Why is it that so many of us have bought into this technological revolution? We have to recognize the big “bluff” of the encompassing technological milieu—that we are misled by its bold (and often false) promises, which disguise the negative aspects of whatever is being endorsed. Do we see how the advertising world bluffs us into thinking that more technology or more implementation of the wired world’s possibilities is the only solution to world problems in economics and politics; to such church problems as the decline in worship attendance, the reduction of membership numbers, or the lack of interest in “church”; and to personal or family problems?

— Marva Dawn, Unfettered Hope

It’s easy to fault the leadership of these companies as caring more about money than human beings. However, a bigger part of the problem is a gadget obsessed culture who wants everything now and is willing to pay top dollar and go into debt. This puts tremendous pressure on gadget factories like Foxconn to meet demand. Employees are forced to sign affidavit’s requiring them to work 60-100 hours of overtime.

You can’t wait for your iPhone and I can’t wait for my Droid because we are convinced these products will make our lives better, more complete. Something has gone wrong when Christians, dare I say, churches themselves promote this mentality through consumer oriented worship “experiences” that reinforce our obsession with things that make us feel good.

So what are we to do? I don’t know for sure, because I don’t believe there is an easy answer. I do have a couple suggestions and maybe you can offer some in the comments below.

1. Take a second look at the worship in our churches. If you are in a position to make the call on how your church worships, I would strongly encourage you to educate yourself on the ways various worship experiences reinforce damaging consumeristic mentalities. A good place to start is by reading the works of a theologian and worship expert names Marva Dawn (A Royal Waste of Time, Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down, and Unfettered Hope).
2. Evaluate your own lust for “stuff” and don’t hesitate to make some necessary adjustments. If you can barely pay your rent, mortgage payment, or tuition bill every month, you probably should not be purchasing the high end gadgets.

And this brings me to the point of this article. The virtual preacher has become the defacto standard for church growth problems. Whenever a church gets too big, the assumption is that the church should go multi-site (as opposed to just planting a new church) with the pastors sermon piped in through a live video feed.

Every time I see a church adopt this methodology I get a little heavy hearted because we have no idea of the message we are sending when we do this. Shane Hipps, who wrote, “The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture” says this about multi-site churches with video venues:

I visited a church recently on the day that it was launching its multi-site service. The most striking feature of the sermon was that his message was directly contradicted by his medium—the video venue.  His message was excellent and told an important truth—ministry is supported by character, not talent. However, the medium of the video venue had a subliminal message of its own. The message of a video-venue sermon is that the authority to preach is derived from talent and celebrity, not character or communal affirmation. A televised event doesn’t communicate anything about a person’s character. It can only affirm or deny talent and attractiveness.

Character is known only through communal affirmation, which requires some personal knowledge of one another. This personal knowledge is impossible for satellite congregations who only see the pastor’s performance.

Not only did the medium itself undermine this particular preacher’s message, but the extensive financial outlay required to pull off a video-venue service also communicated to the congregation that only a preacher with a golden tongue has authority to preach the gospel. . . The medium itself nurtures an elite priestly class in which the preacher is set apart from the people.

Even if this attitude is explicitly denied by the preacher, the very medium reinforces the belief that only talented people with some degree of celebrity can or should preach.

Our intentions with our use of technology may be genuine but I feel we need to take seriously the underlying message that is being sent for that is more important. Multi-site churches may be a good solution, but we need to think twice about virtual preachers for the following reasons:

1. It costs a lot of money to provide a live video feed. Some churches resort to a sermon on video which is cheaper but does not avoid the bigger message that is being communicated.
2. The bigger message is, as Shane Hipps put it, “only a preacher with a golden tongue has the authority to preach the gospel.”
3. We also miss a tremendous opportunity to disciple other men to become better preachers and leaders.
4. It promotes the celebrity preacher.
5. The church community learns to appreciate different styles of preaching.

Ultimately we need to weigh the benefits (what we gain) against the negatives (what we lose). When it comes to choosing whether or not to use video feeds in multi-site churches, in my opinion, the negatives far outweigh the positives.

