incarnation: the act of embodying or state of being embodied in human form
I have been thinking about that word quite a bit in recent months as I have come “face to face” with more and more of my online friends on Facebook, Twitter and blog. In fact, if you have read my blog recently, you know that one of my 2009 goals is to “take online community offline.”
But I’ve really been thinking about this idea after Innovation3 Gathering last week where I participated as a live blogger. In fact, I’m not the only person thinking about this concept. Cynthia Ware wrote the post Face to Face at Innovation3 Gathering, and Rick W. Smith wrote the post Innovation3 aka Nationwide Tweet Up (see Rick’s video below).
I remember just a few years ago when I used to attend a conference and the only people I knew were a) people I had met at that conference the year before; b) someone whom I “ran” in the same ministry circles with; c) someone famous (aka author/pastor/speaker). But most of the conference was spent getting to know people at the most basic level…exchanging of information and informalities.
But that has all seemed to change here in the last year or so. With the large number of people on Twitter, it’s almost as if these conferences are becoming a reunion, rather than a first time meeting. And the reason I mention Twitter is because it’s different than Facebook, in that the daily conversation creates a relationship that other technologies do not (look for my upcoming post in Collide Magazine on this topic). My first experience of this was at ECHO in August of 2008. Then at ChurchTechCamp:.Dallas in January of 2009. Then at Innovation3 Gathering this last week.
I have a lot of questions about the future of conferences, especially as the economy is tough, admittance fees are high, and most of the material can be found online. BUT, I will say this…the most valuable intangible of conferences is the convening together in the flesh. That can not be underestimated, and I think is the one reason people attend conferences more than any other. That’s why I’m super thankful for DJ Chuang and Leadership Network giving so much “downtime” on Tuesday for the meet and greet. That was amazing.
Before I end this post with Rick’s video, check out one of my favorite blogs, Don’t Eat the Fruit by John Dyer. His post Technology and “Face to Face” in the New Testament is great.
Check out Rick W. Smith’s video:
Check out my live blogs and post from the gathering last week:
Innovation3 Gathering-Live Blog using Cover It Live.
Innovation3 Gathering: Day 1 Recap & Tomorrow’s Online Connect
Innovation3 Gathering: Missional Community using Scribble Live.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Rhett,
Good stuff man. I agree. It’s as if twitter/facebook, etc is helping us to build bridges so that when we do connect in “real life” we aren’t that far removed. We’ve been keeping up with each ohter, so to speak.
We have been given people “windows” into our lives. I am so thankful that God has given us to many creative ways to connect with other people. He has created us to be in community with other people, and with all that is provided for us today- no one has an excuse to live on an “island.”
Love ya man! Thanks for your heart, and all you do for the Kingdom!
I’ve been networking since the day I was born. A couple of years ago I was visiting a church and one of the leaders commented “there’s no way a guy this young could know so many people.”
Twitter/FB etc. have just sped up the process in between. I now use all these resources when we do a conference. Hopefully for His glory.
Rhett,
I appreciate your stance on taking online relationships offline. We are using Twitter and Facebook in the church I lead and one of the common concerns among those that don’t use them are that they promote isolationism. While I agree that there is some potential danger of that happening, it has not been the norm for our experience.
In our church, the people that are Twittering (more than just using Facebook) are having more conversation and are truly experiencing New Testament type community. We tweet the sermons with our church’s hashtag (#rol), we tweet prayer requests, we even have some of our twitterers tweeting prayer sessions with each other (gets a little busy at those points).
But it also leads to more powerful face to face interaction. It is opening doors to real communication and conversation. And it is creating space for us to live incarnationally in front of those that follow our twitters so we are ready for when people want to ask us about the hope that we have. Thank God for social media!