Life Beyond the Trends
Last month, when I spoke at the Catalyst conference in Atlanta, I came across a study called "Beyond the Trend." The premise is that while trends may govern the world, they don't have to rule our lives. I could not agree more. For example, Christians should take advantage of the weekly gift of Sabbath rest.
In the report I found two trends to be of particular interest. One trend is that Christianity will continue to expand its definition of neighbor. Through the teachings of Jesus, our sphere of empathy is expanding to include not only people of all colors and races, but the entire cosmos--the natural world that God created and entrusted in our care. According to the report, protecting animals, habitats, mountains, and rivers is likely to get a wider Christian hearing in the coming decades.
The second trend relates to the spiritual dimension of technology. At the center of Christianity is the relationship of man and God. In recent years, this core has been expanded to include relationships between nature, man, and God. But a third-order relationship is also beginning to emerge: What is the proper relationship between technology, nature, man, and God? A Bluetooth connected to our ear is a millimeter away from an implant. How many hundreds of text messages does a person have to send a day to become distracted from family, relationships, and God? In the past, medical technologies have been used to restore function; will Christians draw a line at technologies that enhance function? Tomorrow there will be new inventions, and the day after even more. If God is absent from discussions on the ethics of emerging technologies, then who will provide our moral compass?
These are the kinds of questions we are asking ourselves at Blessed Earth, and the kinds of answers we want to continue exploring with you. Thank you for sharing the journey with us into this Brave New World -- a world that can and should be centered on loving God and our neighbors by caring for His creation.
See Beyond the Trend: A Review of Leadership Thought and Practices, Vol. 5, a Catalyst-Q Collaboration, 2009.
Matthew Sleeth serves as Blessed Earth's Executive Director and resides with his wife, Nancy, in Wilmore, KY.
Comments
Joshua L. Henry says: What is the proper relationship between technology, nature, man, and God? I too have noticed this trend and have done quite a bit of research in this area. However I have been at odds with settling on a conclusion. I believe the word “proper” in this case is subjective to the individual. As long as that person is continuing a loving, personal, positive and perhaps most importantly, actively growing spiritual relationship with God, then I would consider it proper. Of course not all followers of Jesus are at the same spiritual point in their walk, therefore I write “proper” to be subjective. However, defining an “improper” relationship between God, individual, nature, and technology seems to become much easier for me. Any instance in which God is not at the center of the relationship or the priority, I would consider that improper. For example: person-cell phone- computer-public transportation- occasional stroll in the park-and oh yeah, occasional prayer with God, would not represent a proper spiritual, technological/natural relationship with God. Still yet, technology can play an essential role in communicating, discipleship, evangelizing, and simply sharing the Good News to people literally half a world away. At the end of my research I settled with the theory that, as with anything, the power of using a device for good or evil lies in the responsibility of the person and the decisions they make thereof.
Stevi says: Keep doing what you're doing. I recently began a study of your book with a friend from church. We hope to expand the group in order to get the message to a larger number of people in the church and the community. Just wondering, how much resistance did you get from your family when you decided to downsize and change your lifestyle so drastically? Also, how on earth did you reduce your trash so much. I have been able to wittle it down to a bag a week, but I can't seem to get it below that. What's your secret? Thanks. and God Bless!