This is something we cannot ignore. This is why I personally believe every church needs to develop a theology of technology or at minimum develop a standard by which their community will live within a technological society.

As technology becomes more and more integrated into the life of the church there is a trend that I find a bit disturbing and it is commonly found among multi-site churches. I don’t particularly have a problem with multi-site churches as I can see that in certain situations they are needed. My only concern is when these multi-site churches use a live video feed for the sermon.

Reflecting on Mcluhan’s thesis that technology amputates, Brian McLaren had the following to say,

What of technologies that in a sense amputate presence? The television and the DVD, the videoconference and perhaps increasingly, the hologram, project our presence, but do they in some way amputate presence as well?

This is an important question because we are keenly aware of the ways technology benefits our worship but we seldom think about the ways it hinders it. In the name of “it’s new” or “it’s cool” or “it’s what everyone else is doing” we forge ahead and adopt new technologies without even considering how it affects our overall message.

The point I am trying to make here is that I really think it’s time that churches start asking the difficult question when considering incorporating new technology into their communities, “How will this affect our goal to love God and our neighbor?” The answer to that question will change the way many churches adopt new technology.

For instance, I am leading the effort at my church of building a social networking strategy. Social networking will introduce many benefits into how we do ministry. However, I am keenly aware of how it hinders us as well. Social networking diminishes presence and therefore is not a good tool for actually “doing” ministry. Because we cannot be physically present with the people in our network, we cannot physically lay hands on them to pray for them and I am sure everyone would agree that physical presence is far better than virtual presence. Just ask a wife whose husband is off fighting the war or a single mom whose only kid is away at college.

Social networking does open up opportunities to share information about what’s happening in our community. This is a huge benefit and is the limit to which our community needs to go. Praying for people, holding online bible studies and small group meetings is taking it too far.

“But what does this have to do with the virtual preacher”, you may ask? I’ll tell you that in part 2.

This is not to earn something like a worker does wages. Listen to what Isaiah says, The LORD God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength” (Isaiah 30.15).

The strength to fast such a way comes from God through trusting Him. So as we read these blessings we must keep the gospel in our eyes with a love for God and others, even our enemies.

First, our darkness will become light.
Isaiah 58.8: Then your light will break out like the dawn. Isaiah 58.10b: Then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom will become like midday. It is almost as if one has been buried alive in the darkness of night. They eat, drink and go through the day, but there is no joy, only grief. But then the sun rises and your joy comes in the morning dispelling the gloom and despair as you embrace life, your work, your purpose for what it was meant to be and you start looking outside of yourself and begin to realize that life is about giving and serving others for the glory of God. So, you cheerfully give, and do good (2 Corinthians 9.7 For God loves a cheerful giver), enjoying it and it causes you to be glad! How does such gladness and joy come? In Jesus. The Advent of Christ brought light and gladness to our gloom and darkness (Isaiah 9.1.7), as a result, His church will be the light of the world even in the darkest of place, as we minister to the poor and the afflicted.

Next, our strength will rise.
Wounds will be healed (Isaiah 58.8; Isaiah 58.11; Isaiah 40.31). Even though you are sick you are made strong. We will be made strong for battle. Your physical and medical conditions will be changed if God wills it.

Next, God will be all around us with His Righteousness and Glory.
Isaiah 58.8b: And your righteousness will go before you; the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard (Isaiah 52.12: For the Lord will go before you and the God of Israel will be your rear guard). The before and rear guard are allusions to the pillar of cloud (by day) and fire (by night) that protected Israel in its flight from Egypt. The pillar of cloud and fire actually stood for God Himself, according to Ron Allen, literally His presence, and so it is here. Also, God will hear our prayers (Isaiah 58.9)! Oh the presence of God and the nearness of God not just in talk, but in reality!

Then, God will guide us continually.
The guidance of God is promised (Isaiah 58.11). In Psalm 23.1-3 David says, The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Jesus says, He (the Spirit of Truth) will guide you into all the truth (John 15.13). What a great reward the guidance of God is.

Stay tuned for part 2 later this week.

