Omi-connectedness!

Some call it hyper-connected or The Digitisation of Everything. It is almost unbelievable to me at how fast this has happened. Can I remind you of the timeline………more or less?

• The Internet went live to the world in 1991.
• Personal computers (or micro-computers) were commercialised on the mass market in 1997. I still remember the one old ‘clunker’ of a computer in our office nook in our family home.
• Mobile Phones were commercialised in 1987 in NZ.
  Smartphones came on stream in NZ in 2007.
• 88% of New Zealanders used a smartphone in 2017.
• Commerce Commission figures show there are now more than 5.8 million mobile connections in New Zealand – meaning lots of people have two mobile phones.
• Texting has been in decline since 2012 but we still send about 11 billion of them each year.
• Another surprise was that smartphones had become devices that pretty much replace 25 things – your torch, your camera, your radio – and occasionally you make phone calls with it as well.

It's been 'the stone age' to jumbo jets all within a 30-year period.
This is all amazing and mind boggling. What would we do without our smartphones? How the hang did we survive before 2007 let alone before 1987? Actually and incredibly we DID! Gen Z just don’t believe us.

But as we know there is a downside to all this and the full effect of screen time is only now becoming known. So, Pastor I want to suggest to you that this IS a pastoral matter that I think we should address especially with our young people. Our culture is a swelling sea of digital connectedness. But are we, as Christians, becoming spiritually untethered in the midst of it? Are we at risk of losing our spiritual moorings in this vast sea of omni-connectedness? Has this endless connectedness actually made us less connected to the things that really matter, things that have ultimate significance? Could it just be that our gadgets and gizmos that guarantee so much are actually fostering a new level of superficiality in our lives? And this is saying nothing about the effect of screens on the developing brain (actually ALL brains) and the growing list of addictions that are now presenting in the clinic and the Counsellor’s office.

Yep, just like movies and TV and alcohol and drugs of former days this is a new issue for us to sensitively and thoughtfully talk about and offer guidelines to our people, our parents and especially our young people.

Blessings

Alan

Finally, I would like to recommend this event to you especially if you live in or around Auckland.

In just under a month, Family First and LeadershipWorx are hosting a Lunchtime Forum for Church Leaders entitled “Gender Identity: How Should We Respond?”. It will be held on Thursday 5th July 2018, 11.45am – 3pm in Manukau City.

Full details are here.

Attendance is by Registration. Email admin@familyfirst.org.nz to register. The cost is $20 koha to cover lunch and expenses. If you register for the Forum on the Family on Friday 6th (our full-day conference on the next day, the Church Leaders’ lunch is Free!

Alan Vink is currently the Executive Director for LeadershipWorx. Prior to this role he has been the Executive Director of Willow Creek Association NZ (WillowNZ), a Baptist pastor (23 years), Bible College teacher, and church consultant.