A Global World: The Noise
The world has gone global. Ironical, isn't it?
What I mean is, instead of isolation between peoples on the opposite sides of the world there is now direct connection. It was not so just twenty years ago. Now it's truly a world-wide web.
Remember that political stance of isolationism, when the U.S. tried to just stay out of the world's problems? Some say we need to return to that policy. But I say it's just not feasible in a global world.
Hear all the terrible things in the news lately? It would seem things just keep getting worse and worse, right? Well, remember that we didn't always get world news at the press of a button. Perhaps the world has always been this ill. A global world just made it more evident.
How else does a global world change things? The main idea I want to get at is communication. The internet connects people around the world because of the ease of communication. It's all about communication.
So that you stay with me here, I'm going to give you the point of this discussion up front: It is about God. It is about our understanding of God; or in a word, theology. Our objective understanding of God comes from the Bible. The Bible is words. The purpose of words is to communicate concepts. Our conception of God is communicated to us by God through His Word. Got it?
Now, what's this have to do with our global world? How does that change anything?
The problem with the global world's ease of communication is that we think communication is easy. We think we are communicating, when in fact we may only be exchanging words. The concepts the words are intended to convey may not be getting received. Two people on opposite sides of the world, shaped by completely different cultures, can meet in their living rooms. Millions of people are doing this. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, Blogspot. Blogs, blogs, blogs! Words, words, words! Are we really communicating? Or is it just noise? Can people separated by such great physical distances and cultural backgrounds really have mutual understanding on the meaning of every word?
Add to this mix postmodernism. What do you get?
We'll pick this up again later. For now, I hope you and I are successfully communicating.
What I mean is, instead of isolation between peoples on the opposite sides of the world there is now direct connection. It was not so just twenty years ago. Now it's truly a world-wide web.
Remember that political stance of isolationism, when the U.S. tried to just stay out of the world's problems? Some say we need to return to that policy. But I say it's just not feasible in a global world.
Hear all the terrible things in the news lately? It would seem things just keep getting worse and worse, right? Well, remember that we didn't always get world news at the press of a button. Perhaps the world has always been this ill. A global world just made it more evident.
How else does a global world change things? The main idea I want to get at is communication. The internet connects people around the world because of the ease of communication. It's all about communication.
So that you stay with me here, I'm going to give you the point of this discussion up front: It is about God. It is about our understanding of God; or in a word, theology. Our objective understanding of God comes from the Bible. The Bible is words. The purpose of words is to communicate concepts. Our conception of God is communicated to us by God through His Word. Got it?
Now, what's this have to do with our global world? How does that change anything?
The problem with the global world's ease of communication is that we think communication is easy. We think we are communicating, when in fact we may only be exchanging words. The concepts the words are intended to convey may not be getting received. Two people on opposite sides of the world, shaped by completely different cultures, can meet in their living rooms. Millions of people are doing this. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, Blogspot. Blogs, blogs, blogs! Words, words, words! Are we really communicating? Or is it just noise? Can people separated by such great physical distances and cultural backgrounds really have mutual understanding on the meaning of every word?
Add to this mix postmodernism. What do you get?
We'll pick this up again later. For now, I hope you and I are successfully communicating.