About the Author

Jerry Witham is the Lead Pastor at The Ridge Church in Carrollton, TX.  Besides Jesus his greatest joy is his wife, Annette and their three children, Noah, Grace and Pierce. Read his other articles here.

Divorces are happening at an alarming rate, our society tells us if we’re not “happy” to jump ship, and mainstream media seemingly applauds adultery, presenting it as a glamorous option within marriage.  It would be highly negligent of us as a Church to not to examine the cracks in the sanctity of marriage within our society to see what is at the root of its brokenness.  As I have met with countless women and couples as a pastoral counselor, I have seen several patterns contributing to such pitfalls in marriage.  I’d like to outline three of them in this article… three ways to increase your likelihood of experiencing hurt and hardship in your marriage—current or future.

Making marriage your everything.

This pitfall establishes itself early on… well before marriage in most cases.  Our hearts begin to long for the love of the person who will live life with us.  This desire in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing; however, it can become very harmful as marriage is set as “life’s biggest goal.”  Before we know it, we’ve begun putting our life on hold until “the one” comes and sweeps us off our feet.  This is where the danger begins.  When this poor person does come, unbeknownst to them, they have all the pressures of the world on their shoulders because we have made them our everything… the fulfillment of all of our dreams, our satisfaction, our first love, our main goal in life.

Can you see the danger here?  I remember struggling with this so much at times during my singleness.  I wanted so badly to have that companion, that best friend, the man that I was going to do life with.  I had ten… yes, ten… bridesmaids dresses in my closet, one of them I wore in my sister’s wedding, who is almost four years younger than me.  I remember really battling to live my life and enjoy those years of being single; as hard and lonely as they were at times, I miss them now because they were some of the sweetest years of my life.

Jesus found me in that season and helped me see that it was Him and me doing life together.  I remember my dad telling me “Megan, even when you get married… it’s still ALWAYS going to be you and the Lord.”  If the Lord did have marriage for me, I wanted my husband to be attracted to me because of the way I was running after the Lord and making Him my life… because that was what I wanted to do together in marriage.

I have also seen married couples who make their marriage their everything and at some point in their journey together, they are bound to be sorely disappointed.  God made us for relationship… and this doesn’t just mean with our spouse it means with His people—married, single, old and young.  Period.  Once couples get home from their honeymoon, the temptation begins to shut others out and just enjoy each other.  While this definitely needs to happen at times to grow and enrich a martial relationship, there is so much joy that takes place in reaching out to others, getting involved in ministry, having alone time and time with friends that is essential for a healthy, godly marriage.  In their book Just How Married Do You Want to Be? Jim and Sarah Sumner touch on the importance of being in community as a married couple.

“Every Christian couple needs to be in Christian community.  Couples who get along well need it every bit as much as couples who argue and fight.  Being active in Christ’s body is part of what it means to love the church’s head, Christ Jesus.  Authentic Christian community is interpersonal.  Being in it is not the same as merely attending church.  In fact, it’s possible—even common—for Christians to go to church without ever participating in authentic fellowship with other believers.  To be in Christian community is to be relationally connected with other people who are connected to Christ, the head.” (Just How Married Do You Want to Be, p 156)

This again, is a pattern that begins in a dating relationship; before one even enters marriage.  If you’re dating, make sure to surround your relationship with community.  Not only will this help establish a sense of accountability for both you and your partner, but it will also keep your sole focus and attention off each other and help remind both of you that life exists outside your dating relationship!  Stay grounded in your church community, in your friendships… don’t center your entire life around your romantic relationship.  This will only assist in creating a pattern of unhealthiness in your relationship. Make sure you’re spending time apart and enjoying your own separate friendships, ministries and activities.  If you’re expecting your spouse to again, be your everything, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment and you’re guaranteed to cause your spouse undue frustration.  This is not the way God designed marriage to be.  He wants to be our number one love, passion and desire.  No one and nothing else is designed to fulfill that position in our lives; including our spouse.

