About five years ago I made the conscious decision to cease trying to keep up with technology changes.  In part, this was inevitable.  The pace of change was coming so fast that I was not able to keep up.  I figured I had to make a choice.  I could be ten years behind the times, quaintly indifferent to the latest thing.  Or I could be six months behind the times, huffing and puffing to catch up.  The latter choice had no appeal to me at all.

Giving it up was surprisingly easy.  A few of you grew frustrated that it now took me a day or two to reply to my e-mail but generally I had no sense of loss whatsoever.  I can look at people with their Blackberrys and iPods constantly out and in use and have no twinge of regret at all. 

I’m not trying to be clueless.  I’ve looked into Facebook and Twitter.  I can send a text message, but rarely do.  I find stories of new technology advances interesting and think about the implications of them, perhaps more than those who jump on the bandwagon.  And, of course, I blog.  Although someone recently asked me what my schedule was for posting thoughts here and all I could say was “when something pops into my head.”

Yesterday I saw an article that told me I was not alone.  It seems that thousands of people, even young people, are abandoning things such as Facebook and Twitter.  Miley Cyrus recently cancelled her Twitter account because it was interfering with her “real” relationships.  And thousands of ordinary people have thought through the effort it takes to be up-to-date with such things and have given them up. 

Of course we are still a tiny minority, but it was gratifying to see.  Interestingly enough, so technology-bound have we become that there are now web sites where you can get help disengaging from your virtual life.  It amuses me that we even turn to technology to help us turn from technology.  But it got me to thinking…what would Jesus do?  Would Jesus join Facebook?

To be sure, it is possible to use technology to minister the Gospel.  Many ministries have started or turned to new technologies.  And it is equally sure that some of the side effects of these technologies are not so good.  Probably the most widespread effect is the hours of time people spend updating their lives on Twitter or Facebook. 

These technologies are now fundamental to our society in amazing ways.  Just recently Peggy and I bought a dishwasher and the salesman eagerly informed us, with no sense of irony at all, that his organization was now on Twitter and Facebook.   It was a great struggle to not say “Who cares?”  But to ignore the technologies is to bypass a major segment of our world.

So I wanted this post to conclude with a question…would Jesus join Facebook?  Tell me what you think and why.