I wonder how many of us feel like we have people in our lives who know us. Not just kind of know us but really know us. People who know what makes us tick. People who know that our favorite color is yellow but they also know that one song that always makes us cry. They know what kind of food will comfort us the most. They know when we need to talk and when we need space. They don't just know us, they know us. Most of us can likely recognize the value of being known like this, but any of us who have spent time living in the world probably know that it's easier said than done to get there.
Something that I personally feel like isn't helping in this matter is social media. And perhaps the internet and technology in general. Please hear me - I get that these things aren't going away and I realize that there are plenty of ways in which they indeed add value to our lives. Case in point: I am using both the internet and technology to write this blog and I'm sending it out to many people via email. I haven't necessarily been sharing the blog on social media lately but I have done that in the past, and from time to time I've heard from people who have been encouraged by it after finding it there.
But when it comes to being known, here is my concern: I wonder if many facets of technology and social media act like kind of a shield for us when it comes to being known. Something we can put up and maybe even use to reflect or show who we are, but something that often (not always, but often) keeps us from being genuinely known. As transparent and real and honest as we can try to be through what we share, it simply can't quite get us all the way to being truly known. It can get us close. And sometimes it can open the way for deeper knowing to happen. But will we pursue that? Or will we just continue using technology to fill the space between us and those who we long to be known by?
Here is another concern: now that celebrities are so accessible we can basically pick any random one we want and "follow" them, seeing whatever they choose to share to allow people to know them. So we're seeing their lives up-close, or at least we feel like we are, and it can almost convince us that we "know" them. Maybe we wouldn't consciously think or say that, but what is it doing to our understanding of being known that we are interacting with people who don't know us at all as though we know them? Meanwhile the world keeps telling us that having a big name and lots of followers matters more than living a quiet faithful life in which we cultivate deep, meaningful relationships with others.
I'm beginning to feel like I'm making things sound rather hopeless. Is the answer to ditch social media and every form of technology and force everyone into some new model of purely human-to-human interactions? Would doing so even necessarily lead us to a place of more deeply knowing and being known by each other?
Clearly not. Maybe the place to begin is with gratitude, as we remember that there is One who knows us. Really, truly, deeply knows us. And loves us with an unfailing love. Perhaps it is only as we ground ourselves in this reality that we are equipped to move closer to the deepest levels of knowing and being known. Wherever you find yourself today, thank God that He deeply knows you, and pray that He will grow more of that kind of knowing in all of us.
Pray with me...
... Lord, deepen our understanding of the way You know and love us
You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. Psalm 139:1
... Father, show us how to know and love each other the way You want us to
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:11-12
... Holy Spirit, make ACSD a community full of people who are known by You and show Your love to others
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:35
Thanks for taking the time to read this blog and pray for Alliance Christian School District! Lord willing, I plan to publish a new blog post weekly throughout the school year. Feel free to subscribe (at the bottom of this page) if you'd like to be notified each time a new blog post has been published. We also have a prayer team that is always open for new pray-ers to join. If you'd like to learn more, email me at cwarner@alliancechristian.org.
~ Carrie Warner, ACSD Prayer Team Coordinator
Soli Deo Gloria
To God alone be the glory