When my husband and I were first falling in love, he always made it a point to tell me that I was his “second love”.  He told me I would never be his first, and that he should never be mine.  I found myself getting annoyed when he would tell me that; it seemed so abrasive to me.  Now I’m so thankful that my husband always reminds me of that because it reminds me of my place in his life, and where his place should be in mine.  This order was not instituted after we walked down the aisle; it was established in each of our lives long before we met one another.  This only helped us keep God where He needs to be–as number one; not only in our individual lives, but in our relationship together.

Thinking marriage is about happiness

One of my favorite books on marriage is Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas.  It caught my eye once because of the tagline of the book which reads “What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?”  This sentence can singlehandedly revolutionize the way we look at marriage.  I can’t tell you how many women and couples I see in my office on a weekly basis complaining about their marriages because they are just not “happy” anymore.  This thought not only applies to our marriages, but it beckons us to look more deeply into the sole purpose of life period.  Is it to make us happy?  Or does life exist so that we can make God happy?  In his book, Gary speaks to this thought when he writes:

“One of the reasons I am determined to keep my marriage together is not because doing so will make me happier (although I believe it will); not because I want my kids to have a secure home (although I do desire that); not because it would tear me up to see my wife have to “start over” (although it would).  The first reason I keep my marriage together is because it is my Christian duty.  If my life is based on proclaiming God’s message to the world, I don’t want to do anything that would challenge that message.  And how can I proclaim reconciliation when I seek dissolution?  This analogy of reconciliation does more than merely provide the purpose for our marriage.  It also helps us live out this purpose, even when “lightning strikes”… If I’m married only for my happiness, and my happiness wanes for whatever reason, one little spark will burn the entire forest of my relationship.” (Sacred Marriage, p.37)

Many people in their in the single phase of life buy into the lie that “if only I were married, I’d be happy”.  I certainly fell victim to this thought from time to time.  This is when marriage begins being elevated in one’s life as the source of ultimate happiness.  Sure, marriage brings about so many wonderful blessings; with that, it also brings about a different set of trials, a different set of difficulties.  This is where the “becoming holy process” begins.  Just two months into our marriage, my husband and I had a fairly severe falling out with his family over an issue that wasn’t even about us, however it impacted us greatly.  Being newly married, we were still trying to adjust to this new life and now this huge conflict was looming over us.  It felt as though we were dragging a huge cinderblock behind us in the months that followed.  It was heavy and exhausting. I remember sitting on the couch one day, both of us in tears, as I told my husband that I just wanted to enjoy being newlyweds.  I wanted that bliss, that giddyness, that chance to just sail through for a while merely enjoying all the benefits of marriage that were still new and exciting.  Instead, the Lord allowed a huge hardship to slap us in the face so early on.  I was angry.  It just didn’t seem fair.

However, being on the other side of this conflict now, and seeing how the Lord used it in our marriage, however painful it was I wouldn’t trade that time in our lives together for the world.  The Lord used it to remind me that His desires for my marriage with my husband are so much greater than mine.  I thought I wanted a blissful, easy, smooth and happy marriage, but I know that my heart longs for something so much deeper.  I long for passion, for a profound sense of connection with my husband that comes as the result of working through conflict and hardship.  Not only that, but God longs for something deeper for me and my marriage; He longs to make me more like Him.  Don’t give into our culture’s lie that finding love will make you happy; that marriage is all about our comfort, our satisfaction, our bliss.  I believe it’s important for us to develop a healthy sense of marriage while we are still single… not only that, but to develop a right view of life in general; that it’s not about our happiness, but instead about our holiness.

Not having those hard conversations

Oftentimes in dating and in marriage, we are so afraid to deal with potential areas of conflict, so instead we resort to avoidance… a behavior that is fatal to the level of inimacy within a relationship.  We are oftentimes afraid to deal with these sins or “hot button” issues so we don’t share with our partner and thus avoid bringing up these conversations altogether.  We don’t want to “upset the apple cart” so instead we compromise our closeness as a couple.  When my husband and I began dating, he suggested from the start that we share with one another our struggles and issues whether past or current.  Though we were both nervous and scared, it helped establish a pattern for us early on… we were able to love each other for who we really were; not who we pretended to be.  We saw the importance of this because of the work both of us did in becoming healthier before we met each other.  We were far from being perfect, that goes without saying!  But we were engaged in dealing with our struggles, seeking accountability, and allowing others to ask tough questions of our lives.

