I quietly wanted to be Dick Tracy when I was growing up. Not only because of his crime fighting accomplishments, or even because of the snappy yellow hat and rain slicker coat he wore over his nicely tailored suit (although that was a mighty good look), but because of the technology he used to fight crime. Primarily that jealousy was most triggered by the amazing two-way radio he wore on his arm to communicate with other crime fighters.
As the watch was being introduced, the comic strip focused in on Tracy’s watch and said: “This is a most remarkable bit of perfection. A two-way radio, it both sends and receives!” To me that was the most desirable and amazing technology. The aerial wire that had to be fed from the watch up the sleeve of his fantastic suit might have been annoying, but it was a small price to pay to be able to get in touch with people without the hassle of finding a phone booth. Unimaginable! Or so I thought.
Fast forward to where we are now with the technology at what we are hoping is the tail end of a worldwide pandemic that was made bearable by our technology! People are wearing devices on their wrist on which they can not only talk to someone within a range of 1000 miles, but can also see someone from the other side of the world while conversing with them! And that is not all. Imagine what we would have thought if someone had told us when we were younger (OK not you, millennials, because this isn’t all that new for you, but keep reading and laugh at us anyway) that we would have:
- Personal shoppers at the grocery store who will pick out your food for you and load it into the back of your car or even drive it by your house and set it on your porch after clicking things on a screen from the comforts of your couch!
- The ability to decide you want a new gadget for your home and all you have to say is “Alexa order me a 12-quart InstantPot” and two days later one will show up at your door – but you still have to cook the meal.
- Touch screens at fast food restaurants and self check out lanes at stores that make it possible to not talk to anyone and still order your food.
- Encyclopedias, dictionaries, libraries, photo albums, calculators, video cameras, newspapers, address books, clocks, phones and so much more that we hold in our hands and carry in our pockets everywhere we go.
This technology puts Dick Tracy’s wristwatch to shame! It also gives us the ability to live and continue to achieve in a socially distant way – for better or worse. During the COVID pandemic, the church has had to become touchless as well. We are so thankful that we have had the technology that we do in order to stay connected in worship, bible study and meetings. We haven’t done as well with children/youth ministry, cross cultural growth, or fellowship opportunities – especially for single people and those on the fringes of our congregational life. We know some people are being missed. And it will show as we try and come back from this long, confusing time. We are going to have to work to come back to where we were before, but we are going to have to work even harder to get to where God wants us to be.
I write about this, because we have for the most part been able to lump church (and our faith?) into these other touchless service-oriented activities made possible by our technology. Because we have gotten comfortable with touchless service in retail shopping and other customer “service” oriented activities, we run the risk of being overly comfortable with this in other areas. We run the risk of over associating our church activities with other service-oriented things that have changed with the advent of technology. We have to remember that church is a people – it is not a customer service-oriented activity.
As part of the Covenant Church, we affirm six affirmations that help define how we live out our faith. One of those affirmations is that the church is a fellowship of believers. Our Affirmations read, “The believers’ church is not simply a human institution or organization, but a people whom God has called.” That means we are going to have to make extra effort now to go back to being a people. We are going to have to get ourselves back involved. We are going to have to make the effort to join in ministry teams and studies. We are going to have to reimagine how to do church again – how to be the called people of God together on mission. Do not just look for service. Join in with the people of God on mission.
I have learned that I don’t want to be Dick Tracy, but I also have learned that I don’t just want to be in the customer service business either. I am in the people business. The development business. The missional business. And I want you to join me on that journey. Technology is great, but what is the point of talking to a person on the other end of a two-way radio watch or an iPhone, if we aren’t going to share in mission and community with them.
[learn_press_profile]
