Christian Comment with Liam Eaglestone, Minchinhampton Baptist Church Minister
IN THE western world we can easily live lives of continual connectedness.
The Internet, social media and handheld devices (not to mention the advent of ‘wearable’ tech) means that we have the ability to be available, accessible and fully engaged 24/7.
This new ultra connected world is not necessarily bad, or good.
Many of us (myself included) welcome all the advantages of these developments in technology, and some of us (myself included) can easily get overly engaged with this virtual world, spending far too much of our time gazing into our smart phones – and justifying it to ourselves (and our friends and family), as a friend of mine once said to me ‘twitter won’t read itself’!
Social commentators have developed the anachronism FOMO, standing for the ‘Fear Of Missing Out’ – leading folk suffering from anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on a social media website.
Ironically this anxiety leads FOMO sufferers to be so connected to their mobile devices that they do actually miss out on important or exciting events in real life – what a bizarre state of affairs, and one that can be quite exhausting!
In the face of this busy, non-stop world, I love these words from Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me––watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill–fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly”
As a follower of Jesus, I find that I regularly need to return to these wonderful words of invitation.
Why don’t you join me, and seek to make the most of the opportunities to put down the smart phone and resist FOMO, and most importantly, respond to the invitation of Jesus, to learn from him the ‘unforced rhythms of grace’ – a much better way to live!
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here