My husband, Nick, had been in counseling and discipleship for a few years and I was meeting with an older woman in a mentor type relationship and digging through my weaknesses as well.  This opens us up to the practice of having those hard conversations… but it also helps us deal with our junk before we drag it with us into a marriage where it has the ability to affect another person so deeply.  We’ve had some pretty tough conversations throughout our dating relationship and our marriage.  We’ve had to work through dealing with each other’s sin and the things that make us insecure and afraid.  These moments of truth can be scary and tempt me to retreat back into my desire for a cozy, comfortable marriage… however, I know that’s not what I desire at all.  We cannot possibly have complete oneness in marriage if we’re not willing to go to the dark places with our spouse.  Intimacy will only happen to the level of which we are willing to be open and honest with one another.

For me there is fear in having those tough conversations because it feels like my husband and I are both exposed… walking around without our skin on.  And that is scary.  Vulnerability is oftentimes something that causes us great fear.  We all, on some level, have a need for security… and baring our souls to another person (or having them bare their souls to us) seems like we are being robbed of that sense of safety.  However, learning to communicate through these hard issues will only result in a greater sense of security and trust within a marital relationship.  This must begin first in the dating process.  All too often people sign on to marry someone that doesn’t really exist; they marry who that person pretends to be–or who they desire that person to be–rather than the reality.  This is when the most intimate of relationships is established on shaky ground and a couple must work even harder to re-establish crumbled trust and security within the relationship.

Opening up our wounds to one another also allows for the beauty of the healing process to take place.  Shame and guilt are met with grace… this is where the gospel gets to live within marriage.  While it can be a scary process, a marriage can be deepened as a result.  More importantly, God is glorified as we allow His grace and love to transform us from the inside out.  Authors Jim and Sarah Sumner have lived this out in their marriage.  Though they write honestly about their struggles in living out the gospel in their marriage, their example implores us to live the deeper marital relationship God desires for us.  Jim, a former male stripper, met Sarah a seminary graduate and theologian after he had first met Christ at Willow Creek Church outside of Chicago.  Their story is marked by the beauty of oneness and Christ’s restoration as we take ownership of our junk and live in authenticity with one another.  Jim writes this:

“Whatever we had been fighting about may have started with a hot button, but it ended in a rage.  Yet God was right there with us.  Because I had turned to God, and Sarah had turned to God while I was away, both of us had gained a fresh willingness to take ownership of our stuff.  Time and again we have gone to God, rediscovering our need for his forgiveness.  In all our pettiness from past pain, immaturity from hot buttons, and sin from marital fights, we have found forgiveness in the Lord.  Because God has forgiven us in Christ Jesus, we can forgive each other. We are partners in forgiveness.  That is how we managed our engagement, and that is how we live together now.  Our relationship isn’t easy, but it’s strong—because forgiveness is the method that engables us to venture through this humbling life as one flesh.” (Just How Married Do You Want to Be, p.137)

Their book begs an intriguing question… just how married do you want to be… now or someday down the road?  How deeply do you want to experience intimacy in your relationship?  How far do you want to practice oneness and allow the gospel message to live out in your marriage—current or future?  It may be scary to open up to each other on such an authentic level, but it allows us to experience God’s design for marriage: total dependancy on Him, allowing Him to chisel us more into His image and practicing His grace and forgiveness with ourselves and with our spouse.  God’s purpose for marriage is far different than our culture’s; but far more rewarding.  Marriage is an amazing journey… good, hard, messy and beautiful all rolled into one.  God wants us to experience nothing less.  You can be sharpening yourself now, whether married or single, in these areas of your life.  Dependancy on the Lord, making Him your number one love and passion, developing an understanding of holiness vs. happiness and living in authenticity with others are all things you can practice long before you ever walk down the aisle; it’s what God calls us to.

