The other day I came across a passage of Scripture that got me thinking. Here’s what 2 John 1:12 has to say:
I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
John wasn’t condemning paper and ink. In fact, that sentiment was recorded using paper and ink. And yet he yearned to talk with his readers face to face.
John’s short letter to a group of people he cared about was important. He was writing to encourage them in their faith and warn them about false teachers. He used available media — paper and ink — to communicate meaningful spiritual truth across a physical distance. In fact, this letter is so meaningful that it was determined to be inspired by the Holy Spirit and thus canonized as part of the Bible. And yet he yearned to talk with his readers face to face.
Much of the communication we do today serves to bridge physical distance. We blog, tweet, text, email, IM, call, and sometimes we even use paper and ink. It’s my belief that these are all valid media by which some level of meaningful spiritual truth can be communicated.
We live in incredibly technologically advanced times — we have mobile Internet access and iPads and particle accelerators and nanobots. And yet we still yearn for face to face contact.
I think we should use available media like John and the other apostles did (with a healthy dose of discernment, of course), but that doesn’t mean we can denigrate the importance of being with someone face to face. I heard Shane Hipps say that God gave us our bodies for a reason, that Jesus’ incarnation happened for a reason. As humans we have a powerful gift to give others — our presence. Let’s blog, tweet, and email when we’re separated by physical distance, but let’s also embody John’s desire to spend time with people face to face. As the old Texas Troubadour Ernest Tubb once sang, “Letters got no arms.”