"In this modern-day digital age, there's a case to be made for communicating via video conferences, phone calls, and emails. Traveling to attend in-person meetings can be stressful, not to mention time consuming and expensive. Yet, despite their clear advantages in terms of efficiency, monetary savings, and convenience, audio and video conferences may not provide the same impact that a face-to-face meeting can provide." (NY Times best selling author Dr Mercola)
I spend a good deal of time each week responding to emails, text messages, and social media prompts. Many of these things are vastly important for me to do in order to stay connected with people. However, if I really want to connect with someone, I should be with a person face to face.
The thing is, I am not sharing anything new with you today. You and I know this to be true, and yet find it difficult to conquer. I find myself asking my wife, "Wait, did you schedule what are we doing tonight into our calendar?" Instead, we should be having face to face conversations on these things.
I'm confident that I'm not alone in this struggle. Are you willing to refuse to stop interacting with people virtually as your primary means? What can we do? Heres a few ideas:
1. Force yourself to walk into a gas station to pay rather than swipe at the pump. A face to face connection.
2. Lose your phone during a lunch meeting or coffee. Focus on the face in front of you for 30 minutes.
3. Go for a walk for one evening this week. Give enough time that a 10 minute unplanned conversation with a neighbor doesn't mess up your night.
What happens if your church has more face to face contacts every week? I believe relationships will form in a way that is counter-cultural to the way many relationships are formed today. In that light, different is good! Different is memorable, and these different form of connections become genuine.
Oh, and its been proven that face to face connections make you happier! They should make you smile more! Keeping that in mind, a smiling face and a genuine spirit is a bridge by which the Good News can travel. Why? Because Jesus cared for you and I enough to walk this earth and connect in a personal way with mankind. When we make the attempt to do the same, we are emulating his heart. I've found that most people find this is compelling.
Look this week for face to face interactions. Look this week for God to open up doors to talk about his Son, Jesus.
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