Social media technology is great, but when it gets out of hand it’s time to do something. For Houston pastor Kerry Shook and his wife Chris, doing something means organizing the First National Facebook Fast on Aug. 25, 2010.
Their idea is simple but radical: Instead of communicating with others through computers, phones and other devices, meet up face to face!
The Shooks aren’t anti-tech, but Kerry (author of the bestselling One Month to Live) feels we need to hit the pause button and rebalance our lives.
“We’re not bashing technology; we’re just challenging you to take one day and set it aside to be intentional about the relationships in your life,” says Kerry, Senior Pastor of Woodlands Church in the Houston area.
Kerry says 20,000 people in the Houston area are slated to participate and is calling on individuals, churches and organizations across the nation to join in taking a day off from Facebook, which recently celebrated its 500 millionth member.
Below is more information about the Facebook Fast provided by the Shooks and their publicist. Click here to view a video about the fast.
Instead of chatting on Facebook, tweeting, texting, or emailing try any of the following activities and see what happens:
• Meet up with a friend for a face to face conversation over coffee.
• Write a handwritten letter or card and mail it.
• Visit someone in the hospital.
• Do an act of kindness such as gettin acquainted with a neighbor you’ve never met.
• Take a meal to a shut-in, or take some home made cookies to your local fire or police station. Be creative and have fun with it.
• Plan a family dinner night without the TV on or any other electronic communication devices.
The fast is a part of the Shooks’ new book and church challenge program called Love at Last Sight: 30 Days to Grow and Deepen Your Closest Relationships, which takes on what popular culture would have people believe about true relationships whether friend, child, parent, relative, spouse, partner, or another important person.
The Shooks believe social networking has re-defined what friend means, creating the false expectation that if we are connected to huge numbers of people, we are important and loved. It’s also created the misperception that a relationship can be managed through keyboards and mouse clicks, or at least should be as easy and convenient as doing so. Ironically, the result of buying into popular misconceptions such as these, they say, is that “Even though we are more technologically connected than ever, deep and rewarding relationships seem further away from our grasp than ever, leaving most people lonely and disconnected from one of life’s greatest joys—indeed, one that God has shown gives life its greatest meaning.”
The truth is, no matter how much we want to tell ourselves otherwise, rewarding and close relationships take work, time and effort. They require commitment and finding ways to be there, often in person, which is what the National Facebook Fast is all about. As the Shooks remind us, the real definition of friend is: “One who drives you to the doctor when you’re too sick to do it yourself; someone who holds your hair back from the toilet when you’re throwing up; that guy who shows up (without being asked) to help you on moving day; the person you call when your loyal dog has to be put down and you just can’t do it alone; the girlfriend who will tell you when you have spinach in your teeth, dandruff on your shirt, or…your foot in your mouth.”
In this age of short attention spans and digital distractions, the theme of the National Facebook Fast is “Be All There”—being focused and attentive to someone else’s life and needs.
A program in which churches around the country take the 30-day Love At Last Sight challenge kicks off Sep. 11-12 and Oct. 9-10. Churches and other organizations can schedule their 30-day challenges at other times. For details, visit LastSightChallenge.com or the challenge’s Facebook page.
