Two thirds of adults in America have a smart phone that can access a myriad of information in a matter of seconds. Dora has been replaced by Siri by the youngest generation in exploring the world around us. Many of us sleep with our phones next to us and it is the first thing we look at when we wake up to see what happened overnight in the land of news, instagram, pinterest, and maybe even Facebook. We don’t have calendars anymore to schedule things, we count on an app to remind us of birthdays, meetings, concert dates, and upcoming holidays. We are the most connected generation that has every existed.
We are also quickly becoming the most disconnected generation that has ever existed. We all feel it. We all are experiencing places in our lives where we feel a gap, where we feel alone, where we feel unknown. This disconnected experience is growing like a tsunami among our culture, starting with the younger generation and quickly gaining momentum in the generations above it. The feeling of being disconnected has affected our relationships with our families, our neighbors, our coworkers and it has deeply affected our perception of God and who He is.
Being connected is hard work. It takes time. It takes sacrifice. I invite you to consider these Truths as you decide what kind of life you are going to live:
- You were never meant to live a disconnected life
- Stop using disconnected as a valid reason to live an alone, passive, offended and incomplete life.
- You choose whether you live a disconnected life or not
- God has never disconnected from you
- You have to actively connect to the ONE who created you
Being disconnected is a natural tendency in our culture, but I believe we together can plug back into the life what we were designed for.
First, identify where you are disconnected – family, relationally, self image, purpose, spiritually.
Second, choose to make a step into connecting in one of those areas – a phone call, a counseling session, a social event, a church service, small group, or even conversation.
Third, invest in beginning or developing a relationship with the One who made you and designed you. God made you to be free, to be connected, to love and be loved. As you get to know Him, you will connect to Him and He will show and lead you in how to connect with other people and your purpose.
Choose to invest in this culture so that this generation will be known as the connected generation.