What is Truth? Thoughts on Texting and Tweeting

Lisa writing here....

I don't expect to make any new friends from this post. I actually should get some criticism, because I am about to lodge some darts about the use of technology, and here I am blogging on a computer, on our website or blog or whatever it is called, about the very same thing. But sometimes I think it's okay to use the available technology to invoke a critique or a "step-back-and-let's-think-about-this" type of moment.

Tom has written a new devotional on "What is Truth" and I am now getting it ready to be sent off to the wonderful lady who makes these things look beautiful on paper. I have been convicted every day as I type it out and consider the verses he refers to as he looks at the "notion," if you will, of Truth.

Truth has become a relative concept, hasn't it, in this postmodern age? Truth has spread its boundaries. Truth's edges are bleeding out into "acceptability" and "just don't hurt anybody" and "political correctness". Truth is no longer black and white. Remember President Clinton's rejoinder when he was under fire for his indiscretions....he said at one point, something to the effect of, "that depends on what the definition of 'is' is." Huh? Let's just grind up the word "is" and give it ten definitions.

No. I need Truth to be something more concrete, something more comfortingly permanent, than a dictionary listing of 10 definitions. Truth must be finite and it must be unflinchingly the same over time. Truth must not waver.

Now I get to technology. I am going to pick on cell phones, Twittering or whatever you call it, and texting. I am really sick of these things. I see people texting as they walk. One young lady had to link arms with her friend so she would not fall as she texted while they walked through the rec center. I see grandmas with cell phones and texting while they hoist their grandkids into shopping carts. I can't go anywhere without my cell phone ringing. It rings during church. If I don't bring my cell phone with me now, I get yelled at by family who "needed" to get ahold of me (during church---arggh!) I saw a guy take a cell phone call during a wedding. If you are doing something fun and you want to tell someone about it, you don't have to wait 'til you get home and call someone - you can just text them and even take a picture of it on your cell phone and download it and show them.

Conversation now is immediate, rapid, short bursts of "this is going now" and "I must tell so-and-so." Truth is melded now with immediate gratification. Truth is whatever is happening now.

I have a problem with this because Truth is not whatever is happening now. Truth is a Person. Truth is permanent. Truth is Jesus Christ and what He did at the cross. Truth is by its definition, since it is Christ, accompanied by Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness and Self-Control. There is no self-control with Twitter, cell phones and texting. You have to agree with that. It's so readily available and so immediately transmitted that it can't possibly feed Self-Control in us. No, it actually feeds Greed. It feeds more. Aren't we addicted to this stuff? Aren't we addicted to the immediate gratification that comes from these forms of technology? We're like high school kids hoping to get a note back from our friend like I used to do during school.

All this to say, none of these forms of technology can possibly transmit the kinds of Truths that are going to help us in eternity. I think we're just spinning our wheels when we engage in these things to any extent. Sure they're great and it's fun and it's amazing what technology can do these days, and yes I have grudgingly started carrying around a cell phone, and yes Tom and I now have a blog, but look at how often we post (not terribly often), and look at our postings; they are not just sound bites or "this is what I did at 5:30 p.m.". We are trying to make sense of life in relation to God's eternal Truths.

God doesn't use a cell phone; He doesn't Tweet; he doesn't text. He GAVE us a text. It's called the Bible. If you need a sound bite or a pithy bit of wisdom on any topic, look up the Proverbs, use the concordance in the back if you need to, and find amazing Truths written by the Author of Truth, our Lord God.

That's MY text for the day. I hope I didn't offend anyone but I think Jesus Christ spent his entire ministry offending people with the Truth. I want to be more like Him so instead of tweeting and texting I am going to spend more of my time reading the most important Text written, and "tweeting" my thoughts in the form of prayers up to the Lord.