Sitting in a deli working on a
sermon over lunch recently, I noticed an eight or nine year old boy looking for
a seat. Carefully cradled under his arm was a half-inch thick red-framed
rectangular screen a little smaller than a sheet of paper. “Cool,” I thought.
“He’s got an Etch A Sketch to keep him busy while he waits for lunch to
arrive.” As he neared, I realized there were no telltale white knobs and the red
frame was just rubberized protection for his iPad.
Of course, my initial
interpretation of what the boy carried betrayed my own generational habitat and
reminded me of the hours I spent turning those beloved white knobs when I was
his age. Glancing at the iPad next to my lunch plate I was caught up in a swirl
of nostalgia and wonder at how things have changed.
Then, rising from the reflective
eddy came a question: Are we an Etch A Sketch church in an iPad world?
It is easy to hear this as an
either/or question laden with value judgments resulting in a division of the
household of faith into something like “Etchers” and “Padders.” That’s not how
I hear it. Etch A Sketch and iPad are very different means of creative
expression and engagement with the world. Placing them alongside one another
they become metaphors for the contemporary church’s creative expression of the
gospel and its engagement with the world for the sake of that gospel. Such
metaphors can lead us into fruitful discernment and effective engagement with
God’s mission of healing and hope in the world today and into the future. In
fact, this sort of playful reflection and conversation might assist us in
living into this new day like the early apostles did in their new day. (Now
would be a good time to read Acts 10-15 if you haven’t lately.)
For example, I am struck with the
self-contained nature of the Etch A Sketch in comparison to the iPad. A person
can create beautiful images by twisting those white knobs with care and
precision guided by his or her creative vision. But the Etch A Sketch has no
built-in interaction with or input from outside the etcher’s immediate local
context. An iPad, by nature, penetrates boundaries to provide multi-directional
engagement with the world. It is, by default, connected to and welcoming of
interaction, resources, insight and input from an almost infinite number of
sources far beyond the user’s immediate context. While we can come up with some
pretty creative mission and ministry by turning the knobs of the self-contained
resources right at hand, might the church, including your congregation, benefit
from more immediate, intuitive and multi-directional connection with people,
resources, and perspectives from well-beyond the usual red-rimmed boundaries we
tend to work within?
Are we an Etch A Sketch church in an iPad world?
Let’s talk about this. Post a comment here. You can also email me, send me a note by mail, chat with me when I visit
your congregation or you catch me at Starbucks. Let’s use this metaphor to help
each other find faithful and effective ways to follow Jesus into this 21st
century world. In mid-September I will share more of my thoughts
about this and respond to some of yours as well.
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