About The Author

Megan Cornwell is a counselor at Irving Bible Church near Dallas, Texas. She is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and loves to watch shows like The Hills because that show is a constant reminder of why the world needs counselors like Megan. She is married to the super amazing Nick Cornwell who plays quaterback (armchair) for the Dallas Cowboys. Be looking for more articles from Megan in the future.

According to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. (Philippians 1:20 NASB95)

What you love determines what you will feel shame about. If you love for men to make much of you, then you will feel shame when they don’t. Put another way, if you love for men and women to be romantically drawn to you then you will feel shame when they don’t. But if you love for men and women to make much of Christ, then you will feel shame when he is belittled or trivialized on your account. And Paul loved for Christ to be honored more than anything. The worth of an object is determined by how much you are willing to give up in order to obtain it. He says this in Philippians 3:7-8, “Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

When he dies, doesn’t all his missionary work go to waste? If being a Christian means that we must lose our life, what does all the work we do count for at death? Won’t death rob you of the very life that can magnify him?

So Paul adds at the end of verse 20 that “Christ . . . be exalted . . .  by life or by death.” Death is a threat to the degree that it frustrates your main goals in life.Death is fearful to the degree that it threatens to rob you of what you treasure most. Death is a threat to the degree that it robs you of getting your Master’s degree, or finding true love, or becoming a millionaire by the time you’re 30, of maybe even being married by the time you’re 27. Paul treasured Christ and his goal was to magnify Christ. So he saw death not as a threat, not as a frustration, but as an occasion for him to achieve the ultimate in what it means to be intimate with Christ—to be in his presence.

Death takes you into more intimacy with Christ. Experiencing Christ as gain in your dying magnifies Christ. It is “far better” than living here. It is better than friendship. It is better than good grades. It is better than a high gpa. It is better than surviving cancer. It is better than winning the lottery. It is better than romance. It is better than being married.

The way you talk about death and life reveals the worth of Christ. You experience death as gain when you see that in death you gain Christ. I like how John Piper puts it, “Christ will be praised in my death, if in my death he is prized above life.” The essence of praising Christ in death is to prize him above life’s gifts. Since Paul gains so much at death (Christ) all his efforts and sufferings he experienced in life never go to waste!

Do you dread the thought of death because of the possibility that you will not achieve something you long deeply for? Are there times where you say to yourself, “I hope I do not die before I ____________.”? If that sounds like you, I would like to encourage you to take that fear to God because you may have an idol.

I know many students who do not look forward to death because it threatens their future plans, the biggest one being marriage. In this case marriage is bigger and more important to them than gaining Christ.

As we reflect upon the death of Christ, remember that Christ is our example, not only of life, but of death. When you see death as gain, it’s a lot easier to take gutsy risks in life. I’m not talking about the stock market, or any other type of worldly risk. I’m talking about the risks we take for the Great Commission. No future plan or earthly gain can even compare to what we gain at death.

God desires that every Christian live lives that display the supremacy of Jesus in life or in death.

About The Author

Robert Johnson is the guy behind Practicing Theology. When he is not working on his new self-published book he is studying theoogy, discipling, reading, or eating potato chips.

But I have a confession to make. I only saw like one video clip of Flight of the Concords, and I’m not sure I really got why it was so funny. Please, please don’t tell anyone!

Don’t worry, this isn’t an article about why facebook is evil and dumb, how to use facebook biblically, or why I quit facebook. What I’m interested in is how engaging in social networking – whether it’s biblically, atheistically, muslimically, or whatever – shapes the way we look at ourselves and the way we see those around us.

I Am My Avatar, and my Avatar is Mine

I believe that any tool, whether we use it for good or bad, right or wrong, truthfully or untruthfully, shapes the way we look at the world. Just as a photographer sees the world in pictures and a stockbroker tends to see the world as a business transaction, we all see the world through whatever we use most. A wise man once said, “We become what we behold.”

Let’s consider my above confession. I basically lied on facebook, which is unbelievably lame. But what if I had told the truth? Certainly, I would be guilty of one less sin, but I still would have engaged in the act of labeling and defining myself through lists of interests, products, quotes, and so on.

