A few weeks ago, at my sister’s high school graduation, the commencement speaker gave several pieces of what he believed to be crucial advice. One of these encouragements was for the graduates to make real friends.
Friends? Really? Of all the grandiose advice he could have offered, why this? The answer may lie in a problem of our modern age, and a solution that Christ Himself gives us.
Disconnection in a Connected Culture
While this graduation speaker’s advice may seem shallow, it was rather observant of our modern culture. He was speaking directly to the issue of online friendships and the importance of real-life connection. Young people may need encouragement to become a part of a community in this digital era. Screens attack us from every angle, AI bots creep into countless places, and social media pressures purely online relationships. In his book Dying to Live, Harold Senkbeil points out how our culture’s gods have become digital ones. Our culture praises the perfect online persona and the illusion of friendship, even though neither is truly attainable.
The Lie of a Digital World
How then do we find meaning in this virtual world? Online connection falls short of what God intended. Senkbeil writes, “Digital tools enable us to reach other people across the globe without ever leaving our homes. We can see their images on our screens and hear their voices, but we cannot touch them. It’s convenient, but it’s not real contact” (p. 25). Almost every corner of life is affected by this digital overload—friendships, relationships, and even our jobs. Although portrayed as good, this cold and isolating virtual world is, as Senkbeil writes, simply “death.” We are all dying, and “we’ve furnished this playground of ours with empty images and ugly plastic” (pp. 33–34). Ouch! That hurts. But it’s the truth—you and I have fled from hard conversations, taken the easy route our culture encourages, and run from real-life relationships.
Life in Christ and One Another
Where, then, do we look? Where is the real, alive, breathing connection we crave? Of course, in the living person of Jesus Christ, who came to earth that we might live! In the Gospels, we hear of the name given to Christ:
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). (Matthew 1:22–23)
Christ, who is literally God with us, entered our world as a real, tiny infant. The deadly isolation and brokenness of this age can overwhelm us. Yet, in Jesus, God meets us face to face. As John confessed, “God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” (1 John 5:11). In our churches on Sunday morning, God’s people find the fullness of what this means for us. The same Jesus who became incarnate on earth is truly present for us wherever the Word is preached and Sacraments administered.
Flowing from the gifts of the Sacraments, our lives take on a shape. We gather in fellowship, commune as a congregation, pray together, and serve one another in our daily vocations. Senkbeil succinctly writes, “when we live each day by faith in Christ and by love in our neighbor, we live outside ourselves” (p. 195). Through Christ, we can turn away from the never-ending pursuit of an online image and, instead, we can obtain the fullness of what it means to be alive.
Dying to Live
Senkbeil leaves his readers with a humble invitation. All humans know the pain of loneliness, the exhaustion of image-chasing, and the desire for peace. That peace, he reminds, is not found from a glowing screen or another social media follower.
“If you don’t know that peace, you should know that Christ grants it through the means He has appointed within the fellowship of His church. Seek out such fellowship, won’t you? Find a pastor in whom you can confide and a church where you can be nourished in God’s Holy Word and Sacrament” (p. 199).
The graduation speaker that I heard may not have realized it, but his words echo this life-giving advice that Senkbeil makes clear. Real connection, not hollow virtual connection, is the source of true life in this dying world. True life is found in Christ Jesus.
Scripture: ESV®.
To read more of what author Harold L. Senkbeil has to say about the concerns of our modern world and the life of a Christian, check out his title from CPH.
