In our social media driven society, I feel like I do a decent job of keeping up with the people in my life. I scroll through posts and see what’s going on in my friends’ lives. I’ll even like some posts or maybe throw up a comment or two. But this morning I came to the realization that I am actually pretty terrible at keeping up with people. It’s no secret that social media is very shallow. We are only seeing the surface of what is going on (unless you are friends with people who overshare- then you know everything about them). Angela and I were talking on the way to church and she mentioned that this past week she had a face to face conversation with a friend that went so much deeper than it ever would have over a text.
I have some friends that are going through some serious stuff and I haven’t reached out to them at all this week. With the exception of one close friend, I don’t regularly talk to anyone on the phone. I hardly ever meet people for coffee or lunch. If I looked back at my text messages from the past week, most would either be with Angela or work-related. Only a few would be random conversations.
A few weeks ago, I met a friend for lunch and it was so refreshing. There was something about sitting down at a table and talking that couldn’t be accomplished on social media or even through texting. Hebrews 10:25 says, ““And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” Many times this verse is applied to church attendance, but I think it is very applicable in this case. It is good for us to meet together with friends. It’s good for us to have actual conversations on the phone. It is good for us to build and nurture true relationships.
It is so ironic that I will be promoting this post through social media and without it almost no one would read it. But there are so many things I am missing out on by keeping up with people through only social media. Sure I could claim that I am super busy with a full-time job, a wife, and two kids, but what would it really take for me to grab coffee with someone for 30 minutes before work one day? Not a lot.
The worst part about it, is that by me being selfish other people are missing out. I am not saying that to pump myself up. If you look back at Hebrews 10:25 it tells us to meet together and encourage one another. I am missing out on opportunities to build up other people. In turn, they are missing out on that encouragement. I am also missing out on the opportunities for other people to encourage me.
I need to be a better friend. So I’m going to strive to improve in this. Moving to Clayton will help because I’ll have 20+ minute car trips to and from work. If you want to meet for coffee or lunch hit me up and I’ll make it happen (and I’ll be reaching out to some of you). It’s time to move out of the social media reality and get back to building real friendships.
until next time…