Has Social Media rebuilt the Tower of Babel? By: Mike Helms October 15, 2012 Call me crazy, but does Social Media provide one more piece of evidence that the bible is true, relevant, and speaks to the human condition? In 2nd Timothy we’re given a checklist of the things that will mark living in the “last days”. At the top of the list? “People will be lovers of themselves…” (2 Timothy 3:2) Have you gone on Facebook lately? Been on Twitter? Watched a YouTube video? The dawn of the internet finally brought publishing to the masses- for the first time in history anyone can easily publish to the entire world. And how have we used it? To talk about ourselves. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, MySpace-all monuments and vehicles to self aggrandizement. Go on Google and do a search for “The Me Generation” and you’ll get results that range anywhere from people born in the 60’s to the 90’s. (Apparently, there’s a bit of confusion about who this generation actually is.) Maybe that’s because it’s actually true of EVERY generation and it’s only getting worse. If you go all the way back to Genesis 11 you can even see a crude attempt at what looks an awful lot like what we now call the internet: “Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches the heavens, so we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the earth.” (Genesis 11:4) Ah yes, the beginning of Social Media and it’s intended results: 1. To not be scattered and disconnected. 2. To make a name for ourselves. Having before them the promising platform of the “Tower of Babel” they chose “to make a name for themselves”- not to glorify God and His name; not to lift up others… no, just to make a name for themselves. And so we sit in 2012 with the Babel of the internet. We’ve got wireless towers and cables connecting the world like never before, and what has come of it? I get to read about your burnt toast; hear about your cat that went out of the litter box; learn about how good you are at gardening, or drinking, or that you killed a bug that was on your bathroom wall. I get to see pictures and watch videos of the dumbest stuff on the planet that you do (along with the most boring stuff you wish you weren’t doing.) I get to see and hear the most private things of your life because for some reason YOU think EVERYONE should know EVERYTHING about YOU. God destroyed the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 by the way. He didn’t like their power grab and the blatant narcissism that marked their venture. In doing so, He held them off, but only for a time. Love of self burned as much as it ever did, but they lost their big opportunity to go global and make a huge splash in the world. Sinful human nature being what it is, however, we are driven to pride and given the chance we’ll keep trying to build that monument to ourselves- and so we have. Babel is back in full force. We’ve never had quite as good a platform as we now have to broadcast ourselves- and have we ever done that! Viva Social Media! Or maybe not.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 04:10:29 +0000
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