Can't we all just get along?
In case you haven't noticed, our world is getting a lot more critical and mean. By critical, we're not referring to important as in "critically important." No, we're referring to judgmental and sometimes downright brutal.
With the dawning of technological advances, we are now able to communicate in many different ways almost instantaneously. A couple hundred years ago, people waited weeks to receive letters from home bringing news of births or deaths. Many times news and information didn't reach recipients until the newborns were toddlers and caskets were long in their graves.
However, in the last 25 years or so, we are able to phone, email, Facebook or Instagram friends or enemies and either lavish praise or hurl criticism and judgments in seconds and get back responses, often in minutes.
Our lives have dramatically changed forever for good or evil because of social media. Now a flippant comment written in an email, on Twitter or Facebook post can be instantaneously transmitted not just to the person we are speaking to or texting, but it can be broadcast or Facebooked [is there such a word?] to the whole world.
Tragically, many have taken their lives after having been publicly shamed via social media. And in spite of all the efforts to "Stop Bullying," the tragic trend continues.
With the recent introduction of the Apple Watch, newspapers such as The New York Times and USA Today have plans in place to create technological "platforms" which will "publish" news and resources to Apple Watch owners so they can have the latest news, weather, and sports appear on that little square on their wrists instead of just telling time.
It's certain that social media sites are also developing programs or apps to use this same medium to spread not only news but also gossip, and critical "conversations" to many of these latest timepieces.
Not too long ago, there was a discussion about the increase of violence and the spread of terrorism around the world. The main question was: "Is violence and terrorism really on the rise or is it that we are just hearing more about it with all the news and social media coverage?"
While there was not total agreement on the answer, there was a feeling that both feed off each other and one drives the other. While we are told that crime rates across North America are actually going down, we seem to hear more and more reports of police violence against African Americans and reports of more suicides in places we never used to get much news from before such as Native reserves and reservations across Turtle Island. The question one could ask is: "Why can't we all just get along?"
This is basically the question Collin Hansen writes in his latest book Blind Spots: Becoming a Courageous, Compassionate, and Commissioned Church (Crossway). He writes that in every generation, this is basically the question people ask-both in religious and political circles. The answers, he writes are often the same as well: "We already tried to get along before you got here," and "All the things that divide us are nonnegotiable," is what others say.
Hansen offers this resolution. The people we have most trouble getting along with are most often the people we need the most. He suggests that we need to "learn from those who make us uncomfortable, because the ones who annoy us are likely the ones we need most."
He goes on by stating that "instead of trying to be well-rounded, we should settle for being well-surrounded. "If we can't embody all the strengths...we can at least associate with brothers and sisters who have what we lack (and lack what we have).
There are always basic beliefs and positions that we will hold to. We will not always agree on things politically, socially, or spiritually.
The Apostle Paul discusses this in his Letter to the Philippians. He writes: "It's true that some preach about Christ because they are jealous. But others preach about Christ to help me in my work.
The last group acts out of love. They know I have been put here to be a witness for the good news. But the others preach about Christ only to get ahead. They preach Christ for the wrong reasons. They think they can stir up trouble for me while I am being held by chains.
But what does it matter? Here is the important thing. Whether for right or wrong reasons, Christ is being preached about. That makes me very glad" (Philippians 1:15-18 NIV).
In this age when there is so much criticism and mean-spirited communication speeding from one social media outlet to another, let's try to remember that it's not about us. In all our communication, especially on social media, let's follow the biblical instruction "...in honor preferring one another..." (Romans 12:10). Remember, we're now communicating at the speed of light.
