I am fast to say that there are aspects of mobile/web/connected technologies that make sense towards engaging and being transformed by the Bible or other texts. But, the experience is always layered. There’s the device… the moment… the software… the text/audio… what window can I engage it in at that given that that will enable me to put my entire being in that Joshua 1:8 state?
And then I looked at this and smiled:
Now, this is a video demonstrating various technologies available and in use right now (XBox Kinect, Microsoft Surface, Windows 7 on a tablet, Windows Phone 7, email, IM, SMS, optical recognition technologies, etc.). But, it gets me excited because its not beyond anything that many of us have in our homes in whole or in part towards taking that “get in the Bible” experience and pushing it a bit more.
Let’s reframe the video a bit see what I mean:
- You see in the beginning that small group IM/SMS session that’s going on? That could very easily be your small (cell) group and a conversation that’s happening amongst them.
- The blueprint you see overlaid could be the entire Bible, or more specifically the sermon outline with some identifiers to Bible, commentaries, Wikipedia/Britannica, and web search entries that further expand the central them (the room being a theme, the rooms being the explorations of those themes)
- Now, the key here is that there’s not a layer to the communication aspects. Some might be in the same room using an XBox Kinect to “see” the same experience, but others might be using voice only, mobiles, tablets, or some combination to engage the discussion.
- Love that part where “Bill” takes us into the master bedroom. Can that be the “taking us into a tour of the temple?” Going a bit further than Glo Bible (a well done app experience I might add) of showing pictures, but we get a virtual room of the building and the people in that context.
- That end result, changing the door handle and adding a lamp, what happens when we are in a room (world) and we add a door or light to the environment?
Several weeks ago, my aunt and I were talking about an iPad and I shifted the discussion to what she would think of as the perfect Bible app. She responded to something like this video and our reframing – a visual and audio tour through the world of the Bible, but it connects to the physical world so that you could get a literal learning of the text and more readily apply the lesson.
If you are a pastor or lesson leader, could you get along with merging things like this? If so, do you think some of this is possible right now with what you have on your desk, in your pocket, or even, in your family room?
video via istartedsomething
Cybermissions has 
“I’m not a…” Syndrome
Tuesday, April 5th, 2011The phrase is, “I’m not much of a techie.”
As I’ve become known as “the computer guy” in ABCNJ I hear a variation of that phrase just about every time I’m introduced to someone. “Oh, you’re the computer guy? I’m afraid I’m not much of a techie.” Some people feel an overwhelming need to repeat the phrase over and over and over again. As if, should the phrase not be repeated, I might forget.
Typically, what people mean when the utter the dreaded, “I’m not a techie” is, “I don’t know what buttons to push, so don’t bother telling me any of the value this stuff might have for me.” It is, essentially, a pre-emptive strike against the possibility of change and growth. Why do I know this? Because I do it for other things – any time I say, “I’m not much of a…” I create the same effect. Bad me.
Look, I honestly don’t want everyone to be a “techie” (especially since it seems that only non-”techies” ever use that nomenclature). Everyone does not need to be a geek because it’s not everyone’s calling. I don’t expect people to understand how to manipulate a database, or change permissions from a command line, or write a shell script, or even have a clue what a regex is. To me, geek-tasks like that are what people are afraid of – the “magic” which happens below the levels they are able to access. Fear of that “magic,” however, causes them to settle in several levels above where they are actually able to access (lest the “magic” do them some harm if they came to close). It’s easier to keep away from such dangerous stuff than it is to go as deep as you are able.
So I hear the phrase, “I’m not a techie,” and know that in the future I may get a call from them to fix a pdf in which everything has been aligned by spaces or to clean up a document where all the text suddenly moved over because they accidentally hit the right-justify button and were too frightened to click (touch?) it again. People are very appreciative of my ability to manipulate the arcane forces of technology on their behalf, but in the end hearing that phrase just makes me feel lonely.
Here’s the thing. To communicate in this world people need, at the very least, a basic level of technological-savvy. This does not mean that people need to know what button to push in any given situation. It does mean, however, they learn to press buttons on their computers and not be utterly terrified while doing it. We can’t afford the panic that the “I’m not a techie” attitude grants us permission to have. Why? First, because it’s completely silly for people who are normally competent and capable of thought to lose their heads when a text message comes to their phone. Second, because that panic shouts to the world in which we live, “I have no idea how to communicate with you!” Third, because the tools we have at our disposal require wisdom to use well – and panic and wisdom to not compliment each other. These three reasons, when combined, tell us that technological panic doesn’t just make our witness irrelevant to people, it makes it non-existent.
So, if you suffer from “I’m not a techie” syndrome, I make you this promise. I know how easy it is to succumb to it’s effect, and I can honestly say I’ll do my very best to avoid the “I’m not a…” syndrome myself. I just ask for a similar effort from you.
Originally posted at Painfully Hopeful; image via Life is Full of Interfaces.
Tags: education, geek, innovation, techie, technology
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