A Constantly Visible Identity

In college, I remember quite a few Bible studies on “Identity in Christ.” I remember them saying that God the Father looks at me through the image of God the Son, Jesus Christ. Like our photographer friend who sees the world in the best possible way through his lens, the Father sees me in the best possible way though the Son.

So how do we see ourselves when we look through the lens of a social network? Our online personas can be quantified, analyzed, and numerically valued at any moment.

But our offline lives do not have this ever present record. I cannot quantify the value of crying with a friend over a tragic loss or playing basketball with a fatherless kid (whether or not I twitter about it). Rarely, if ever are such strong realities recorded. Meanwhile, the mundane, ethereal things of life are ever present and neatly organized on our profiles. Which feels more real, more permanant?

In my own life, I have noticed that on days when I don’t receive much electronic contact (no wall posts, no @replies, no text messages), I often feel insignificant. This is probably because I have begun to value myself through my online identity and how much interaction I see it receive. Rather than believe what the Scriptures say about my significance being rooted in the image of God imprinted upon my soul, I see myself through the lens of social networking. I have become what I beheld.

Believing in an Identity We Do Not See

This isn’t meant to be a warning against using social networking, because there are plenty of great reasons to use it. The point is that social networking requires us to create an online identity which will always be different from our true identity. No matter how accurate it that profile becomes, and even if there’s some kind of Princess Leia 3D hologram, it will never be our true self. We are each unique creations of God which cannot be copied or duplicated by any technology. And those of us who have believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, also have our identity in the redemption and victory offered through his blood.

So, come, be my friend on facebook, twitter, and the rest, but let us not behold the images we post and the words we write, but less us behold Jesus Christ, who is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3) and the very Word of God (John 1:1), and let us not anchor our identity in the things posted about us online, but on the fact that God has called us “friend” and “sons and daughters.”

About The Author

John Dyer is the web developer behind sites such as Best Commentaries, and Dallas Theological Seminary. He holds a graduate degree from Dallas Theological Seminary and is a teacher at Irving Bible Church.

In the gospel of Mark we read that a young man was following Him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body; and they seized him.  But he pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked (Mark 14.51-52). This episode is unique to the gospel of Mark alone.  It is needless to say that this is a most unusual occurrence.

Who is this young man?  Many believe it is Mark himself.  Since he is the alone gospel writer who mentions it this seems to be most likely.  Otherwise, why would have he included it?  Some believe that the Last Supper could have been at Mark’s home or his father’s home that evening (Mark 14.14-15).  Mark could have very likely went to bed after Jesus and His disciples left.  We do not know for sure what happened, but somehow Mark is in a sleeping garment as Jesus is being arrested by the mob, who would lead Him before the high priest and His accusers.  Mark could have quickly dashed out of the house hearing about Judas’ scheme to warn Jesus who upon his arrival had already been arrested.  Whatever the case Mark is with Jesus and the mob tries to detain him as well.  But Mark admits that he would rather flee than be captured with Jesus.  Mark was not alone in this though.  Mark tells us that all the disciples left Him and fled (Mark 14.50) when Judas and the mob came with swords and clubs to arrest Jesus (Mark 14.43-49).  Jesus is left alone and then led before His accusers.

The scene on this night was eventful and dramatic.  Judas shows up with his sword and club bearing crew.  Judas places a kiss on Jesus as a signal to the mob that this is the one to seize.  Peter then draws a sword and strikes the ear of one of the one’s in the mob.  Meanwhile there is Jesus displaying no excessive force unlike the mob and Peter.  Jesus does not resist His arrest as the mob in a secluded and dark place carry out their cowardly scheme.  The disciples did not shine in this moment.  Their loyalty and confidence in Jesus collapses as they flee.  No one is willing to be a witness and stick around to suffer with Jesus.

