Being present

By Jeff Long

I think the day may be coming when people no longer need worry about getting up on Sunday morning and coming to worship. Thanks to amazing advances in technology, "going to church" could become an anachronism. Logging into church may be more like it. An entirely interactive worship experience, available to you via your laptop, sitting in your bathrobe and slippers. If what I've described actually comes to pass, my hope is that it'll happen after my lifetime. If I've not been clear, I'm not recommending this idea. I hate it. The trends, however, are alarming. Again and again, we are making it easier not to be present.

I'm a member of a service club and late last month, one of the organization's leaders came to our local gathering at a Jackson restaurant and informed us that attendance requirements no longer exist. There are members of our club who have held perfect attendance for years -- in one case, more than half a century. Now, to quote a phrase a former parishioner loves to use, the "powers-that-be" have decided showing up isn't such a big deal. Huh. In fact, if you want to, you can now belong to an entirely online club. You never have to see other members. Call me a Luddite, but if this is progress, it is troubling indeed. Being present is apparently too much trouble.

The university at which I am privileged to teach, Southeast Missouri State, has quite a few online classes these days. SEMO isn't unique; this is the trend everywhere. It is more and more the case that showing up, being present in a physical classroom, isn't necessary to get an education. There are seminaries in which virtually the entire class load is online -- although you do have to show up in person for two weeks in the summer. It's interesting that students planning to enter such a person-centered vocation like ministry don't have to see anyone else for much of the degree program.

This column is making me sound like a throwback, an odd resister standing in the path of the bulldozer of technological advance. Believe me, I love the convenience of a smartphone. But we're starting to lose something as a society and it is so gradual we hardly notice its absence. Student after student of mine walks into my classroom, head down, immersed in their cellphone and wearing earbuds that inhibit conversation -- the process of actually looking someone in the face and talking to them. A day does not pass in which I am talking to someone and his or her cellphone beeps or rings, the thread of our talk is instantly broken, and the person must step away to answer. Message received: What is happening on the phone is more important than me, the person sitting right in front of you.

If Jesus had come into the world in the 21st century instead of the first, would he walk around with a Bluetooth device in his ear? Instead of listening to people, would he be taking selfies and posting the pictures on Facebook and Instagram? Maybe -- but I think not.