost family and friends (spokeo.com, anywho.com, whitepages.com), and connect with our family and friends regardless of the distance (myspace.com, facebook.com, linkedin.com, plaxo.com, skype.com). We even have very inexpensive or even free ways to share our thoughts (blogspot.com), photos (flickr.com), videos (youtube.com), letters (email) and even files (yousendit.com).
The cost to connect with these people has actually been one of the things to go down in price based on the rate of inflation. Remember the days when a long distance call started at around $3 for a 3-minute call? Phones were leased because the cost to buy one was considered too expensive. But long distance is now something that is included for free on most cell phones and many home phone services. And Skype calls are free to anywhere around the world for computer-to-computer calls. And letters and files can be sent electronically for free. You don’t even need to own a computer anymore as most public libraries offer free computer and Internet use.
So with such a vast array of means for connecting to people, why have many people chosen to become more disconnected from others? Why do we prevent others from seeing inside our hearts? Why do we no longer share our fears, our hopes, and our dreams with others? Why do we hide behind the very technology that has allowed us the greatest opportunity to reach into the uttermost parts of the world?
We, the church, the children of God, have been given the privilege to be able to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus for we have become the Temple of God. We have been priests and God is our High Priest. We have continual connection to Him through the love relationship that He restored through His death on the cross and the Supreme Authority claimed through His resurrection. We can draw near to Him with sincere hearts and guiltless conscience because of His blood that has washed away our sins. If we can stand before God in this fashion, why are we afraid to stand before others the same?
We need to take on the role of encouraging our fellow Christians into service of love and good deeds. And we must stay connected to each other daily…because we can. There is a reason that we were commanded to “go into all the world”. The world will not come to us. We must go to them. And even when those in the world accept Christ, they are still in need of people to go to them. Christians should use technology to reach into the lives of others: to encourage, challenge and help keep accountable fellow Christians; to share with others your heart; to grow in your understanding of those around you; and to witness to a lost world. And this needs to be done “all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Christians used to meet together daily in homes. Then as ages passed and technology increased, Christians became involved in the daily chores of life, or the intense actions of education and training, or the excesses of recreational time, to the point that they were not longer able to spare the time to gather together weekly, much less daily.
Yet we are in an age when connecting to others is more possible than ever before. In less than a decade technology has made it possible for us to find our ancestors (ancestry.com), reconnect with old classmates (classmates.com), find lost family and friends (spokeo.com, anywho.com, whitepages.com), and connect with our family and friends regardless of the distance (myspace.com, facebook.com, linkedin.com, plaxo.com, skype.com). We even have very inexpensive or even free ways to share our thoughts (blogspot.com), photos (flickr.com), videos (youtube.com), letters (email) and even files (yousendit.com).
The cost to connect with these people has actually been one of the things to go down in price based on the rate of inflation. Remember the days when a long distance call started at around $3 for a 3-minute call? Phones were leased because the cost to buy one was considered too expensive. But long distance is now something that is included for free on most cell phones and many home phone services. And Skype calls are free to anywhere around the world for computer-to-computer calls. And letters and files can be sent electronically for free. You don’t even need to own a computer anymore as most public libraries offer free computer and Internet use.
So with such a vast array of means for connecting to people, why have many people chosen to become more disconnected from others? Why do we prevent others from seeing inside our hearts? Why do we no longer share our fears, our hopes, and our dreams with others? Why do we hide behind the very technology that has allowed us the greatest opportunity to reach into the uttermost parts of the world?
We, the church, the children of God, have been given the privilege to be able to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus for we have become the Temple of God. We have been priests and God is our High Priest. We have continual connection to Him through the love relationship that He restored through His death on the cross and the Supreme Authority claimed through His resurrection. We can draw near to Him with sincere hearts and guiltless conscience because of His blood that has washed away our sins. If we can stand before God in this fashion, why are we afraid to stand before others the same?
We need to take on the role of encouraging our fellow Christians into service of love and good deeds. And we must stay connected to each other daily…because we can. There is a reason that we were commanded to “go into all the world”. The world will not come to us. We must go to them. And even when those in the world accept Christ, they are still in need of people to go to them. Christians should use technology to reach into the lives of others: to encourage, challenge and help keep accountable fellow Christians; to share with others your heart; to grow in your understanding of those around you; and to witness to a lost world. And this needs to be done “all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
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