The disciples are ashamed in this moment.  Mark writes the words of Jesus saying, For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels (Mark 8.38). I don’t want to throw Mark and the disciples under the bus because I would have most likely done the same, but Jesus wants us to be unashamed of Him.  Do you remember what is said about Adam and Eve before their disobedience?  Moses writes, And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed (Genesis 2.25). Simply this married couple was comfortable in their physical bodies and their relationship.  There was no potential for evil or sin.  They were willing to be themselves, take risk, be transparent, not hide, open themselves up to each other, be vulnerable, and give themselves completely to one another.  Were the disciples like this in the moment of their Savior’s arrest?  Not at all!  They flee and hide.  They are not willing to be honest and witness of their relationship with Jesus.  There is no transparency, just fear.  They are not willing to take the risk and stand with the One who will soon take the biggest stand for them.  They were not willing to give themselves completely to Jesus.  You could say and especially in Mark’s case, that they were naked and ashamed.

I pray that during this Easter season we would not be ashamed.  May we speak of our Savior and the relationship we have with him.  Invite a friend to church.  Bring family members with you.  Connect with a neighbor and share with them, whether it is an invite to church or actually sharing the gospel.  Let’s be willing to take the risk and stand for the One who stands for us.  Be vulnerable and transparent.  Don’t hide behind the pretty Easter clothes.  Open yourself up to Jesus, giving yourself completely to Him.  Be naked (please wear clothes though) and unashamed!

About The Author

Jerry Witham is the Lead Pastor at The Ridge Church in Carrollton, TX.  Besides Jesus his greatest joy is his wife, Annette and their three children, Noah, Grace and Pierce. Read his other articles here.

At the end of the film, the army, in its fear of the robot, launches a nuclear attack.  In their haste, the frightened military leaders fail to realize that they have actually set a nuclear missile to detonate and destroy the very land that they seek to protect.  The Iron Giant, in a moment of self-sacrifice, flies into the air, and – with a smile on his face – collides head on with the missile.  The town is saved by the self-destruction of the giant.

As I write this, a good friend and church member is standing near the shores of Richland Chambers Lake in Central Texas.  She’s waiting to hear word about her Uncle and his Grandson, who were fishing in the lake yesterday, but have been missing since early afternoon.  It’s been nearly 24 hours since they vanished, and search crews have, as yet, been unable to find them.  Their boat has been recovered, but there is no sign of the two men.

How do we account for these kinds of things?  If we serve a good God, how can this kind of senseless tragedy be part of God’s ultimate plan?  Either he is good, but not powerful enough to stop suffering, or He is powerful enough to stop suffering, but not good enough to practice His power.  He can’t be both good and powerful if suffering still exists, can He?

The only way to reconcile ultimate goodness and power with suffering is if that which is ultimately good and powerful does what we’d never expect… Suffers.  If God – The Iron Giant – flies headlong into the oncoming missile of destruction, we can no longer look at Him as some cosmic masochist, an idle onlooker to the human condition.  Instead, we must see Him as not only the most high, but also the most humble and sacrificial.  We must not simply see him as impersonal ultimate power, but truly as ever-personal ultimate friend and co-sufferer.  He can’t be viewed as the God who lets loved one’s go missing, but as the God who knows the pain of loss.

Suffering is a guarantee in the Christian life because it was the guarantee of Christ.  Sure, Jesus suffered terrible punishment and cruelty during the cross event, but his greatest anguish was in his separation from the Father because of the sins of the world.  Timothy Keller puts it this way:

The death of Jesus was qualitatively different from any other death.  The physical death was nothing compared to the spiritual experience of cosmic abandonment.  Christianity alone among the world religions claims that God became uniquely and fully human in Jesus Christ and therefore knows firsthand despair, rejection, loneliness, poverty, bereavement, torture, and imprisonment.  The Reason for God, p. 30

Jesus knows the pain of colliding with the devastation of this world.  He faced such pain willingly, and part of following him faithfully means that we, too, will face such suffering.  Fortunately for us, the destruction of suffering that we face is nothing compared to the incomparable good that we are promised.  Because of the resurrection, we suffer, but “not as those who have no hope” (1 Thes. 4:13).

About the Author

Steve Hayes is not new to practicing theology. He is the pastor of Grace Communinty Church in Corsicanna, Texas.